News Brief Automation#

Turn ad-hoc “go check the news and summarize it” work into a repeatable automation made of:

• one prompt file under automation/cron/
• one report folder under reports/
• one stable output format
• one explicit dedupe rule against the latest saved report

Workflow#

1. Identify the recurring job:
   • source set
   • cadence
   • selection criteria
   • output language
   • save location
   • delivery target
2. Prefer one prompt file per job under automation/cron/<job-name>.md.
3. Create a matching report directory under reports/<topic>/.
4. Instruct the agent to compare candidates against the newest saved report before drafting the final output.
5. Require “save first, send second” so future runs always have a concrete baseline for dedupe.
6. Make the format stable and easy to skim.
7. If a run has little novelty, emit a short incremental edition instead of padding the report.

What A Good Cron Prompt Must Contain#

Each recurring prompt should explicitly define:

• the goal
• the schedule context
• the priority sources to inspect
• what counts as worth including
• the required output structure
• dedupe rules against the newest prior report
• save path and filename convention
• send-after-save behavior
• fallback behavior if a source is unavailable

Use direct instructions. Avoid fuzzy wording like “make it good” or “summarize nicely”.

Good Defaults#

Source handling#

Prefer primary index pages first, then open individual links only when context is missing.

Common defaults:

• Hacker News: homepage + newest
• GitHub: Trending
• Hugging Face: hot/trending models, datasets, spaces
• RSS/blogs: feed page first, article page second
• Generic news sites: homepage/section page first, article page second

Selection logic#

Prioritize items that are:

• newly surfaced
• rapidly rising
• widely discussed
• practically useful
• unusually opinionated or technically deep

For technical audiences, bias toward:

• AI
• developer tools
• open source
• infrastructure
• security
• data engineering
• engineering practice

Deduplication#

Always inspect the newest report in the target report folder.

Keep only:

• new items
• items with clear rank/momentum change
• items with meaningful new developments
• previously seen items that deserve a shorter refreshed mention

Drop or compress:

• unchanged repeats
• low-signal filler
• items included yesterday/last run with no meaningful change

If most candidates repeat prior coverage, explicitly publish an incremental short edition.

Output structure#

Prefer Markdown with:

• dated title
• short “what matters now” section
• numbered list of items
• link for each item
• one-line reason to care
• optional discussion angle / watchpoint

Keep tone concise and opinionated enough to be useful.

File And Naming Conventions#

Use this layout unless the user asks otherwise:

text

automation/cron/<job-name>.md
reports/<topic>/YYYY-MM-DD.md
reports/<topic>/YYYY-MM-DD-HH00.md

Use date-only filenames for once-per-day reports. Use hour-stamped filenames for multiple runs per day.

Common Patterns#

Daily digest#

Use when the user wants one higher-signal summary per day.

Recommended traits:

• 5-10 items
• more synthesis
• a “today’s observation” section
• date-only filenames

Intraday brief#

Use when the user wants multiple updates per day.

Recommended traits:

• 3-8 items
• stronger dedupe
• incremental mode when nothing major changed
• hour-stamped filenames

Mixed-source trend watch#

Use when combining 2-4 complementary sources like GitHub + Hugging Face + HN.

Recommended traits:

• sectioned output per source
• final cross-source observations
• avoid repeating the same project across sections unless the angle differs

Editing Existing Automations#

When converting an existing one-off prompt into a reusable workflow:

1. Preserve the parts that already work:
   • source order
   • output shape
   • report path
2. Remove accidental details that do not generalize.
3. Keep the reusable operating logic:
   • fetch
   • select
   • dedupe
   • save
   • send
4. Move concrete examples and templates into references/ so SKILL.md stays lean.

Quality Bar Before Packaging Or Publishing#

Before packaging or publishing:

• keep SKILL.md concise and trigger-focused
• ensure the description clearly says when the skill should activate
• provide at least one reusable prompt template in references/
• avoid extra docs like README or changelog files inside the skill
• package the exact skill folder
• reject vague prompts that do not specify dedupe or save paths

References#

• Read references/examples.md for concrete example automations.
• Read references/templates.md for reusable cron prompt templates.