git:20261009.4d8885f to git:20261009.a160e9d

---

name: ideate-month

description: "Plan next month's content calendar from a theme, signals and last month's results. \"what should we post next month\""

argument-hint: "[--brand <name>] [--month <YYYY-MM>] [--theme <text>] [--signals <pasted material>]"

effort: high

user-invocable: true

---

# /socialforge:ideate-month — the month before the calendar exists

SocialForge's pipeline starts at `parse-calendar` — someone hands it a calendar.

This skill is for when nobody has: the client asks "what should this month be

about?", and that question is the actual work they are paying for.

The output is a **draft calendar in the exact shape `parse-calendar` ingests**,

so an approved plan flows into production with zero re-typing.

## Inputs — use whichever exist, say which were missing

1. **The brand profile** (required) — pillars, voice, platforms, compliance

rules from `brand-config.json`. No profile → stop and run

`/socialforge:brand-setup` first. Ideating without pillars produces generic

content for nobody.

2. **A theme or business context** (optional) — a launch, a season, a campaign

the client named.

3. **Raw signals** (optional) — pasted news, industry threads, competitor

moves, sales-call notes, community questions. Mine them; never use them as

filler. Every signal either maps to a pillar and a concrete angle, or it is

dropped and listed as dropped, with the reason.

4. **Last month's results** (optional) — measured first, anecdote second:

- **Measured**: run

`python ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/ingest_performance.py --action wins --brand {brand} --month {last-month}`.

If a `performance.json` exists (built by `/socialforge:ingest-performance`

from the platform's own analytics export), this returns winners ranked

with a sample floor and a margin over the month's median engagement rate —

plus an honest `no_clear_wins` when the month was flat. A win here is

validated audience demand: plan its compounding follow-ups.

- **Anecdotal**: the review gallery, status tracker, or anything the client

reports as having worked. Usable, but labeled — see the output rules.

- If the measured path has no data, say so and offer to ingest an export

first; a two-minute CSV ingest upgrades the whole plan's foundation.

5. **A research brief** (optional) — if `/socialforge:research-month` wrote `output/{brand}/{month}/research-brief.md`, read it as evidence (outlier posts, customer language, competitor ad themes) and carry its basis labels into "What last month validated" and "Signals used / dropped"; its hypotheses are leads, not wins.

## Process

1. Read the brand profile. List pillars, platforms, posting cadence.

2. Check the measured path first (`ingest_performance.py --action wins`), then

fold in anecdotal reports. Identify the 1–3 clear wins and design

**follow-ups that compound them** — the deeper dive, the objection it

raised, the adjacent question it opened. Not a repost of the same idea.

Honesty rules: a `no_clear_wins` verdict is itself a finding — plan from

pillars and signals and say the wins rung had nothing; never promote an

`unranked` post (below the sample floor) to a win because it felt good.

3. Mine any signals into angles, each tagged with its pillar. Drop what does

not map — and say so.

4. Design 1–2 **series** — connected multi-part sequences with an arc (setup →

develop → payoff), each part standing alone but rewarding the follower. A

month of disconnected posts is a feed; a series builds a habit.

5. Fill the remaining cadence with one-off posts across pillars.

6. Assign every post a tier honestly: HERO (heavy production, big swing), HUB

(core pillar content), HYGIENE (light, frequent presence).

7. Balance platforms per the brand's platform config — not everything

everywhere.

## Output structure

```

# Month plan — {brand}, {YYYY-MM}

## The month's spine

[2-3 sentences: the theme, the wins being compounded, what the month should

have achieved by its last post]

## Series ({n})

### Series A: [name] — [pillar]

Arc: [what part 1 sets up, how it develops, where it pays off]

Parts: [P03, P07, P11] — see calendar below

## What last month validated (if performance was provided)

- [win — measured: 4.1% ER, 2.3x month median] → [the compounding follow-up now on the calendar, with post id]

- [win — anecdotal: client-reported] → [follow-up, labeled so the client knows the basis differs]

## Signals used / dropped (if signals were provided)

- USED: [signal] → [P05: the angle]

- DROPPED: [signal] — [why it does not serve this brand's pillars]

## Draft calendar (calendar-data.json compatible)

```json

{

"month": "YYYY-MM",

"brand": "{brand}",

"status": "DRAFT — needs client approval",

"posts": [

{

"post_id": "P01",

"date": "YYYY-MM-DD",

"platform": "linkedin",

"content_type": "carousel",

"tier": "HUB",

"topic": "[specific enough that a stranger could brief a designer from it]",

"pillar": "[brand pillar]",

"series": "[series name or null]",

"rationale": "[one line: why this post, why this day]"

}

]

}

```

## What I did not have

[Which optional inputs were missing and what they would have improved]

```

## Critical rules

- **Every post traces to a pillar, a win, or a signal.** A post that traces to

none of them is filler; cut it and say the cadence target was not met rather

than padding.

- **Topics must be briefable.** "5 mistakes agencies make with reporting

(carousel, one mistake per slide)" is a topic. "Engagement post" is not.

- **At least one series per month.** Disconnected posts build reach at best; a

series builds return visits.

- **Wins get follow-ups, not reposts.** The follow-up answers what the win

opened, from the validated angle — never the same post again slightly

reworded.

- **Tier honestly.** A month of all-HERO is a burnout plan; all-HYGIENE is

invisible. Typical shape: 1–2 HERO, 40–50% HUB, the rest HYGIENE.

- **The draft is a draft.** Output carries `status: DRAFT` and this skill never

writes calendar-data.json to the workspace itself — the client approves, then

`/socialforge:parse-calendar` ingests it as the approved source of truth.

- **State what was missing.** A plan built without performance data or signals

is a weaker plan; the client should know that, not discover it.

## Pairs with

- `/socialforge:ingest-performance` — feeds the wins rung from the platform's own numbers; run it on last month before planning this one

- `/socialforge:parse-calendar` — ingests the approved draft verbatim

- `/socialforge:reactive-post` — mid-month trend response; this skill plans, that one reacts

- `/socialforge:price-check` — quote the month's video load before the client approves it