ReddWall

ReddWall is a Devvit moderation tool that helps moderators preview, lock, remove, and protect risky Reddit threads during raids, brigading, heated arguments, or spam bursts.

Comment

Inspiration

Moderating a fast-moving Reddit thread can turn into a scramble. A single post can pick up spam, repeated rule-breaking replies, dogpiling, or brigading faster A moderator can open every branch and clean it by hand. The goal for ReddWall was to give moderators a way to contain the risky part of a discussion quickly while still seeing the scope before anything changes.

ReddWall is built around a simple idea: contain first, clean with context.

What it does

ReddWall adds native Reddit moderator actions for two common containment moments:

  • Wall off thread starts from a selected comment and targets that comment Plus its replies.
  • Raise ReddWall starts from a post and can target the full comment section.

Before running an action, moderators get a preview of how many comments would be affected. They can lock comments, remove comments, or do both. They can also Limit the action to comments containing specific phrases, protect distinguished mod and admin comments, lock the post, and apply strict crowd control for a post-level incident.

ReddWall also records recent previews and live moderation runs in the subreddit activity history, including target counts, skipped comments, selected options, and partial failures.

How we built it

ReddWall is a Devvit Web app built with TypeScript. The app defines a moderator menu actions, native forms, subreddit install settings, and an install trigger through devvit.json. A Hono server handles the internal Devvit endpoints for opening forms, validating submissions, running moderation actions, and showing recent activity.

The core moderation logic collects the target comment tree, applies safety filters, and then either returns a preview summary or runs the selected actions in bounded batches. Devvit Redis stores the recent activity history, while Devvit subreddit settings store defaults like preview mode, phrase filters, comment lock/remove behavior, post lock behavior, and strict crowd control.

The project also includes focused Vitest coverage for the core helpers, settings behavior, batching logic, and audit log behavior.

Challenges we ran into

The hardest part was balancing speed with moderator safety. A bulk moderation The tool should never feel like a blind button, so preview mode became the default instead of an extra option. We also separated the lock and removed controls, protected distinguished comments by default, and added phrase targeting so moderators can narrow the action when only one repeated spam pattern needs cleanup.

Another challenge was handling partial failures cleanly. A large thread can have comments that fail to lock or remove for different reasons, so ReddWall processes comment actions in batches and reports failures without losing the rest of the run.

What we learned

Building ReddWall made the moderation workflow feel very concrete. The useful part of the tool is not just that it can act on many comments at once; it is that It keeps the moderator inside Reddit, makes the blast radius visible, and leaves behind a short audit trail for the team.

What's next

The next step is to playtest ReddWall with more realistic incident threads and Polish the activity history into a richer review surface. Future improvements could include saved incident presets, clearer summaries for repeated phrase matches, and better handoff notes for teams reviewing a contained thread after the immediate rush is over.

Built With

  • Devvit
  • Reddit API
  • Devvit Redis
  • TypeScript
  • Hono
  • React
  • Vite
  • Vitest
  • ESLint
  • Zod

Project Impact

Communities:

  • TODO: r/<community-one>.
  • TODO: r/<community-two.>.
  • TODO: r/<community-three> or remove this line

ReddWall shortens the path from spotting a thread that is spiraling to getting it contained. It keeps the moderator inside Reddit, replaces repetitive comment-by-comment cleanup with a guided action, and exposes the target count before changes land. That combination helps moderators react faster while still being deliberate about scope.

This is especially useful for communities that run fast-moving discussions, high-visibility posts, event threads, or comment sections where repeated spam And pile-ons can spread before a moderator can clean every branch by hand.

Core Features

  • Native moderator actions for a comment thread or whole post.
  • Preview-first target summaries.
  • Separate the lock and remove controls.
  • Optional phrase targeting.
  • Distinguished comment protection.
  • Optional post-lock and strict crowd control.
  • Redis-backed recent activity history.
  • Subreddit install settings for default phrases and safety toggles.
  • Batched comment mutation with partial-failure reporting.

Built With

Share this project:

Updates