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Sahil Singh
Sahil Singh

Posted on • Originally published at getglueapp.com

Building an Awesome List That Actually Gets Stars (Step-by-Step)

A few months ago, I decided to start an awesome list. Not because I thought I'd become famous--mostly because I was frustrated that no single repository existed as a definitive guide to codebase intelligence tools and practices. I wanted to solve my own problem and maybe help others along the way.

Fast forward six months: the awesome-codebase-intelligence list has earned over 2,500 GitHub stars, gets contributions from developers worldwide, and was featured in several newsletters. More importantly, it's become a genuine resource people refer to when evaluating tools.

I've learned what makes awesome lists succeed and what makes them fade into obscurity. Here's exactly how I built it--the strategy, the execution, and the specific steps that actually work.

Why Awesome Lists Matter

Awesome lists aren't just vanity projects. They're discovery engines for the developer community. When someone needs to evaluate a new technology category, they often search "awesome [topic]" on GitHub before they Google it. Awesome lists rank well in both GitHub's search and Google's index.

For project maintainers, an awesome list mention means traffic, credibility, and potential users. For developers, a well-curated list saves hours of research. For the person who creates it, it's community building at its finest.

But here's what I discovered: most awesome lists stagnate. They start with enthusiasm, pick up 100-200 stars, then plateau. The creators get busy. Updates become sporadic. Contributions slow down. The repository becomes a time capsule rather than a living resource.

The difference between a list that gets 500 stars and one that gets 5,000? It's not luck. It's strategy applied consistently.

Step 1: Choose a Niche Worth Owning

The first instinct is to choose a broad topic. "Awesome DevTools" or "Awesome Backend Frameworks." Don't do this. You'll compete with established lists that have network effects and a decade of momentum.

Instead, look for the white space. Find a topic that:

  1. Has growing demand -- Something developers are actively searching for and discussing
  2. Has clear boundaries -- You can define what goes in and what doesn't
  3. Isn't already owned -- Check if an awesome list for your topic already exists
  4. Serves a specific audience -- Not "developers" but "DevOps engineers interested in container orchestration"

Narrow your focus ruthlessly. A list with 150 carefully chosen items beats a list with 500 items where you're not sure why half of them are included.

Step 2: Research Methodology -- Be Scientific About Curation

This is where most awesome lists fail. They become "a list of tools I've heard of" rather than "the definitive guide to this topic."

First, define your inclusion criteria. For codebase intelligence, I decided a tool must:

  • Address at least one aspect of understanding, monitoring, or improving codebases
  • Have active maintenance (commits in the last 6 months)
  • Be open-source or have meaningful community adoption
  • Solve a real problem (no vaporware or abandoned projects)

Second, do the research. I spent two weeks:

  • Scrolling GitHub with relevant search terms
  • Checking Product Hunt, Hacker News, and Reddit for discussions
  • Reading research papers on code complexity and maintainability
  • Talking to actual developers about what tools they use

Third, evaluate everything personally. Don't add a tool based on description alone. Clone the repo, read the docs, understand what it actually does.

Fourth, look for patterns. As you research, you'll notice natural categories emerge. Don't force them.

Step 3: Structure and Categories -- Make It Skimmable

The best awesome lists are navigable in under two minutes. A developer should be able to scan the table of contents and find what they need immediately.

For awesome-codebase-intelligence, I organized by:

  • Core Concepts -- What codebase intelligence actually is
  • Code Analysis & Metrics -- SonarQube, Semgrep, CodeClimate
  • Documentation Tools -- Mintlify, Docusaurus, Typedoc
  • Onboarding & Knowledge -- Backstage, Port, codebase-health-score
  • Monitoring & Trends -- Grafana, Datadog, custom dashboards
  • Research & Reading -- Academic papers, articles, benchmarks
  • Contributing -- How to add to the list

Each category has 8-15 items (not 50). Each item has: name, one-line description, GitHub link, and 2-3 sentences on why it matters.

Step 4: Contribution Guidelines -- Make Contributing Friction-Free

Most awesome lists have generic "how to contribute" sections that nobody reads. Make yours specific and friendly.

Lower the barrier to contribution. Don't require a specific commit message format or extensive justification. Make it as simple as: "Here's a tool, here's why it matters, here's the link."

I respond to every PR within 48 hours, either merging it or explaining why it doesn't fit. This encourages more contributions.

Step 5: Getting on the Official Awesome List

There's a meta-awesome-list: awesome-awesomeness. Getting listed there is a multiplier.

The process:

  1. Make sure your list meets the awesome criteria
  2. Submit a PR to awesome-awesomeness with your list
  3. Wait for review (this can take weeks)

My list got approved because I'd already done the work: consistent formatting, thoughtful curation, clear contribution guidelines, and an active maintenance commitment.

Step 6: Promotion Strategy -- Get People to Know It Exists

Here's the unsexy truth: a great awesome list that nobody knows about gets zero stars.

I promoted awesome-codebase-intelligence through:

GitHub: I added it to every relevant discussion. Not as spam, but as a genuine resource.

Twitter/X: Short, genuine posts. Nothing salesy, just sharing work I'm proud of.

Dev Communities: I posted to Dev.to, Hacker News, engineering subreddits, and Discord communities.

Backlinks: I wrote blog posts that naturally referenced the list.

Collaborators: I reached out to maintainers of popular tools in the list and asked if they'd share it with their community. Most said yes.

The key: every mention was authentic.

Step 7: What Separates 500-Star Lists from 5,000-Star Lists

By month three, I had ~1,000 stars. By month six, 2,500. Here's what created the jump:

Consistency. I updated the list weekly. Added new tools, fixed broken links, responded to issues.

Community involvement. I didn't gatekeep contributions. People star lists they've contributed to.

SEO and discoverability. I optimized the README for search. When someone searched "codebase health metrics," the list ranked #3 on Google by month four.

Strategic partnerships. One mention in a 100K-subscriber newsletter drove 300 stars in a week.

Genuine value. Make sure each item deserves to be there. Quality over quantity.

The Long Game

Building an awesome list isn't a sprint. It's a sustained effort that pays off when you're consistent. I spend 2-3 hours every week on it now.

If you're thinking about starting an awesome list:

  1. Pick a niche worth owning. Don't fight battles in crowded categories.
  2. Do the research. Actually evaluate the tools you include.
  3. Make contributing easy. Let the community help you maintain it.
  4. Be consistent. Show up weekly, not monthly.
  5. Promote authentically. Share it because it's genuinely useful.

The best awesome lists aren't built by people who wanted to be famous. They're built by people who wanted to solve a problem and happened to share the solution with the world.

Good luck with yours.

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