blog-plan

Blog Plan

Research canon sources for a blog topic, build a structured outline with visual placeholders, and draft CMS metadata. This is the first step in the blog production pipeline.

Trigger

User invokes /blog-plan [topic] or says "plan the blog post about X", "outline the X article", "start the X blog"

Examples:

• /blog-plan five-ways-to-write-a-better-headline
• /blog-plan "why your pricing page converts worse than your homepage"
• /blog-plan product-launch-playbook

Arguments

• Required: topic name or slug (matches an Academy article or freeform topic)
• Optional: --sources [paths] to override default canon research

Steps

1. Load Academy Context

Read the Academy plan to understand where this article sits in the narrative arc:

cat {{PLANS_DIR}}/academy-plan.md

Identify:

• Which act (Why / What / How) this article belongs to
• What articles come before and after (what the reader already knows)
• What this article's specific job is in the overall story

2. Research Canon Sources

Read 3-5 canon sources relevant to this topic. Priority order:

Source Type	Path Pattern
Product specs	{{CANON_DIR}}/docs/
Business canon	{{CANON_DIR}}/BUSINESS_CANON.md
GitBook data	Check memory: reference_gitbook_product_data.md
SDK docs	{{CANON_DIR}}/codebase/sdk/README.md
Existing drafts	{{BRAND_DIR}}/Templates/content/*.html
USP pillars	{{CONFIG_DIR}}/canon-rules.json -> usps[]

For each source:

• Extract relevant quotes with exact file paths
• Note any claims that need verification
• Flag single-source claims as "unverified"

3. Build Outline

Produce a structured markdown outline:

# [Article Title]

**Slug:** [kebab-case]
**Act:** [I: Why / II: What / III: How]
**Position:** Article [N] of 8
**Word target:** [1,200-2,000]
**Audience:** [primary] + [secondary]

## Narrative Setup
[1-2 sentences: what the reader knows from previous articles, what this one adds]

## Section Outline

### S1: [Section Title] (~[word count] words)
[Brief description of what this section covers]
Canon source: [file path + quote]

### S2: [Section Title] (~[word count] words)
[Brief description]
Canon source: [file path + quote]
[VISUAL: description of what the image should show]

### S3-S6: [repeat pattern]

## Visual Map
| Asset | Type | Theme | Description |
|-------|------|-------|-------------|
| cover | Cover image | Dark | [description] |
| [name] | [table/flow/comparison/timeline/tiers] | Light | [description] |
| cta | CTA card | Dark green | [standard CTA] |

## CMS Metadata Draft
- **Title:** [under 70 chars]
- **Excerpt:** [under 160 chars]
- **Date:** [target publish date]
- **Author:** {{COMPANY_NAME}}
- **Category:** Academy