Real-time mod queue coordination for Reddit communities. Stop working on the same post twice.
Research presented at CHI 2026 surveyed 110 Reddit moderators across 400+ subreddits and found:
74.5% of moderators regularly experience collisions - multiple mods acting on the same queue item simultaneously, wasting effort and creating conflicting decisions.
Mods work around this by refreshing the queue more often, working in reverse order, or coordinating after the fact in Discord. None of it actually solves the problem.
ModSync does.
ModSync adds a lightweight real-time coordination layer on top of the Reddit mod queue. When a mod claims a post or comment for review, their entire team sees it instantly - no more stepping on each other.
👁️ Claim - Mark an item as under review. The post's flair immediately updates to [Claimed] u/YourUsername - every mod scrolling the queue sees exactly who has it without opening the post.
🔍 Investigate - Need to leave the queue to dig into a user's history? Upgrade to Investigating. Extends your hold to 30 min and updates flair to [Investigating] u/YourUsername.
✓ Release - Drop the claim when done. The original flair is restored exactly as it was, including any user-set flair.
- Atomic claim acquisition - Redis
SET NXensures only one mod can claim an item at a time. No race conditions. - Live flair indicators - Posts show
[Claimed] u/ModNameor[Investigating] u/ModNamedirectly in the feed. Any mod scrolling the queue sees who has what at a glance. - Auto-release on action - When a mod removes or approves an item, their claim releases automatically. No manual cleanup.
- TTL-based expiry - Claims expire after 5 minutes (configurable). Stale claims never block the queue.
- Live dashboard - A pinned custom post shows all active claims, recent activity, and which mods are online, updated in real time.
- Collision warnings - If a mod tries to claim something already taken, they see exactly who has it and how long ago they claimed it.
- Daily digest - Optional modmail summary of team activity sent every morning.
Mod A opens queue -> clicks "Claim for Review"
└─ Redis SET NX claim:subId:postId { mod, status, TTL: 5min }
└─ Post flair -> "[Claimed] u/ModA"
└─ Realtime broadcast -> all open dashboards update
Mod B opens same post -> clicks "Claim for Review"
└─ Redis SET NX returns null (already claimed)
└─ Toast: "u/ModA is already reviewing this (claimed 30s ago)"
└─ Mod B moves on
Mod A removes post via normal Reddit UI
└─ ModAction trigger fires
└─ Claim auto-released
└─ Post flair restored to original
└─ Activity log updated
Install directly from the Reddit App Directory.
Once installed, go to your subreddit, open the menu, and select New ModSync Dashboard to create and pin the live coordination board.
All items are mod-only and appear in the context menu on posts and comments.
| Action | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Claim for Review | Post, Comment | Claim an item. Sets flair with your username. TTL: 5 min (configurable). |
| Mark: Investigating | Post, Comment | Upgrade to investigating hold. TTL: 30 min. |
| Release Claim | Post, Comment | Release your claim early and restore original flair. |
| ModSync Dashboard | Subreddit | Open the live coordination dashboard. |
| New ModSync Dashboard | Subreddit | Create and auto-pin a new dashboard post. |
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Claim duration | 5 min | How long a "Claim for Review" holds before expiring |
| Investigating duration | 30 min | How long an "Investigating" hold lasts |
| Auto-release on action | On | Release claim automatically when mod takes action |
| Daily activity digest | Off | Send morning modmail summary to mod team |
- Devvit - Reddit's native developer platform
- Redis - Atomic claim state with TTL expiry
- Realtime channels - Live dashboard updates across all connected mods
- TypeScript
ModSync is directly informed by:
"Think about it like you're a firefighter": Understanding How Reddit Moderators Use the Modqueue CHI 2026, ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
The paper surveyed 110 moderators across 400+ subreddits, identifying queue collisions as the most consistent and unresolved pain point in Reddit moderation workflows.
Built for the Reddit Mod Tools & Migrated Apps Hackathon 2026