> Markdown version of [/videos/1901-wearedevelopers-live-smoover-who-s-best-at-devrel?t=1625](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1901-wearedevelopers-live-smoover-who-s-best-at-devrel?t=1625). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md).

---

# WeAreDevelopers LIVE - Smoover - Who's Best at DevRel?

Tim Kadenbach argues AI bots are killing traditional developer SEO. Discover how the Smoover index uses LLMs to score DevRel performance and prioritize AI-ready documentation over vanity metrics.

- **Speakers:** [Chris Heilmann](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/@chris-heilmann), [Daniel Cranney](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/@daniel-cranney), [Tim Cadenbach](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/@tim-cadenbach)
- **Event:** WeAreDevelopers LIVE
- **Published:** June 10, 2026
- **Duration:** 56:42
- **URL:** https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1901-wearedevelopers-live-smoover-who-s-best-at-devrel

## Summary

This episode of WeAreDevelopers Live explores the rapidly evolving intersection of developer relations (DevRel) and artificial intelligence. The conversation kicks off with a look at recent industry news, ranging from Cloudflare reporting that bot traffic has officially surpassed human internet traffic to the latest open-source supply chain attacks impacting Microsoft and RedHat. As AI agents increasingly scrape and summarize information behind a "walled garden" where content goes to be consumed without attribution, companies are being forced to rethink traditional SEO in favor of creating truly AI-ready documentation.

To help organizations navigate and measure their effectiveness in this new paradigm, guest Tim Kadenbach introduces Smoover, a novel index designed to evaluate and compare DevRel performance. Instead of relying solely on raw downloads or GitHub stars, Smoover pairs deterministic data scraping with LLM-powered sentiment analysis. It scores companies across pillars like repository health, community engagement, and AI readiness metrics, such as the inclusion of mcp servers and specialized llm text files.

A standout feature is the platform's "DevRel Coach," which offers actionable, finely tuned tasks for improving developer advocacy. Notably, the tool intentionally avoids one-click pull request automation for generating fixes like READMEs or code examples. This deliberate friction reinforces the core philosophy of DevRel: educating developers and prioritizing genuine community building over easily gamified, AI-generated vanity metrics.

**Keywords:** developer relations metrics, ai-ready documentation, bot internet traffic, open source supply chain security, llm xss vulnerabilities, github repository health, llm sentiment analysis, developer community engagement, mcp servers, pull request automation, aws bedrock hackathons, ai content walled gardens, devrel analytics tools, lovable ai development

## Chapters

1. **The rise of in-person meetups amidst AI-generated content** (00:05) — The shift towards physical developer events highlights the growing value of human connection as AI increasingly automates technical content creation.
1. **Anthropic's proposal to slow down artificial intelligence development** (03:06) — A discussion evaluates whether Anthropic's warnings about recursive self-improvement serve as ethical caution or strategic public relations.
1. **The disconnect between AI release cycles and enterprise software** (05:36) — Traditional enterprise systems serving legacy industries resist the pressure to adopt the rapid feature deployment speeds promoted by AI marketing.
1. **Analyzing the surge in internet bot and crawler traffic** (06:36) — Cloudflare reporting that bot activity has overtaken human usage emphasizes how AI agents increasingly consume content as automated scrapers.
1. **Abusing corporate AI chatbots with unauthorized prompt manipulation** (11:50) — Creative prompt engineering against naive corporate chatbots enables unauthorized actions like triggering massive password resets and generating illegitimate pricing logic.
1. **Mitigating supply chain attacks on open source GitHub repositories** (13:13) — A widespread worm mutating through GitHub accounts has forced platforms like Microsoft to delay extension updates to minimize further malicious distribution.
1. **Cross-site scripting vulnerabilities in rendered AI chatbot interfaces** (15:28) — Trusting and rendering raw HTML directly from language model responses bypasses traditional security filtering and revives critical injection vulnerabilities.
1. **AWS hackathon utilizing Amazon Bedrock and Kira IDE** (16:15) — An upcoming developer challenge utilizes TransAgent and Amazon Bedrock models to comprehensively evaluate documentation clarity and baseline onboarding accessibility.
1. **Generating ASCII art branding for AI agent interfaces** (19:16) — Creating retro terminal logos provides persistent visual branding for automated command-line workflows despite modern terminal processing speeds.
1. **Running coding agents entirely on local hardware systems** (20:12) — Deploying intensive framework combinations on personal hardware architectures minimizes the need to rely on centralized query environments and token expenses.
1. **Microsoft integrating native Unix coreutils into Windows environments** (21:40) — The native integration of classic Unix terminal commands provides continuous developers a lightweight alternative to spinning up full WSL architectural environments.
1. **The hidden costs and token billing of AI tools** (23:44) — Scaling corporate AI integrations reveals significant financial burdens as leading platforms finalize the transition strictly toward token-based enterprise billing.
1. **Evaluating tech journalism headlines in a trivia game segment** (27:05) — A casual segment tests the validity of absurd technology news revolving around flawed AI summaries, cryptocurrency accidents, and autonomous vehicle behaviors.
1. **Indexing and comparing developer relations impact using Smoover** (31:12) — A new indexing platform tracks repository health, documentation quality, and community sentiment to visibly quantify and contrast organizational developer relations efforts.
1. **Tracking repository metadata and community velocity over time** (36:16) — Extracting data via automated scripts and language models isolates key developer growth metrics against a backdrop of heavily weighted software giants.
1. **Generating actionable improvements with an automated DevRel coach** (44:22) — The platform's automated coaching tool recommends missing educational resources and underscores the persistent organizational undervaluing of explicit developer advocacy positions.
1. **Assembling the tech stack for scalable indexing workflows** (48:03) — Fusing rapid prototyping platforms with PostgreSQL databases and targeted web scrapers processes daily configuration checks against extensive technical product inventories.
1. **Balancing automated repository fixes with manual developer learning** (51:06) — Requiring engineers to manually execute AI-recommended repository fixes fosters better foundational skills rather than relying on unvetted one-click code generation.

## Related Moments

- [Using artificial intelligence to reimagine developer experience](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1546-ai-pair-programming-with-github-copilot-at-sap-looking-back-looking-forward) (from "AI Pair Programming with GitHub Copilot at SAP: Looking Back, Looking Forward!")
- [Shifting developer workloads and realistic AI productivity gains](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1830-wearedevelopers-live-speculaitions) (from "WeAreDevelopers LIVE - SpeculAItions")
- [Adapting developer relations in the era of generative AI](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1329-bridging-code-and-culture-how-devrel-drives-community-growth-and-employer-branding) (from "Bridging Code and Culture: How DevRel Drives Community Growth and Employer Branding")
- [Security integration and AI skepticism in developer tooling](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1830-wearedevelopers-live-speculaitions) (from "WeAreDevelopers LIVE - SpeculAItions")
- [Adopting AI tools for developer container workflows](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100183-from-build-to-breach-hacking-kubernetes-through-the-supply-chain) (from "From Build to Breach: Hacking Kubernetes Through the Supply Chain")
- [Evaluating direct and long-term AI return on investment](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100253-ai-in-high-stakes-industries-lessons-learned) (from "AI in High-Stakes Industries: Lessons Learned")

## Related Articles

- [Dev Digest 132 - Binging WADFlix?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/473-dev-digest-132-binging-wadflix)
- [Exploring AI: Opportunities and Risks for Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/522-exploring-ai-opportunities-and-risks-for-developers)
- [Dev Digest 137 - AI'm not sure about this](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/485-dev-digest-137-ai-m-not-sure-about-this)
- [WeAreDevelopers Dev Digest Issue 116 - The new search wars…](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/445-wearedevelopers-dev-digest-issue-116-the-new-search-wars)

## Related Jobs

- [Staff Developer Advocate, GitHub Security Lab](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/1921051-staff-developer-advocate-github-security-lab) at **GitHub**
- [Senior Engineer, Infrastructure Platform](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/328836-senior-engineer-infrastructure-platform) at **Intercom, Inc.**
- [Staff Software Engineer, Copilot Experiences](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/164361-staff-software-engineer-copilot-experiences) at **GitHub**
- [Principal Software Engineer, Enterprise AI Platform](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/1467292-principal-software-engineer-enterprise-ai-platform) at **GitHub**
- [Principal Product Manager, Agent Platform](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/277541-principal-product-manager-agent-platform) at **GitHub**
- [Senior AI Agent Software Engineer (Go, Python) (m/f/x)](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/48277-senior-ai-agent-software-engineer-go-python-m-f-x) at **Dynatrace**