Phase 1: Research and Planning
1.1 Load Writing Guides (REQUIRED - Load First)
Before any other work, load the following:
- Writing Rules (from
WRITING_ANTI_PATTERNS_PATH env var, or fall back to references/anti-patterns.md) - Comprehensive lists of AI-sounding words, phrases, and patterns to avoid. This is the foundation - what NOT to sound like.
- Writing Style Guide (from
WRITING_STYLE_GUIDE_PATH env var, or fall back to references/style-guide.md) - Personal writing voice, tone, structure, and signature moves. This is the voice layer - what TO sound like.
PRIORITY RULE: When guides conflict, anti-patterns win. Avoiding AI patterns always takes precedence over stylistic choices.
1.2 Fetch WordPress Taxonomy (if configured)
If WORDPRESS_URL, WORDPRESS_USERNAME, and WORDPRESS_APP_PASSWORD env vars are set, fetch available categories and tags before writing so frontmatter uses existing taxonomy:
```bash
curl -s -u "$WORDPRESS_USERNAME:$WORDPRESS_APP_PASSWORD" \
"$WORDPRESS_URL/wp-json/wp/v2/categories?per_page=100" | python3 -c "import sys,json; [print(c['name']) for c in json.load(sys.stdin)]"
curl -s -u "$WORDPRESS_USERNAME:$WORDPRESS_APP_PASSWORD" \
"$WORDPRESS_URL/wp-json/wp/v2/tags?per_page=100" | python3 -c "import sys,json; [print(t['name']) for t in json.load(sys.stdin)]"
```
Use these when choosing category and tags in frontmatter. Prefer existing values. Skip this step if WordPress env vars are not set.
1.3 Understand What Was Built
Investigate the codebase to understand the feature:
- Ask which feature or changes they want to write about
- Use git to check recent commits if relevant (skip if not a git repo):
git log --oneline -10 - Read relevant code files to understand implementation
- Identify key technical decisions, architecture, and interesting details
- Note any challenges solved or clever solutions
1.4 Plan the Structure
Plan what to cover in the post. Use these as a guide, not a rigid template:
- Opening: Start with an engaging hook or context for what you built
- Overview: Brief explanation of the feature (2-3 sentences)
- Problem/Value: Why this matters or what problem it solves
- Technical Details: How it works with code snippets
- Key implementation details
- Interesting technical decisions
- Architecture or design patterns used
- Challenges: What was tricky and how you solved it (if relevant)
- Future: Next steps or related features (if relevant)
- Tech Stack: Technologies used (can be woven into the narrative or listed)
The actual headings, structure, and flow should feel natural to the specific post - not formulaic.
Phase 2: Writing
2.1 Draft Creation
Create the blog post applying BOTH guides you loaded in Phase 1. After drafting, re-read the post against the anti-patterns guide and fix any violations before saving.
Code Snippets:
- Keep snippets short (5-15 lines)
Target length: Match length to complexity. Default short.
- Simple idea, announcement, or single concept: 400-600 words
- Moderate technical walkthrough: 600-900 words
- Deep architectural dive or multi-part explanation: 900-1200 words
Err on the side of shorter. If the post can be said in 500 words, don't stretch it to 800. Cut filler, merge thin sections, and stop when the point is made.
2.2 Save the Draft
Save the completed blog post to the drafts directory (create the folder if missing).
To find the save path, run: echo $WRITING_DRAFTS_PATH
- If the output is non-empty, save there
- If empty, fall back to
.drafts/ in the current project
File naming convention:
- Format:
YYYY-MM-DD-slug.md - Slugs should be short, memorable, and easy to type β two words max
- Capture the core concept of the post, not necessarily the title
- Think "what would I type after the domain name?"
- Examples:
2025-12-29-ralph.md (post: "How I Got Ralph to Ship Overnight"), 2026-01-10-listen.md (post: "Giving my blog a voice"), 2025-11-15-choosing-open.md (post: "WordPress Almost Didn't Happen" β about choosing open source)
Frontmatter (REQUIRED):
Every draft must start with YAML frontmatter containing title and url:
```yaml
---
title: How I got Ralph to ship overnight
url: /ralph
category: Development
tags:
- AI
- Shipping
---
```
title β the post title (do NOT repeat as an H1 in the body). Titles should be short (3-7 words), evocative, and leave room for curiosity. Don't explain the whole post β hint at it. Think newspaper headline, not description.
- Good: "Giving my blog a voice", "WordPress Almost Didn't Happen", "Planning Out Loud"
- Bad: "I built a skill that writes blog posts from my codebase" (too long, explains everything)
url β the permalink path, matching the filename slug (e.g. /ralph, /listen, /choosing-open)category β WordPress category (use an existing one from Phase 1.2 when available)tags β WordPress tags (prefer existing ones from Phase 1.2)
Phase 3: Publishing (Optional)
3.1 WordPress Publishing
If the user wants to publish to WordPress, load WordPress Publishing Guide (references/wordpress-publishing.md) for complete setup and publishing instructions.
The guide covers:
- Environment setup and credentials
- Python dependencies installation
- Publishing commands and workflow
- Smart update tracking (no duplicate posts)
- Troubleshooting common issues
Quick summary:
- First time: Creates new WordPress draft
- Subsequent: Updates existing draft (no duplicates)
- Always saves as draft (never auto-publishes)
- Returns post URL and edit URL
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