GROWTH PATTERN

Building Activation Loops for Kinde

Kinde handles authentication well, but there's a critical gap: you can't automatically detect when a user transitions from 'signed up' to 'actually using your product.'

Kinde

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What's Missing in Standard Kinde Architecture

While Kinde handles authentication correctly, there's no built-in system to detect when users complete their first value milestone. You'd need to manually track user actions or set up custom event monitoring.

Standard Kinde Flow vs Optimized Skene Flow

Standard Flow
1

User signs up via Kinde

2

User record created in your database

3

No automatic trigger - manual follow-up required

Skene Flow
1

Watch your database 'users' table for new signups using standard API

2

Detect when user completes first key action (e.g., making their first API call) using your database queries

3

Trigger activation email sequence via Resend with personalized onboarding

4

Track activation completion and send milestone emails

Visual comparison of the flows:

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How Skene Fixes This

The Skene setup for Kinde watches your database events and triggers activation workflows when users hit key milestones. It uses standard API to send personalized onboarding sequences that guide users to their first value moment.

Implementation Comparison

Using Skene Infrastructure

Install via Prompt

cursor.mdc
@task: Initialize Skene.
@action: Analyze my local code, validating subscription via `npx skene login`, and generate `skene.config.ts` to implement the Activation Loop pattern for Kinde.

Copy Skene Prompt for Cursor

Generated skene.config.ts

skene.config.ts
// skene.config.ts - The Automated Way
import { defineLoop } from '@skene/sdk';

export default defineLoop({
  type: 'activation',
  opinion: 'Detect when users complete their first key action and trigger personalized onboarding',
  steps: [
    {
      trigger: {
        type: 'database',
        table: 'users',
        event: 'insert'
      },
      condition: {
        type: 'query',
        query: `SELECT * FROM user_actions WHERE user_id = $1 AND action_type = 'first_project_created'`,
        timeout: '5m'
      },
      action: {
        type: 'email',
        provider: 'resend',
        template: 'activation_welcome',
        personalization: {
          name: '{{user.name}}',
          activationLink: '{{user.activation_link}}'
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  recovery: {
    retries: 3,
    backoff: 'exponential'
  }
});

Frequently asked questions