What is the best activation metric for developer tools?

A measurable “first success” milestone: a completed install/integration plus one meaningful workflow outcome (artifact created, deploy succeeded, data ingested, etc.).

How do you measure PLG for developer tools beyond signups?

Setup completion, time-to-first-success, repeat use, and team/workspace expansion signals (invites, shared projects, production usage).

Should developer tools use freemium or a free trial?

Freemium often works when developers can succeed on a free tier and value expands with usage. Trials work when premium value is immediate and you can prove it quickly after install.

What is a good “PQL” signal for developer tools?

A good PQL combines proof of first success (install + outcome) with account/team signals like multiple active users, teammate invites, or production usage.

Product-led growth (PLG) for developer tools

How to implement PLG for developer tools (7 steps)

Define a “first success” milestone: install/integration + one meaningful outcome.
Turn docs + onboarding into a measurable setup journey (not a feature tour).
Instrument setup completion and first success with a small event schema.
Track both individual and workspace/team signals (invites, shared projects).
Reduce time-to-value by removing setup friction and improving defaults.
Introduce monetization at team/production usage, not at experimentation.
Review weekly: setup drop-offs, first success rate, and expansion triggers.

Common pains

These are the recurring bottlenecks we see when teams try to “do PLG” for developer tools without a stable model and measurable milestones.

Docs and onboarding are not connected to real in-product milestones.
You can’t tell individual adoption from team adoption.

Activation milestones

Define activation as a small set of outcomes that predict retention or upgrade. Avoid generic “logged in” style events.

First successful integration / install.
First artifact created (project, dashboard, pipeline, etc.).
Second use within a short period (habit signal).
Invite / share with teammate (expansion signal).

Example

Activation definition: An account is activated when it completes a successful integration and produces its first meaningful artifact/output.

Time-to-value target: Under 15 minutes for local/dev mode success

First success event: first_success_completed

Expansion trigger: workspace_invite_sent or production_usage_detected

Instrumentation notes

Ship PLG as a system: events and traits stay stable while copy and templates evolve.

Track both user-level and workspace/team-level milestones.
Instrument “setup completion” so docs improvements are measurable.

Example event schema

install_succeeded
A developer successfully installs/initializes the tool.
Properties: runtime, env
integration_connected
First integration is connected.
Properties: integration, env
first_success_completed
First meaningful artifact/output is produced.
Properties: artifact_type, time_since_signup_seconds
workspace_invite_sent
User invites a teammate.
Properties: invite_count

Pricing and packaging

Keep early experimentation cheap; monetize team and production usage.
Use value-based limits aligned to real developer workflows.

Upgrade trigger examples

Need team features (shared workspaces, permissions, governance).
Move from local test to production usage.
Hit reliability/scale needs tied to real workflow throughput.

Common mistakes

Measuring only signups instead of setup completion and first success.
Treating dev adoption as one user, not an account/team journey.

How Skene supports this motion

Skene turns your codebase into onboarding journeys, milestones, and analytics. This lets you ship PLG mechanics without wiring everything by hand.

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