sales-trendseeker

What this skill does

# Trend Seeker Platform Help

Helps the user with Trend Seeker platform questions — from idea discovery and validation scoring through API integration, Pro plan evaluation, and research methodology.

## Step 1 — Gather context

If `references/learnings.md` exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. **What area of Trend Seeker do you need help with?**
   - A) Idea discovery — browsing and filtering validated ideas
   - B) Idea Validator — understanding or improving your validation score
   - C) API integration — querying ideas programmatically
   - D) Free vs Pro — deciding whether to upgrade
   - E) Research methodology — using Trend Seeker for market research
   - F) Something else — describe it

2. **Are you using the free tier or Pro?**
   - A) Free tier
   - B) Pro subscriber
   - C) Not signed up yet

3. **What are you trying to accomplish?** (describe your specific goal)

**If the user's request already provides most of this context, skip directly to the relevant step.** Lead with your best-effort answer using reasonable assumptions (stated explicitly), then ask only the most critical 1-2 clarifying questions at the end.

## Step 2 — Route or answer directly

If the request maps to a specialized skill, route:
- Social listening strategy or tool comparison → `/sales-social-listening [question]`
- Reddit keyword monitoring and alerts → `/sales-syften [question]` or `/sales-keymentions [question]`
- Reddit pain point scoring (frequency/severity) → `/sales-painonsocial [question]`
- Audience intelligence and demand research → `/sales-reddinbox [question]`
- Audience profiling (where audiences spend attention) → `/sales-sparktoro [question]`

Otherwise, answer directly from platform knowledge using the reference below.

## Step 3 — Trend Seeker platform reference

**Read `references/platform-guide.md`** for the full platform reference — capabilities, pricing, API details, data model, validation scoring, and integration recipes.

Answer the user's question using only the relevant section. Don't dump the full reference.

## Step 4 — Actionable guidance

Based on the user's specific question:

1. **Idea discovery** — navigate categories, interpret evidence scores, identify high-signal ideas
2. **Validation scoring** — understand post volume vs idea similarity, interpret high/low scores
3. **API integration** — authenticate, query endpoints, handle pagination, build pipelines
4. **Free vs Pro** — compare field access, rate limits, validation quotas
5. **Research methodology** — combine Trend Seeker with other tools for complete validation

If you discover a gotcha, workaround, or tip not covered in `references/learnings.md`, append it there.

## Gotchas

*Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about pricing and capabilities that may be outdated.*

- **Trend Seeker finds ideas, it doesn't monitor or alert.** It's a research database, not a real-time monitoring tool. If you need ongoing Reddit keyword alerts, pair with Syften or KeyMentions.
- **Free tier redacts key fields.** `solution_approach` and `why_now` are hidden for premium-tier ideas on the free plan. You see titles and basic scores but not the actionable detail.
- **Validation score combines two axes.** Post Volume (0-50) measures how many users requested something similar. Idea Similarity (0-50) measures how closely existing solutions match. High volume + low similarity = underserved market.
- **Pro pricing is not publicly listed.** The Pro plan unlocks full API access (120 req/min, unlimited offset) and detailed validation insights, but the exact price isn't disclosed on the website.
- **API rate limits are generous for Pro, tight for free.** Free/anonymous: 10 req/min, max 20 results, offset capped at 100. Pro: 120 req/min, 100 results per page, unlimited offset.
- **Data source is Reddit-heavy.** Ideas are extracted from Reddit and online community discussions — biased toward technical/developer problems. Consumer and enterprise pain points may be underrepresented.

- **Self-improving**: If you discover something not covered here, append it to `references/learnings.md` with today's date.

## Related skills

- `/sales-social-listening` — Social listening strategy — brand monitoring, sentiment analysis, competitive intelligence, tool comparison across all platforms
- `/sales-painonsocial` — PainOnSocial — AI-scored Reddit pain point discovery with frequency/severity ranking for idea validation
- `/sales-reddinbox` — Reddinbox — AI audience intelligence across Reddit, X, HN, YouTube with intent scoring and market briefs
- `/sales-sparktoro` — SparkToro — audience intelligence revealing where audiences spend attention (websites, podcasts, YouTube, subreddits)
- `/sales-reddily` — Reddily — AI-powered Reddit thread analysis for market research with structured insight extraction
- `/sales-do` — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do`

## Examples

### Example 1: Validate a micro-SaaS idea
**User says**: "I'm thinking of building an AI-powered invoice reconciliation tool for freelancers. Is there demand for this?"
**Skill does**:
1. Suggests using the free Idea Validator at trend-seeker.app/idea-validator
2. Explains the scoring: high Post Volume (many users asked for similar) + low Idea Similarity (few existing solutions) = strong signal
3. Recommends also browsing the Fintech and SaaS categories for related validated ideas
4. Notes that validation scores above 0.7 with 10+ supporting posts indicate strong demand
**Result**: User understands how to interpret validation signals before committing to build

### Example 2: Query the API for SaaS ideas
**User says**: "How do I pull all SaaS business ideas from Trend Seeker's API into my own dashboard?"
**Skill does**:
1. Shows the GET /v1/ideas endpoint with category filter
2. Provides auth setup (Bearer token with `tskr_` prefix)
3. Explains pagination (limit + offset params, Pro needed for offset > 100)
4. Notes that free tier returns basic fields only — Pro needed for full scores and metrics
**Result**: User has working API integration code

### Example 3: Compare idea validation tools
**User says**: "Should I use Trend Seeker or PainOnSocial for validating my startup idea?"
**Skill does**:
1. Explains Trend Seeker discovers pre-validated ideas from Reddit; PainOnSocial scores pain points in subreddits you choose
2. Notes Trend Seeker is idea-first (browse a database), PainOnSocial is problem-first (scan communities for pain)
3. Recommends Trend Seeker if you don't have an idea yet; PainOnSocial if you have a niche and need to quantify pain
4. Routes to `/sales-painonsocial` if user wants PainOnSocial-specific help
**Result**: User picks the right tool for their stage

## Troubleshooting

### Validation score seems too low for an idea you know has demand
**Symptom**: You enter a business idea you've seen people request on Reddit, but the validator gives a low score
**Cause**: The validator matches your description against its embeddings database — phrasing matters. It may also not have indexed the specific threads you're thinking of.
**Solution**: Try rephrasing your idea description to match how Reddit users describe the problem (use their words, not product jargon). Try variations — "invoice tool for freelancers" vs "freelancer billing automation" vs "automatic receipt matching". If scores remain low, the demand may exist in communities not yet indexed.

### Free tier ideas lack actionable detail
**Symptom**: You browse ideas but `solution_approach` and `why_now` are redacted
**Cause**: These fields are gated to premium-tier ideas on the free plan
**Solution**: Use the free Idea Validator for your own concepts (basic scores are free). For full idea details, consider the Pro plan. As a workaround, use the idea title and evidence score to find the original Reddit threads manually and r