Protected modmail flow that helps moderators safely review aggressive conversations through calm summaries and safer review controls.
Protected moderation review workflow with blurred previews, safe summaries, and controlled reveal actions before moderator exposure.

Hey mod, all good

Inspiration

Reddit moderators protect communities every day, but while exploring moderation workflows we realized something important: most moderation systems are designed to protect the platform and the community, not the moderators themselves.

Moderators regularly review harassment, disturbing imagery, aggressive modmail, and emotionally difficult reports. In many workflows, harmful content appears instantly before a moderator has any context about what they are about to see.

We wanted to explore a different idea: What if moderation tools could reduce emotional overload instead of increasing it?

That became the foundation for Hey mod, all good — a protected moderation review workflow designed to help moderators review sensitive content more safely.

What it does

Hey mod, all good is a Devvit moderation companion that adds a protected review layer on top of Reddit’s existing moderation workflow.

When reported or suspicious content enters the moderation flow, the app scans the item and creates a protected review card with:

Safe AI-generated summaries
Blurred image previews
Emotional risk indicators
Controlled reveal actions
Moderator approve/remove actions synced directly to Reddit

Instead of instantly exposing moderators to raw harmful content, the app provides context first and exposure second.

The project also supports modmail review, allowing moderators to see calm summaries of aggressive conversations before opening the original messages.

The goal is not to replace moderators or automate moderation decisions. The goal is to create a safer and calmer moderation experience while keeping moderators fully in control.

How we built it

We built the project using Reddit Devvit with a React + TypeScript dashboard interface.

The app integrates with moderation workflows through:

Mod queue polling
Reports
Modmail analysis
Scheduler-based scanning

We used:

Devvit
TypeScript
React
Tailwind CSS
Devvit Redis
Gemini API

Redis is used for queue persistence, deduplication, and protected review state storage. Gemini is used to generate concise moderation-safe summaries and classify emotional risk levels.

One of the biggest design goals was making the product feel like a moderation companion rather than a moderation replacement.

Challenges we ran into

One of the biggest challenges was understanding Reddit’s real moderation flow and designing around Devvit platform limitations.

Initially, we tried building a completely separate moderation dashboard, but we realized moderators already have established workflows through the mod queue and modmail systems. Instead of replacing those tools, we shifted toward building a protected review layer that integrates naturally into existing moderation behavior.

Another challenge was balancing automation with moderator trust. We intentionally avoided fully automated moderation actions because false positives in moderation systems can create serious problems for communities.

We also had to rethink how moderators interact with harmful content. The UX challenge became less about “detecting toxicity” and more about reducing sudden emotional exposure while preserving moderator control.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud that the project evolved from a simple moderation dashboard into a moderation wellbeing tool.

Some highlights we are especially proud of:

Building a protected review workflow directly inside Reddit moderation systems
Creating blurred preview and controlled reveal interactions
Syncing moderation actions back to Reddit from the protected dashboard
Supporting both reported posts and modmail review flows
Designing around emotional safety rather than pure moderation efficiency

Most importantly, we are proud that the project focuses on the humans behind moderation.

What we learned

This project changed how we think about moderation tools.

We learned that moderation is not only a technical workflow — it is also an emotional workflow. Existing systems are optimized for speed and enforcement, but moderators also need protection from burnout, emotional fatigue, and repeated exposure to harmful content.

We also learned a lot about designing inside existing platform constraints. Working with Devvit forced us to think carefully about how to extend Reddit workflows instead of trying to replace them.

What's next for Hey mod, all good

We would love to continue expanding the protected review workflow with:

Better moderator customization controls
Improved modmail interception flows
Team-level moderation wellness insights
More advanced image risk analysis
Better queue prioritization systems
Community-specific moderation modes

Long term, we believe moderation tools should not only protect communities — they should also protect the moderators who keep those communities healthy.

Protecting the people who protect communities.