When people talk about Developer Relations (DevRel), GitHub stars are usually the first metric they throw around.
And yeah, they’re flashy. They look great in investor decks and executive dashboards.
But honestly? Stars can be a vanity metric. They don’t always reflect impact or engagement.
Here’s what I’ve learned actually matters when you want to measure the real success of DevRel work:
1. Developers Building in Public
When devs start tweeting about the cool project they built using your API or SDK — that’s success.
Bonus if they share screenshots, tag your team, or drop your product into their YouTube demo.
Real signal: “Just built this wallet connector in 15 mins thanks to @Xdevrel’s docs
”
2. Tutorials That Drive First Success
Good DevRel = reducing time-to-first-success.
Track how often your tutorials or quickstarts are completed. Ask devs: “How easy was it to get started?”
If they’re not rage-quitting halfway through, you’re doing it right.
Pro tip: Add subtle CTAs in tutorials to capture feedback or offer support at key steps.
3. Community Contributions
Look for signs of life in your ecosystem:
- PRs to your repo
- Issues with meaningful discussion
- Devs submitting bug fixes or doc updates
- People volunteering to write guides or translate docs
This is 10x more powerful than passive usage. It shows ownership.
4. Support That Scales Through the Community
When you see a question pop up in Discord or your forum — and another dev (not staff) answers it — that’s peak DevRel.
It means the community is engaged and empowered.
You’ve gone from “support team” to “dev enablement multiplier.”
5. DevRel as a Product Feedback Engine
If you’re channeling feedback from devs into product improvements, you’re doing strategic DevRel — not just surface-level engagement.
Start tracking:
- Feature requests from devs → features shipped
- Bug reports that lead to fixes
- Confusion points that improve onboarding
This loop is gold for product-market fit.
6. Talks, Podcasts, and Office Hours That Spark Action
It’s not about views or claps — it’s about outcomes.
Did your talk lead to people signing up? Did your podcast episode drive devs to try something new?
Use UTM links, follow-up surveys, or just plain community observation to track it.
7. Retention > Reach
You don’t need 10,000 devs in your Discord.
You need 100 who keep coming back, build consistently, and bring others in.
One retained dev who builds weekly > 50 one-time visitors who star your repo and bounce.
8. Internal Buy-In and Cross-Team Impact
If the PM team is asking for DevRel feedback, or the marketing team wants your help for launch messaging — that means your work is being recognized internally, not just externally.
This is often invisible success, but it’s powerful.
TL;DR:
DevRel success isn’t loud. It’s quiet, consistent, and based on real dev behavior:
- Building stuff
- Contributing back
- Showing up
- Sharing wins
- Giving feedback
- Teaching others
And yeah, stars are fine. Just don’t let them be the only thing you’re tracking.
