bluesky

Bluesky

Overview

Post content to the Bluesky social network using the bsky terminal application. This skill enables creating text posts, sharing images and videos with alt text, replying to posts, and quoting posts.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill in these scenarios:

1. Explicitly requested - When directly asked to post something to Bluesky
2. Proactive sharing - When working in public repositories and encountering:
   • Completed features or significant milestones worth announcing
   • Interesting technical insights or discoveries
   • Major achievements or project releases
   • Community-relevant updates or announcements

Important: Only suggest posting proactively when in public repositories. Never suggest posting for private or internal work.

Core Capabilities

1. Text Posts

Create simple text posts using the bsky post command:

bsky post "Your message here"

For longer or multi-line posts, use stdin:

echo "Your longer message
with multiple lines" | bsky post --stdin

Best practices:

• Keep posts concise and engaging
• Use proper formatting and line breaks for readability
• Consider adding relevant hashtags at the end
• URLs must include the https:// protocol prefix -- bare domains like www.example.com/path will NOT be rendered as clickable links. Always use https://www.example.com/path

2. Posts with Images

Include images in posts using the --image or -i flag:

bsky post "Check out this screenshot!" --image /path/to/image.png

Multiple images:

bsky post "Here are several images" \
  --image image1.png \
  --image image2.png \
  --image image3.png

Add alt text for accessibility:

bsky post "New feature screenshot" \
  --image screenshot.png \
  --image-alt "Dashboard showing user analytics with graphs"

Best practices:

• Always provide alt text using --image-alt for accessibility
• Alt text should be descriptive and concise
• Match the order of --image-alt flags to --image flags

3. Posts with Video

Share video content using the --video or -v flag:

bsky post "Demo of the new feature" --video demo.mp4

With alt text:

bsky post "Feature demo" \
  --video demo.mp4 \
  --video-alt "Screen recording showing the login flow with OAuth"

4. Replying to Posts

Reply to existing posts using the -r flag with the AT protocol URI.

Important: The -r flag does NOT work when passing text as a positional argument -- the CLI treats it as part of the post text. Always use --stdin when replying. Also, -r requires an AT protocol URI (at://...), not a Bluesky web URL.

echo "Thanks for sharing!" | bsky post --stdin -r "at://did:plc:xyz/app.bsky.feed.post/abc123"

5. Quote Posts

Quote an existing post using the -q flag:

bsky post "Great point about Go modules!" -q at://did:plc:xyz/app.bsky.feed.post/abc123

6. Threads

You can build a thread by replying to your own posts. Each bsky post command prints the AT protocol URI of the post it created -- feed that URI into the -r flag of the next post to chain them together.

# First post in the thread -- note the at:// URI in the output
bsky post "Building a new feature today: a streaming CSV parser. I'll post progress as I go."

# Reply to that post's URI to continue the thread
echo "Step 1 done: tokenizer handles quoted fields and embedded newlines correctly." \
  | bsky post --stdin -r "at://did:plc:xyz/app.bsky.feed.post/abc123"

# Keep chaining -- reply to the most recent post's URI each time
echo "Step 2 done: streaming transformation layer, constant memory regardless of file size." \
  | bsky post --stdin -r "at://did:plc:xyz/app.bsky.feed.post/def456"

Threads are useful for two things:

• Going beyond the 300 character limit -- split a longer thought across multiple linked posts instead of cramming it into one
• Posting running progress -- when building something, post an opening message and then reply to it with updates as you hit milestones, keeping the whole story in one readable thread

Best practices:

• Always reply to the most recent post in the thread so replies stay in order
• Capture the at:// URI from each post's output before making the next reply
• Keep each post in a thread self-contained enough to make sense, but let the thread tell the full story

Workflow Guidelines

When creating a post:

1. Determine the content type - Text only, with images, with video, reply, or quote
2. Prepare the message - Craft clear, concise text that provides context
3. Prepare media if applicable - Ensure images/videos are accessible and write descriptive alt text
4. Construct the command - Use appropriate flags based on content type
5. Execute the post - Run the bsky post command
6. Verify success - Check command output for confirmation

Content Guidelines

When suggesting or creating posts:

• Be authentic - Share genuine insights and achievements
• Provide value - Ensure the post offers something useful to the community
• Include context - Don't assume everyone has background knowledge
• Be professional - Maintain appropriate tone for technical social media
• Respect privacy - Never share sensitive information or private repository details
• Consider timing - Only suggest sharing when the work is meaningful enough to warrant it

Example Scenarios

Scenario 1: Announcing a New Feature

bsky post "Just shipped a new feature in my Go library: automatic retry logic with exponential backoff!

Makes handling transient failures much easier. Check it out: https://github.com/user/repo" \
  --image feature-screenshot.png \
  --image-alt "Code snippet showing the new retry configuration API"

Scenario 2: Sharing a Technical Insight

echo "TIL: Go's io.Pipe() is incredibly useful for streaming data between goroutines without buffering.

Perfect for processing large files without loading everything into memory.

Example use case: streaming CSV parsing → transformation → JSON encoding" | bsky post --stdin

Scenario 3: Project Milestone

bsky post "Just reached 1,000 stars on my open source project!

Thanks to everyone in the community for the support and contributions. This wouldn't be possible without you!" \
  --image milestone-screenshot.png \
  --image-alt "GitHub repository page showing 1,000 stars"

Scenario 4: Replying to Feedback

When someone shares or comments on your work, reply directly:

echo "Thanks for the detailed feedback! I've opened an issue to track this enhancement." \
  | bsky post --stdin -r "at://did:plc:xyz/app.bsky.feed.post/abc123"

Notes

• The bsky command uses your authenticated session from previous login
• If not logged in, run bsky login first
• Post URIs can be found from other bsky commands like bsky timeline or from the Bluesky web interface
• Multiple images/alt texts are supported by repeating the flags
• Images and videos should be local file paths accessible to the command