/kai-newsletter — An Edition Subscribers Open Twice

Objective

A send-ready newsletter edition: one lead story worth the open, two or three supporting items, one primary CTA, a subject line and preview text that work as a pair, and a segment and send time chosen on purpose. The edition earns the next open — the footer sets expectations for what comes next and when.

Done when

Work type email-lifecycle — floor E5/C3/O3 (harness/eco-floors.yaml, contract harness/skill-contracts/email-lifecycle.yaml).

• E5 — the ESP reports the send completed with a recipient count reconciled to the approved segment, verified by someone other than the producer. An edition approved in a file is E3.
• C3 — four_us_score ≥ 10/16, zero Tier 1 banned words, no AI slop, and a named non-producer reads the edition end to end. Unsubscribe handling and sender identity are a C4 field-standard item, not a lint pass — check them against harness/references/advertising-compliance.md before send.
• O3 — open rate, click rate, reply rate, unsubscribe rate, or revenue per recipient read from the ESP at the 14-day window against a threshold declared before send.

Constraints

• Subject line: under 50 characters, no spam trigger words, no ALL CAPS. Generate 5+ candidates and pick with a stated rationale.
• Preview text complements the subject line. It never repeats it.
• One primary CTA per edition, one secondary at most. Specific action, not "learn more".
• Gates before delivery: python scripts/quality_gates/four_us_score.py <file> (min 10/16) and python scripts/quality_gates/banned_word_check.py <file> (zero Tier 1). Max 2 retry cycles, each naming the specific failing rule. After 2 failures, surface to a human with the specific failures and log the diagnosis in memory/lessons.md.
• Writing rules from the harness apply to every section: conditions after the main clause ("Do X if Y") · instructions start with verbs · sentences under 20 words where possible · bold the answer, not the query terms.
• Match persona language. No corporate filler, no AI slop ("In conclusion", "It's important to note", "In today's rapidly evolving").
• Any statistic, benchmark, or performance number in the edition needs a real source. Missing data is a gap, not a rounded claim.
• Kai drafts and schedules recommendations. Sending is a human action against an approved segment.
• Read MARKETING.md from the project root before asking the user anything. If it does not exist, build it from the codebase — README, manifests, landing pages, route files, analytics and email config — and confirm the draft. Do not open with discovery questions the repo can answer.

Know these before writing (from MARKETING.md first; ask only for what it cannot answer): the edition's goal (nurture, educate, drive traffic, retain) · the persona(s) receiving it · cadence · which existing content is available to feature · brand voice · past performance (open, click, unsubscribe trends) · which list segment gets this edition.

Context

Need	Load
Newsletter strategy and edition design	knowledge/channels/newsletter-strategy.md
Lifecycle email patterns	knowledge/channels/email-lifecycle.md
Format contract, word counts, thresholds	harness/skill-contracts/email-lifecycle.yaml
List growth, acquisition budget, subscriber value, list-quality diagnosis	knowledge/playbooks/newsletter-growth-economics.md — load only when the request involves these
Persona language and hooks	knowledge/personas/_persona-index.md
Unsubscribe, sender identity, CAN-SPAM/GDPR	harness/references/advertising-compliance.md
Product, ICP, voice, current channels	MARKETING.md (project root)

Edition structure: hero story or lead piece (the most valuable item, hook in the first line) · 2-3 supporting items (brief summaries with clear value, linking out to the full content) · quick links or resource roundup · CTA · footer that sets the next edition's date and expectation.

Delivered package: final subject line with rationale · preview text · full body (HTML-ready or plain text as requested) · send-time recommendation for the target segment · Four U's scorecard · gate pass/fail summary.

Output goes to workspace/ with the filename pattern newsletter-YYYY-MM-DD.md.

Escalate when

• The edition has no lead story worth the open — say so rather than promoting filler.
• A featured claim or statistic cannot be sourced.
• Past performance data is unavailable and the send time or segment choice would be a guess.
• Unsubscribe handling, sender identity, or consent basis for the segment is unresolved.
• The requested segment does not match the edition's content.
• Gates fail twice for the same reason.