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Build in public on X

Share your progress every day. People follow the journey, then try the product.

Guide for AI agents
Time per week
3 to 5 hours
First results
2 to 6 weeks
Cost
Free
Best for
Developer tools, AI tools, indie SaaS
Checked
4 October 2026

How it works

Building in public means posting your real progress as you go: what you shipped, what broke, how many users you have, what you learned. People like following a story, and some of them become your first users.

X has published the code that ranks its For You feed on GitHub. For each post, it predicts how likely each person is to like, reply, repost, quote, share, click or stay reading, and how likely they are to mute, block or report. It adds those up with weights. In the published code, a reply counts 10 times as much as a like, and mutes, blocks and reports count against you.

The code also lowers the score when the same author shows up many times in a row. So a few good posts beat a flood of small ones.

Many creators report that posts with links get less reach. We could not find a fixed link penalty in X's published code, but the safe habit costs nothing: put your link in a reply under your post.

Good fit if

  • Products for founders, developers or tech people, who are very active on X
  • Makers happy to share numbers, mistakes and screenshots

Skip it if

  • Your buyers aren't on X (for example, local businesses)
  • You can't post at least a few times a week

Before you start, get these ready

Tick them off. This page remembers your ticks on this device.

0 of 5 ready

Step by step

  1. 1

    Pick one topic

    Post about one thing: the problem your product solves and the journey of building it. Mixed topics confuse the people (and the feed) deciding whether to follow you.

  2. 2

    Post most days

    Share one real thing a day: a feature you shipped, a screenshot, a number (users, revenue), a mistake, a lesson. Short and specific beats long and general.

  3. 3

    Reply to others every day

    Spend 20 to 30 minutes replying thoughtfully to people in your niche. Good replies get you noticed by their followers. This is how small accounts grow.

  4. 4

    Show the product, not just talk

    Short screen recordings and screenshots of the product working make people curious. Put the link in a reply, not the main post.

  5. 5

    Write a weekly recap

    Once a week, post a short thread: what you shipped, the numbers, what you learned, what's next. These recaps are what new followers scroll back to.

  6. 6

    Talk to people who reply

    Answer every reply. When someone shows real interest, offer to help them try the product. Early users often come from these small conversations.

Mistakes that waste your effort or get you banned

  • Don't buy followers, likes or replies, and don't join engagement groups. X's rules ban fake engagement
  • Don't reply to big accounts with your link. It reads as spam and gets you muted
  • Don't send automated DMs to new followers
  • Don't post the same text again and again

Tips

  • Numbers get attention: "12 users → 140 users in 3 weeks" beats "growing fast"
  • Honest failures do as well as wins. People trust makers who share both
  • Post at times your audience is awake. Check your post stats after two weeks

How to know it's working

  • Profile visits and new followers each week
  • Clicks on your tracked link
  • Sign-ups where people answer "How did you hear about us?" with X

Template: Progress post

Fill in the [brackets]. Keep it in your own voice.

Day [N] of building [product] in public.

Shipped: [one thing you built this week]
Numbers: [users / sign-ups / revenue, even if small]
Learned: [one honest lesson]

Next: [what you're building next]

(Link in the reply below.)

Where this comes from

Checked 4 October 2026. Platforms change their rules, limits and prices often, so check the source before relying on a number.