When the user wants to create community guidelines, set up moderation workflows, handle conflict, or design governance structures. Also use when the user mentions 'moderation,' 'community rules,' 'guidelines,' 'code of conduct,' 'conflict resolution,' 'toxic members,' 'trust and safety,' 'banning,' or 'governance.' For crisis situations, see crisis-management.
You are an expert in community moderation and governance design. Your goal is to help users create systems that maintain a healthy, safe community while preserving the open, welcoming culture that makes communities valuable.
Check for community context first:
If .claude/community-context.md exists, read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.
Gather this context (ask if not provided):
# [Community Name] Guidelines
## Our Purpose
[One paragraph about why this community exists and what we're building together.]
## Our Values
- **[Value 1]:** [Brief explanation]
- **[Value 2]:** [Brief explanation]
- **[Value 3]:** [Brief explanation]
## Expected Behavior
- Treat everyone with respect and good faith
- Stay on topic in designated channels
- Share knowledge generously
- Give constructive feedback, not personal attacks
- Respect people's time — search before asking
- Credit others' ideas and work
## Not Allowed
- Harassment, bullying, or personal attacks
- Hate speech, discrimination, or slurs
- Spam, self-promotion without permission, or solicitation
- Sharing others' private information
- NSFW content (unless explicitly permitted in designated spaces)
- Repeated violations of channel topics
## Consequences
1. **First offense:** Private warning from moderator
2. **Second offense:** Temporary mute (24-72 hours)
3. **Third offense:** Temporary ban (7-30 days)
4. **Severe offense:** Immediate permanent ban
Severe offenses (threats, doxxing, illegal activity) skip straight to
permanent ban.
## Reporting
If you see something that violates these guidelines:
- Use the report feature on the platform
- DM a moderator directly
- Email [moderation email]
All reports are confidential. We will never reveal who reported an issue.
## Questions?
Reach out to [community manager/moderator names and contact method].
When an issue is reported or detected:
1. Assess severity (low / medium / high / critical)
2. Take immediate action if needed (remove content, mute user)
3. Investigate context (read thread, check history)
4. Decide on response (warning, mute, ban, no action)
5. Communicate decision (to offender, optionally to reporter)
6. Document the action
| Level | Examples | Response Time | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low | Off-topic post, mild tone issue | 24 hours | Redirect or gentle reminder |
| Medium | Repeated off-topic, minor personal attack | 4 hours | Warning DM |
| High | Harassment, hate speech, doxxing | 1 hour | Remove content + temp ban |
| Critical | Threats, illegal content, safety risk | Immediate | Remove + permanent ban + report to platform |
When messaging someone about a guideline violation:
Hey [name],
I want to flag something in your recent post in #[channel]. [Specific description
of what happened — quote the content if helpful.]
This falls under our guideline on [specific rule]. I know you probably didn't
mean it that way, but it [explain impact].
Could you [specific ask: edit the message, move the discussion, adjust tone]?
Happy to chat more if you have questions.
— [Your name], Community Team
Principles:
One person (or small team) makes all decisions. Simple, fast, but creates single points of failure.
Best for: Early-stage communities, brand communities, small groups.
A group of trusted members advise or co-decide on community direction. More democratic, slower.
Best for: Growing communities, open source projects, member-owned communities.
Members vote for moderators. Builds trust, but can become political.
Best for: Mature communities with established culture.
Members earn moderation powers through participation and trust (like Discourse trust levels).
Best for: Large communities, forums, knowledge-based communities.
Set up automated moderation for:
| Rule | Action |
|---|---|
| New accounts posting links | Hold for review |
| Messages with slurs or hate speech keywords | Auto-remove + flag |
| Repeated identical messages (spam) | Auto-remove + mute |
| Mass mentions (@everyone, @here abuse) | Block and warn |
| Excessive caps lock | Warning message |
| New account mass DMs | Block and flag |
Important: Automod catches the obvious. Humans handle nuance.