Enhancing Authors

Enhancing Author Profiles

This skill fills in missing author profile fields (bio, avatar, website, socials) via web research.

Workflow Overview

Phase 1: Author Identification
   └─ Find and validate author file

Phase 2: Parallel Research (for missing fields only)
   ├─ WebSearch agent 1: bio/background
   ├─ WebSearch agent 2: avatar URL
   └─ WebSearch agent 3: website + socials

Phase 3: User Review (BLOCKING GATE)
   └─ Present findings, await approval

Phase 4: Save Enhanced Author
   └─ Update frontmatter fields

Phase 5: Quality Check
   └─ Run vp check && pnpm typecheck

Phase 1: Author Identification

1.1 Find the Author File

Accept an author slug, name, or partial name as argument:

1. Try exact slug match first: Check if content/authors/{slug}.md exists (convert spaces to hyphens, lowercase)
2. If no exact match: Use Grep to search for the name in author files:

   Grep pattern: "name:.*{search term}" with glob: "content/authors/*.md"
   

Outcomes:

• Single match → proceed with that file
• Multiple matches → list options for user to choose
• No match → list available authors

1.2 Identify Missing Fields

Read the author file and check which fields are missing or empty:

Required fields (always present):

• name
• slug

Optional fields to enhance:

• bio - Professional background and expertise
• avatar - URL to profile picture
• website - Personal website URL
• socials.twitter - Twitter/X handle
• socials.github - GitHub username
• socials.linkedin - LinkedIn username
• socials.youtube - YouTube channel

A field is "missing" if:

• It doesn't exist in the frontmatter
• It exists but is empty ("" or null)

If all fields are already populated, inform the user and offer to update specific fields.

Phase 2: Parallel Research

Spawn up to 3 WebSearch agents in parallel based on what fields are missing:

**Agent 1 - Bio/Background:**
Task tool with subagent_type: "general-purpose"
prompt: "Use WebSearch to find professional background info for [Author Name].
Query: '[Author Name]' bio background expertise
Extract: Job title, company, areas of expertise, notable projects.
Return: A 1-2 sentence professional bio."

**Agent 2 - Avatar URL:**
Task tool with subagent_type: "general-purpose"
prompt: "Use WebSearch to find a profile picture URL for [Author Name].
Query: '[Author Name]' site:github.com OR site:twitter.com
Extract: GitHub username or Twitter handle to construct avatar URL.
Return: Avatar URL (prefer GitHub format: https://github.com/{username}.png)"

**Agent 3 - Website & Socials:**
Task tool with subagent_type: "general-purpose"
prompt: "Use WebSearch to find social media profiles for [Author Name].
Query: '[Author Name]' twitter github linkedin youtube
Extract: Personal website, Twitter handle, GitHub username, LinkedIn profile, YouTube channel.
Return: List of found profiles with URLs/handles."

Only spawn agents for missing fields. If bio already exists, skip Agent 1.

Collect all results via TaskOutput (blocking).

Phase 3: User Review (BLOCKING GATE)

This is a mandatory approval step. Present the proposed changes before saving.

3.1 Present Changes

Display proposed updates as a comparison table:

## Proposed Updates for [Author Name]

| Field            | Current | Proposed                          |
| ---------------- | ------- | --------------------------------- |
| bio              | (empty) | "Founder of X, creator of Y..."   |
| avatar           | (empty) | "https://github.com/username.png" |
| website          | (empty) | "https://example.com"             |
| socials.twitter  | (empty) | "username"                        |
| socials.github   | (empty) | "username"                        |
| socials.linkedin | (empty) | "username"                        |
| socials.youtube  | (empty) | (not found)                       |

3.2 Request Approval

Use the AskUserQuestion tool:

question: "Save these changes to the author profile?"
header: "Review"
multiSelect: false
options:
  - label: "Save"
    description: "Update the author file with these values"
  - label: "Edit"
    description: "Tell me what to change"
  - label: "Cancel"
    description: "Don't modify the file"

3.3 Handle Response

• Save: Proceed to Phase 4
• Edit: Apply user feedback, show updated preview
• Cancel: Exit without changes

Do NOT proceed to Phase 4 without explicit user approval.

Phase 4: Save Enhanced Author

4.1 Update Frontmatter

Use the Edit tool to update only the approved fields:

Before:

---
name: "John Doe"
slug: "john-doe"
bio: ""
avatar: ""
website: ""
socials:
  twitter: ""
  github: ""
  linkedin: ""
  youtube: ""
---

After:

---
name: "John Doe"
slug: "john-doe"
bio: "Software engineer specializing in distributed systems..."
avatar: "https://github.com/johndoe.png"
website: "https://johndoe.dev"
socials:
  twitter: "johndoe"
  github: "johndoe"
  linkedin: "johndoe"
  youtube: ""
---

4.2 Preserve Existing Values

Critical: Never overwrite existing non-empty values unless explicitly requested:

• Keep existing name and slug unchanged
• Only update fields that were empty/missing
• Preserve any additional custom fields

4.3 Confirmation

Report to user:

Updated: content/authors/{slug}.md

- bio: added
- avatar: added
- website: added
- socials.twitter: added
- socials.github: added

Phase 5: Quality Check

Run linter and type check to catch any issues:

vp check && pnpm typecheck

If errors are found, fix them before completing the task.

Error Recovery

Quality Checklist

Before saving, verify:

• Author file exists in content/authors/
• Only updating empty/missing fields
• Bio is 1-2 sentences, professional tone
• Avatar URL is valid (prefer GitHub format)
• Social handles are usernames only (no URLs)
• Existing non-empty values preserved
• User explicitly approved changes