LinkedIn Thread Engagement

The engagement compounding layer. Tracks which of the user's comments earned author replies, drafts timely follow-ups, and flags the 6-24 hour window where thread momentum is highest.

When to use

• Daily: "What threads need follow-up today?"
• After posting a batch of comments: "Check back in 6 hours"
• When an author replied personally (e.g., Kevin Payne → Serge): "Draft the response"

Input

• User's LinkedIn profile URL (to pull their recent comments)
• Optional: specific post URL to monitor

Output

Daily report

For each warm thread

• Thread preview (last 3 turns)
• Suggested response (drafted via linkedin-reply-handler)
• Reaction target (the specific reply URN, not the post)
• Priority (high / medium / low)

Weekly roll-up

• Total comments posted
• Author-reply rate (target: 15%+)
• Conversion to DM (when thread closes warm)

Steps

1. Fetch user's recent comments via HarvestAPI /linkedin/profile-comments.
2. For each comment posted in last 72h: fetch the parent post's comment tree and look for:
   • Replies to the user's comment
   • Whether the author posted any of those replies
   • Timestamps (time since user's comment, time since latest reply)
3. Classify stage:
   • Hot (\x3C6h): author just replied — respond within 90 min for max thread momentum
   • Warm (6-24h): the Kevin Payne window — author replies most happen here
   • Cool (24-72h): still respondable but lower velocity
   • Dormant (>72h): don't reply in thread; consider DM
4. Draft responses for warm threads using linkedin-reply-handler (which adapts to the active backend per lib.active_backend() — Publora auto-posts, manual mode returns copy-paste, DIY invokes custom poster).
5. Flag suspicious patterns:
   • Author replied but also deleted someone else's comment (author is actively moderating, tread carefully)
   • Commenter is in thread self-promoting (your reply shouldn't engage them)
6. DM routing: if thread is dormant but the author engaged meaningfully, draft a DM that references the thread specifically.

Kevin Payne window

Named after the real 2026-04 data point: Kevin Payne (LawVu CEO) replied to Serge's comment 22h after the original post. This is the sweet spot.

• 0-6h: 70% of author replies happen here if they're going to happen
• 6-24h: ~25% of author replies, but these are higher-quality (author took time to think)
• >24h: thread rarely produces new author engagement

Follow-up timing:

• If author replied in 0-6h window: respond within 90 minutes
• If author replied in 6-24h window: respond within 2 hours (they're still checking)
• If author replied >24h: respond within 4 hours before thread goes cold

Inbound-quality signals

High-quality commenter = worth the follow-up:

• Founder/operator title in profile
• Company in user's ICP
• Active posting history (not just reactions)
• Mutual 2nd-degree connections >10
• Prior thoughtful comments on user's posts

Low-quality = skip:

• Generic praise with no specifics
• Template language ("I'd love to hop on a quick call")
• Profile is sales/agency with no operator history
• Same comment across many creators' posts

Hard rules

• Never reply to a reply later than 72h after the thread's last turn. Switch to DM.
• Never chain 3+ replies under one comment (thread spam).
• If the author deleted their reply, do not reply — they reconsidered.
• Don't DM a warm thread before first replying publicly (skips a step).

Example

Input: monitor sbulaev profile, last 24h

Output:

• 1 warm thread: Kevin Payne replied 14h ago on LawVu post. Current stage: Warm (8-24h). Suggested response ready. Action: post within 2 hours.
• 8 cold threads (no author engagement). Skip.
• 3 watching threads (\x3C6h old, author may still reply). Check again in 3-6h.

Files

• SKILL.md — this file
• references/thread-timing.md — the timing matrix with examples

Related skills

• linkedin-reply-handler — drafts the actual follow-up message
• linkedin-comment-drafter — drafts the initial comment that starts threads