Developer Onboarding

Get developers from signup to working code as fast as possible, then guide them to deeper engagement.

Overview

Developer onboarding is the critical window between "I signed up" and "I understand how to use this." You have about 10 minutes of developer attention. Every second of confusion, every error message without guidance, every "it should work but doesn't" moment costs you users.

Great onboarding feels like pair programming with someone who anticipated every question. Bad onboarding feels like being dropped in a foreign city without a map.

Before You Start

Review the /devmarketing-skills/skills/developer-audience-context skill to understand your target developers. A hobbyist building side projects needs different onboarding than an enterprise architect evaluating tools for production. Review /devmarketing-skills/skills/developer-signup-flow to ensure signup flows smoothly into onboarding.

Time-to-First-Value Optimization

Defining "First Value"

First value isn't "made an API call." First value is when the developer sees your tool doing something useful for them.