version: "1.0.0" name: content-pipeline description: "Autonomous content creation pipeline. Generates blog posts, case studies, email campaigns with SEO optimization and editorial review."

Content Pipeline

Autonomous content creation pipeline that takes a topic from brief to publication-ready output. Supports blog posts, case studies, email campaigns, and social media content with built-in SEO optimization and editorial quality assurance.

Input

• topic — The subject to write about (from $ARGUMENTS or upstream classifier)
• audience — Target reader persona (e.g., "senior engineers", "marketing managers", "founders")
• format — Output type: blog | case-study | email | social
• tone — Writing voice: professional | conversational | technical | persuasive
• keywords — Target SEO keywords (comma-separated list, 3-8 recommended)
• Optional: .maestro/strategy.md for positioning and content pillar alignment
• Optional: .maestro/research.md for competitive context and data points
• Optional: .maestro/voice.md for brand voice guidelines

Process

Step 1: Research Topic

Gather context before writing. Do not draft without understanding the landscape.

1. Read .maestro/strategy.md if it exists to align content with positioning and pillars.
2. Read .maestro/research.md if it exists to pull competitive data and market context.
3. Read .maestro/voice.md if it exists for brand voice guidelines.
4. Use WebSearch to find:

• Top 5 existing articles on the topic (understand what already ranks)
• Recent data points, statistics, or studies to cite
• Common angles and gaps in existing coverage
• Related keywords and questions people ask (People Also Ask, related searches)

1. Identify the unique angle — what this piece offers that existing content does not.

Record sources for proper citation in the final output.

Step 2: Outline

Build a structured outline before drafting. The outline varies by format:

Blog post outline:

- H1: Title (include primary keyword)
- Introduction (hook + thesis + what the reader will learn)
- H2: Section 1 (supporting point or argument)
  - H3: Subsection (if needed)
- H2: Section 2
- H2: Section 3
- H2: Conclusion / Key Takeaways
- CTA (what the reader should do next)

Case study outline:

- H1: [Company/Project] — [Result achieved]
- H2: The Challenge
- H2: The Approach
- H2: The Implementation
- H2: Results & Metrics
- H2: Key Takeaways
- CTA

Email campaign outline:

- Subject line (3-5 variations)
- Preview text
- Opening hook (first 2 sentences)
- Body (problem → solution → proof)
- CTA (single, clear action)
- P.S. line (optional secondary hook)

Social media outline:

- Hook (first line — must stop the scroll)
- Body (3-5 short paragraphs or bullet points)
- CTA or question to drive engagement
- Hashtags (platform-appropriate count)

Step 3: Draft

Write the full content following the outline. Apply these rules:

1. Lead with value. The first paragraph must tell the reader why this matters to them.
2. One idea per paragraph. Short paragraphs (2-4 sentences max).
3. Use concrete examples. No abstract claims without supporting evidence.
4. Include data. Cite at least 2-3 statistics or data points from research.
5. Write for scanners. Use subheadings, bold key phrases, and bullet lists.
6. Match the tone. Adjust formality, sentence length, and vocabulary to the specified tone.
7. Respect word count targets:

Step 4: SEO Optimization

Apply SEO checks to the draft. Each check produces a pass/fail result:

+---------------------------------------------+
| SEO Audit                                    |
+---------------------------------------------+
  Check               Status
  ------------------  ------
  Title tag           (ok) Primary keyword in H1, under 60 chars
  Meta description    (ok) 150-160 chars, includes keyword
  Heading hierarchy   (ok) H1 > H2 > H3, no skipped levels
  Keyword density     (ok) Primary: 1.2%, Secondary: 0.8%
  Internal links      (!) Only 1 internal link (target: 3-5)
  Image alt text      (ok) All images have descriptive alt text
  URL slug            (ok) Short, keyword-rich, hyphenated
  First paragraph     (ok) Primary keyword in first 100 words

SEO rules:

• Title tag: Primary keyword present, under 60 characters
• Meta description: 150-160 characters, includes primary keyword, compelling
• Heading hierarchy: Proper H1 > H2 > H3 nesting, no level skipping
• Keyword density: Primary keyword 1-2% of word count, secondary 0.5-1%
• Internal links: 3-5 links to other .maestro/content/ files or project pages
• First paragraph: Primary keyword appears in the first 100 words
• URL slug: Short, keyword-rich, hyphenated (auto-generated from title)

Fix any failing checks before proceeding.

Step 5: Editorial Review

Run editorial quality assurance. This replaces human editor passes:

1. Readability score — Target Flesch-Kincaid grade level 8-10 for blog/email, 10-12 for technical/case-study.

• Sentences over 25 words: flag and split
• Paragraphs over 4 sentences: flag and break up
• Passive voice: keep under 10% of sentences

1. AI cliche detection — Flag and rewrite any of these:

• "In today's fast-paced world..."
• "It's important to note that..."
• "In conclusion..."
• "Leverage" (use "use"), "utilize" (use "use"), "synergy"
• "Dive deep", "game-changer", "revolutionary", "cutting-edge"
• "At the end of the day..."
• "It goes without saying..."

1. Tone consistency — Verify the tone matches the specified target throughout. Flag sections that drift.

1. Citation check — Every data point or statistic must have a source. No orphan claims.

1. CTA clarity — The call-to-action must be specific and actionable. "Learn more" is too vague. "Download the template" or "Start your free trial" is concrete.

+---------------------------------------------+
| Editorial QA                                 |
+---------------------------------------------+
  Check               Status
  ------------------  ------
  Readability         (ok) Grade 9.2 (target: 8-10)
  AI cliches          (ok) 0 detected
  Tone consistency    (ok) Conversational throughout
  Citations           (!) 1 unsourced claim in Section 2
  CTA clarity         (ok) Specific action with clear value
  Passive voice       (ok) 6% (target: under 10%)

Fix any issues before finalizing.

Step 6: Finalize

1. Generate the output file with proper frontmatter.
2. Generate the slug from the title (lowercase, hyphenated, no special characters).
3. Calculate reading time: ceil(word_count / 238) minutes.
4. Save to .maestro/content/{YYYY-MM-DD}-{slug}.md.
5. If brain is configured, also store in brain for cross-session retrieval.

Output Format

Every content file follows this structure:

---
type: blog | case-study | email | social
status: draft | review | ready
target_audience: "description of audience"
keywords:
  -primary keyword
  -secondary keyword
  -tertiary keyword
word_count: 1423
reading_time: 6
seo_score: 92
created: YYYY-MM-DD
slug: the-url-slug
---
 
# Title Here
 
[Content body...]
 
---
 
## Sources
 
1.[Source title](URL) — accessed YYYY-MM-DD
2.[Source title](URL) — accessed YYYY-MM-DD

Output Contract

output_contract:
  file: ".maestro/content/{date}-{slug}.md"
  frontmatter:
    type: "enum(blog,case-study,email,social)"
    status: "enum(draft,review,ready)"
    target_audience: string
    keywords: "list(string, min=1, max=8)"
    word_count: integer
    reading_time: integer
    seo_score: "integer(0-100)"
    created: date
    slug: string
  required_sections:
    blog:
      - "# {title}"
      - "## Sources"
    case-study:
      - "# {title}"
      - "## The Challenge"
      - "## The Approach"
      - "## Results & Metrics"
      - "## Key Takeaways"
      - "## Sources"
    email:
      - "Subject:"
      - "Preview:"
      - "Body:"
      - "CTA:"
    social:
      - "Hook:"
      - "Body:"
      - "CTA:"
  word_bounds:
    blog: { min: 800, max: 3000 }
    case-study: { min: 600, max: 2000 }
    email: { min: 100, max: 600 }
    social: { min: 30, max: 300 }

Integration Points

With Strategy Skill

Reads .maestro/strategy.md to align content with:

• Content pillars (Step 5 of strategy)
• SEO keyword clusters
• Channel priorities (determines which format to use)

With Content Validator

After finalization, invoke the content-validator skill to validate the output against the output contract. If validation fails, loop back to the failing step (SEO or editorial) and fix.

With Kanban

If kanban integration is configured, content pieces can be tracked as tasks:

• draft status maps to "In Progress"
• review status maps to "In Review"
• ready status maps to "Done"

With Brain

If brain is configured, store completed content in brain for:

• Cross-session retrieval of past content
• Building an internal content library
• Avoiding duplicate topics

Error Handling

Example Invocation

/content-pipeline "How to reduce CI/CD pipeline costs" --audience "DevOps engineers" --format blog --tone technical --keywords "CI/CD costs, pipeline optimization, build times"

Output:

[maestro] Content pipeline started
[maestro] Researching: CI/CD pipeline cost reduction
[maestro] Outline: 5 sections, blog format
[maestro] Draft: 1,450 words
[maestro] SEO audit: 6/7 passing (fixing internal links)
[maestro] Editorial QA: 5/5 passing
[maestro] Saved: .maestro/content/2026-03-17-reduce-cicd-pipeline-costs.md
[maestro] Status: ready