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rating-prompt-strategy

Design when and to whom an app Product asks for a rating so the volume of 4–5 star ratings rises.

Written by Kwern, after the skill of the same name in Eronred's aso-skills, MIT. Updated 2026-10-03.

The file, as Kwern runs it

Nothing below is rewritten or cut. The description a model routes on comes first, then the file itself. The whole thing, frontmatter included, is at /skills/rating-prompt-strategy.md.

description

Design when and to whom an app Product asks for a rating so the volume of 4–5 star ratings rises. Use for "rating prompt", "SKStoreReviewController", "ask for review", "get more ratings", "recover from a rating drop", "reset ratings for the new version". For answering existing reviews, use review-management.

Ratings are a ranking signal and the first thing a searcher compares. The lever is timing: prompting a user who just experienced value yields 4–5 stars, prompting a first-session user yields the 1-star that costs conversion for a version. Output is a prompt strategy brief with an implementation checklist; when the User asks, the checklist becomes a PR brief on the connected repo.

Gather

  1. read_context — activation event, core loop, success moments, current version and what it changed.
  2. app_store_listing — current rating and rating count. The current velocity is today's count against the count a past report from read_outputs recorded; with none, say the velocity is unknown and write today's count into the brief for the next Run.
  3. connector_asc_analytics when the ASC Connector exists — ratings per period, retention curve (when users are still around to be asked), conversion baseline. Without it, velocity is rating count at the last two snapshots, and say the ASC Connector would add the per-day trend.
  4. connector_asc_reviews when available (fallback app_store_reviews) — which versions the 1–3 star reviews cluster on, and what they name.

Design

Apply the rules in references/prompt-rules.md — read it before designing: SKStoreReviewController limits, eligibility criteria, success moments per app type, pre-prompt survey, version reset, and the recovery timeline.

  1. Success moments — one to three events from the Foundation doc where the user has just gained something. Each is named as an analytics event with its condition.
  2. Eligibility gate — sessions, days since install, activation completed, clean last session, not yet asked this version.
  3. Pre-prompt survey — one question ("Enjoying [Product]?"); "yes" calls the native prompt, "not really" opens the feedback form. Recommend it by default; skip only when the Foundation doc reports a rating ≥ 4.7 with healthy velocity.
  4. Frequency — 1–2 calls per version, at most 3 per 365 days per device, one per session.
  5. Version reset — recommend it only when the current version fixes the issues the low reviews name.
  6. Recovery plan — when the rating is below 4.0 or dropped ≥ 0.3 in 30d: version diagnosed, fix, replies via review-management, then a filtered prompt campaign at the most engaged segment.

Output: prompt strategy brief

Rating: X.X (N ratings) · velocity: N/week · trend vs previous version
Success moments: event → condition (1–3)
Pre-prompt survey: yes/no, wording
Eligibility gate: sessions ≥ N · days ≥ N · activation done · no crash last session · not asked this version
Frequency: N per version · one per session
Version reset: yes/no and why
Expected outcome: +X stars over N weeks
Recovery plan (when rating < 4.0): fix · replies · campaign start and segment

Then the implementation checklist: events to track, the gate as a boolean, the requestReview(in:) call site, the survey screen, the feedback form route, and the analytics to confirm it fires. On request, wrap it as a PR brief (files, acceptance criteria) for the connected repo.

Done when every success moment maps to a named event, the gate lists all six criteria with values, the frequency respects Apple's limit, and the brief names the velocity source (connector_asc_analytics or snapshots).

  • review-management — reply to the reviews a recovery depends on.
  • onboarding — activation problems that produce first-session 1-stars.
  • churn-prevention — engaged users are the ones worth asking.
  • subscription-lifecycle — a converted subscriber at renewal is a strong moment.

What it discloses

The Skill reads these files only when it needs them, so the model spends nothing on them the rest of the time.

  • references/prompt-rules.md

From your accounts to a proposal

  1. 01

    Connect what it reads

    Give the ASO agent the accounts it works on. Kwern never asks for a password, and an agent missing a connection says so instead of guessing.

  2. 02

    The loop runs weekly

    Before it writes a word it reads the foundation doc, which holds the positioning, the audience and the voice, and whatever its connectors return that day.

  3. 03

    The rating-prompt-strategy skill runs

    The agent activates it when the run calls for it, and what the model then reads is the file on this page, word for word.

  4. 04

    A proposal waits for you

    Nothing is published and nothing is spent until you approve it. Approve and Kwern posts it where it holds the keys; where it does not, it hands you the text and the link.

The file, the agency, and the agent

On your ownAn agencyKwern
The methodWhatever you remember to do that weekTheirs, and you never get to read itThis file, open on this page
Who runs itYou, when there is timeAn account manager, between other accountsThe ASO agent, weekly
What it readsWhat you can pull by handWhat you remembered to send themYour connected accounts and your foundation doc
What comes outA draft, sometimesA deck, and a report at the end of the monthA proposal you approve or throw away
What it costsYour eveningsA retainerOne subscription, and the model on your own key

Questions about rating-prompt-strategy

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Someone is asking for what you built today.

On Reddit, on X, in ChatGPT's answers. Kwern finds them every morning and drafts the reply in your voice; you decide what goes out.