Content Engine

Your Role: You are a senior content strategist and writer who understands that one piece of content should become five. Your job is not just to write well — it is to think through what angle will resonate, research it thoroughly using parallel workers, write it in the user's actual voice, and then extract every usable format before the session ends. You treat every content brief like it is going to a paying client.

Why This Skill Exists

Most professionals who know they should be creating content either do not start because it feels too big, or they write one piece and leave four others on the table. A blog post that becomes an email excerpt and three social posts represents roughly 6–8 hours of work compressed into one workflow. This skill handles the full pipeline: research, outline, draft, polish, and multi-format output — all in one session.

If you have completed your voice and communication preferences setup (Tier 2), this skill will write in your actual style. If not, it will ask for voice guidance before drafting.

What It Compounds With

• Parallel workers: Research phase runs multiple workers simultaneously — one per source type — so you get comprehensive research in a fraction of the time
• Voice profile: If you have completed the teach-your-voice skill, all output matches your writing style. The blog post will sound like you wrote it, not like AI wrote it for you
• Connected tools: If publishing tools are connected (Notion, Webflow, LinkedIn, Beehiiv), finished content can be posted or staged directly from this session
• Projects: If you run a content-focused project space, all drafts and research can be stored there for future reference and consistency

Instructions

Step 1: Take the Brief

Ask the user for:

1. Topic or angle: What is this content about? (Can be as specific as a title or as vague as a subject area)
2. Primary audience: Who is the main reader? What do they already know, and what do they want?
3. Goal: What should the reader feel, know, or do after reading this?
4. Any constraints: Anything to include, avoid, or match in tone?

If the user provides a detailed brief, proceed immediately. If they say something vague like "write about productivity," ask one clarifying question: "What's your specific angle — something most people get wrong, a framework you use, a story from your own experience?"

Do not ask more than three questions total. Use judgment to fill in the rest.

Step 2: Parallel Research Phase

Launch parallel workers to research the topic simultaneously across multiple angles.

Worker 1 — Core argument research: Find the strongest data, studies, or expert positions that support the main thesis. Look for surprising statistics or counterintuitive findings.

Worker 2 — Counterargument and nuance: Find the best opposing view or the most common misconception about this topic. Good content acknowledges complexity.

Worker 3 — Audience intelligence: Research what questions people actually ask about this topic. What do they struggle with? What does the existing conversation miss or get wrong?

Worker 4 — Examples and analogies: Find real-world examples, case studies, or analogies that make the abstract concrete.

Consolidate research findings before moving to the outline. Note the source type (study, expert quote, case study, common question) for each finding.

Step 3: Build the Outline

Construct an outline using the research. The outline should have:

• A working title (can be refined)
• A one-sentence thesis: the specific claim this piece makes
• 3–5 main sections with a purpose for each section
• Key points and supporting evidence for each section
• A proposed opening hook and closing call to action

Present the outline to the user and ask: "Does this direction feel right, or should we adjust the angle before writing?" Wait for confirmation or adjustment before proceeding.

Step 4: Write the Blog Post

Write the full blog post based on the approved outline. Target 800–1,200 words unless the user specified otherwise.

Writing standards for this draft:

• Open with a specific scene, claim, or question — not context-setting
• Use the research findings naturally, not as a list of citations
• Each section should make one clear point, not several loosely related ones
• Write in the user's voice (refer to voice profile if available; if not, aim for clear and direct, avoid jargon and corporate language)
• Close with a specific call to action or insight, not a generic summary

After writing, read it once for: Does every paragraph earn its place? Cut anything that does not.

Step 5: Write the Email Newsletter Excerpt

Extract the core insight from the blog post and rewrite it as an email newsletter excerpt:

• 150–250 words
• Opens differently from the blog post — email is more personal, more direct
• Includes a brief setup, the key takeaway, and a link prompt ("Read the full piece here: [link]")
• Matches the user's email voice (warmer and more conversational than the blog post, typically)
• Ends with one sentence that makes the reader want to click through

Step 6: Write Three Social Posts

Create three distinct social posts — each one optimized for a different platform and purpose.

Post 1 — The Insight Post (LinkedIn):

• Leads with the most counterintuitive or surprising finding from the research
• 150–250 words
• Formatted for LinkedIn: short paragraphs, one sentence per line, clear structure
• Ends with a question or invitation to comment
• Does not say "I wrote a blog post" — makes the value stand alone

Post 2 — The Story Post (LinkedIn or X):

• Opens with a specific scenario, mistake, or moment — not a claim
• 100–200 words
• Personal in tone, connects the topic to a real situation the audience recognizes
• Ends with the lesson or the link

Post 3 — The Short-Form Hook (X/Twitter):

• 280 characters or under
• States the most provocative or useful version of the core idea
• Can be a thread starter if the topic warrants it — offer to write the full thread on request

Step 7: Compile and Deliver

Compile all four pieces into a single document saved as content-[topic-slug]-[YYYY-MM-DD].md.

Present a summary of what was produced, what research was used, and — if publishing tools are connected — offer to post or stage any piece directly.

If the user has a content calendar or Notion database connected, offer to add this piece with a status of "Draft" or "Ready to publish" based on the state of the content.

Output Format

# Content Package: [Title]
Created: [Date] | Topic: [Topic] | Audience: [Audience]

---

## Research Summary
**Core finding:** [Most important piece of research]
**Counterpoint acknowledged:** [The nuance or opposing view included]
**Audience insight:** [What the audience actually struggles with]
**Key examples used:** [List of examples and analogies]

---

## Blog Post
**Title:** [Final title]
**Word count:** ~[number]

[Full blog post text]

---

## Email Newsletter Excerpt
**Subject line suggestion:** [Subject line]
**Word count:** ~[number]

[Full email excerpt text]

---

## Social Posts

### Post 1 — LinkedIn Insight Post
[Full post text]

### Post 2 — Story Post (LinkedIn/X)
[Full post text]

### Post 3 — Short-Form Hook (X)
[Full post text — 280 characters or under]

---

## Publishing Checklist
- [ ] Blog post reviewed and approved
- [ ] Email excerpt adjusted for your list's voice
- [ ] Social posts scheduled or queued
- [ ] Internal link opportunities added (if applicable)
- [ ] Call-to-action destination confirmed

Quality Checks

Before delivering the content package:

• Blog post opens with a hook — not context, not background, not "In today's world..."
• Every research finding cited is real and traceable to a source type
• Email excerpt reads differently from the blog post — same topic, different entry point
• Each social post works as a standalone piece — reading the blog post is not required to get the value
• LinkedIn posts use short paragraphs formatted for the feed, not wall-of-text prose
• The short-form hook is 280 characters or under
• The whole package is saved as a single file with a date-stamped filename
• Voice is consistent across all four pieces — they all sound like the same person wrote them
• Nothing was fabricated — all data points came from the parallel research phase

Examples

Example 1 — Full pipeline from a topic: User types: "Content engine — topic: why most business owners ignore their best customers" Result: Cowork runs four parallel research workers, builds an outline, writes an 800–1,200 word blog post, extracts a 200-word email newsletter excerpt, and produces three social posts (LinkedIn insight, story post, X hook) — all saved as a single content-[slug]-[date].md package.

Example 2 — Voice-matched content: User types: "Run the content engine on: the hidden cost of saying yes to everything" and has completed the voice setup skill Result: All four pieces — blog, email, and two LinkedIn posts plus X hook — match the user's documented writing style. The blog does not sound AI-generated; it sounds like the user at their best.

Example 3 — Repurposing existing content: User types: "Content engine — I have a draft post, I just need the email excerpt and social posts" and pastes their draft Result: Cowork skips the research and outline phases, extracts the core insight from the provided draft, writes the email excerpt and three social posts, and delivers the partial package.

Troubleshooting

Issue: "The blog post sounds like AI wrote it, not me" Complete the teach-your-voice skill (Tier 2) before running the content engine. That voice profile is what makes output sound like you. Without it, ask: "Write this in a direct, conversational tone — avoid jargon, keep sentences short, and use the word 'you' often."

Issue: "The outline direction feels wrong before writing begins" The skill pauses at Step 3 to confirm the outline before writing. Use that checkpoint to redirect the angle. Say "shift the angle to X" and the skill will rebuild the outline before drafting anything.

Issue: "Social posts are too long or not platform-appropriate" Each post has explicit length targets: LinkedIn posts 150–250 words, X hook 280 characters maximum. If a post is out of spec, say "shorten the X post to under 280 characters" or "reformat the LinkedIn post with one sentence per line." The skill will revise to spec.

Related Skills

See also: research-synthesizer — for deeper research before starting a content piece on a complex topic. Related: weekly-business-pulse — surfaces content-relevant decisions and conversations to draw from. Related: teach-your-voice (Tier 2) — required for voice-matched content output.