Write Article

zuvo:write-article — Research-Grounded Article Writer

Write articles backed by real research, not model memory. Every claim traces to a fact sheet. Every draft passes anti-slop review before output.

Scope: Long-form articles, blog posts, technical guides, marketing content. Out of scope: Translation, image generation, CMS publishing, video/audio content, plagiarism detection.

Mandatory File Loading

Read these files before any work begins:

Dispatch follows ../../shared/includes/execution-policy.md through env-compat. Reuse existing authorization within that policy; session restrictions take precedence. Run each required gate and report its actual independence or an unmet requirement.

1. ../../shared/includes/env-compat.md -- Agent dispatch and environment adaptation
2. ../../shared/includes/run-logger.md -- Run logging contract
3. ../../shared/includes/banned-vocabulary/core.md -- Shared anti-slop rules, tone matrix, G12, fallback behavior
4. ../../shared/includes/banned-vocabulary/languages/<resolved-lang>.md -- Active hard/soft list after --lang normalization; fallback en
5. ../../shared/includes/prose-quality-registry.md -- PQ1-PQ18 check definitions
6. ../../shared/includes/article-output-schema.md -- JSON output contract
7. ../../shared/includes/adversarial-loop-docs.md -- Cross-model review protocol
8. ../../shared/includes/seo-page-profile-registry.md -- Word count thresholds and SEO profiles
9. ../../shared/includes/domain-profile-registry.md -- 17 niche profiles: schema, E-E-A-T, detection signals
10. ../../shared/includes/humanization-rules.md -- Anti-detection writing constraints + voice matching
11. ../../shared/includes/retrospective.md -- RETRO PROTOCOL
12. ../../shared/includes/no-pause-protocol.md -- HARD: no mid-loop pauses in batch mode

Print CORE FILES LOADED: checklist with [READ | MISSING -> STOP] for each. For item 4 print the resolved language file and whether English fallback was used.

Safety Gates

Allowed write targets:

• output/articles/ for generated article files
• --site-dir <path> when explicitly provided by the user
• memory/write-article-cache-*.json for batch mode cache

FORBIDDEN:

• Modifying existing files (this skill creates new files only)
• Installing packages or running build commands
• Writing outside the allowed targets

Arguments

Phase 0 -- Setup

1. Read ../../shared/includes/env-compat.md. Detect environment (Claude Code / Codex / Cursor / Antigravity).
2. Parse and validate arguments. If <topic> is missing: STOP.
3. Resolve the active language file from ../../shared/includes/banned-vocabulary/languages/ using the normalized base code from --lang (for example pt-BR -> pt, zh-CN -> zh). If missing: load en.md and emit WARNING: banned-vocabulary fallback -> en.
4. Vague topic gate (EC-WA-02): If topic lacks specificity (no audience, keyword, or length signal), ask for clarification: audience, keyword, length, tone. Async: apply defaults with [AUTO-DECISION: defaults-applied].
5. Web search probe: Test WebSearch availability. If unavailable, set research_limited = true and emit: WARNING: Web search unavailable. Article will use context-only research. Frontmatter tagged research_limited: true. (EC-WA-01)
6. Site-dir schema detection: If --site-dir provided, inspect the local content schema/config first and then read 2-3 existing articles to confirm actual frontmatter shape. Treat the schema/config as the source of truth for allowed fields. Text fields (title, description, tags): populate. Enums, relational IDs, custom types: use placeholder values with # TODO comments. If og* or modification-date fields are not clearly supported by the schema, do not invent them.
7. Domain detection: Cascade: --domain override → scan 3-5 articles in --site-dir for frontmatter/content signals per domain-profile-registry.md → fallback general. If top two niches within 20%: domain=mixed, use general schema. YMYL niches (health, finance-legal): emit credentials WARNING per registry.
8. Voice matching: If --site-dir has 3+ articles in the same content directory (blog posts only, not about/landing pages), extract voice profile per humanization-rules.md (sentence rhythm, person, formality, patterns). Inconclusive → fall back to default rules with note.
9. COMPACT mode (EC-WA-11): If --length < 800, activate COMPACT: collapse research + outline into single phase, skip competitor analysis, FAQ generation, voice matching, lighter review.

Print SETUP block: Topic, Language, Tone, Length, Format, Site-dir, Domain (niche/mixed/unknown), Voice (profile/inconclusive/skipped), Web search, Mode, Batch.

Phase 1 -- Research

COMPACT mode: Orchestrator performs a single focused web search + brief fact gathering. Skip agents and competitor analysis. Proceed to Phase 2.

STANDARD mode: Orchestrator performs all web searches first (agents do NOT search), then dispatches 3 parallel agents per env-compat.md:

All agents: model sonnet, type Explore (read-only). Cursor/Antigravity: execute sequentially yourself.

Web search unavailable (EC-WA-01): Degrade to user-context only. Agents work with available project context and general knowledge. Tag all output: research_limited: true.

Conflicting sources (EC-WA-03): Tag conflicts as [CONFLICT] in fact sheet. Phase 4 must resolve or exclude.

Wait for all agents. Merge into:

• Structured fact sheet (cited sources, [CONFLICT] tags)
• Persona questions (3-5 perspectives)
• Competitor gap analysis

Phase 2 -- Outline

Generate outline using STORM pattern: derive sections from persona questions, not generic templates.

1. Map each persona question to a potential section or subsection

2. Assign research facts to outline sections

3. Self-critique: check for logical flow, missing perspectives, redundancy

4. Approval gate (EC-WA-08):

   • Interactive: present outline for approval. Max 3 revision rounds. After 3 rejections: prompt for manual outline or abandon.
   • Async: auto-approve after 1 self-revision with [AUTO-DECISION: outline-approved].

5. Snippet targeting: Classify each H2 by query type: "What is X" → paragraph snippet (40-60 word answer block), "How to X" → ordered list snippet, "X vs Y" → table snippet. Use niche defaults from domain-profile-registry.md as starting point; override per H2.

6. H2 question words (G10): Prefer What/How/Why question-word headings for informational topics.

7. FAQ candidates: Collect answerable questions from persona output + competitor gaps. If 3+ questions + informational intent + >800 words: plan FAQ section at article end. Skip FAQ for marketing/ecommerce/personal-brand niches unless explicitly requested.

Output: numbered outline with mapped fact references, snippet classification per H2, and FAQ candidate list.

Phase 3 -- Draft

This phase runs INLINE (no sub-agent). The orchestrator drafts section-by-section in the main context.

For each section:

1. Feed: section outline + mapped facts + summary of previous sections
2. Strip banned vocabulary from research (EC-WA-10): Before injecting fact summaries, remove any hard-banned words from the research text.
3. Draft the section using research facts (not model memory)
4. Continuity check (EC-WA-04): For articles >3000 words, verify terminology consistency and cross-references between sections after each segment.

Technical articles (EC-WA-05): If topic references the current project, dispatch a Code Explorer sub-agent (read ../../skills/brainstorm/agents/code-explorer.md instructions) to extract real API surface. Inject verified code context into the fact sheet before drafting.

Language awareness (EC-WA-06): For non-English output, apply language-specific register, morphological variants in SEO, and locale-appropriate banned vocabulary from the resolved banned-vocabulary/languages/<lang>.md file.

5. Humanization rules: Apply ALL constraints from humanization-rules.md during drafting: sentence variation (fragments + long sentences, max 3 consecutive medium), contractions, parenthetical asides, rhetorical questions, first-person references, hedging transitions, entity grounding, structural asymmetry. If voice profile available: match person, formality, rhythm.
6. GEO constraints: BLUF per H2 section — first sentence ≤30 words, answer-first, no throat-clearing (G9). Section cap 300 words between headings (G6). Snippet format per H2 classification from Phase 2. Stats and volatile practical facts must remain traceable to the fact sheet (G11).
   • Attribution should support the prose, not dominate it.
   • Do not start consecutive paragraphs with Według X (2025) / According to X.
   • Use a hard source-name budget: the same full institution/source name should appear no more than once per section and no more than 3 times in the whole article body, excluding a compact ## Źródła section.
   • Use access-date markers such as (odczyt: kwiecień 2026) only for volatile operational facts: pricing, opening hours, transport, access rules, ticketing, or policy.
   • Stable historical or descriptive facts should usually stay sourced in the fact sheet / JSON output, not with repeated inline lead-ins.
   • The fact sheet is internal. Do not serialize it into the public article as a narrated research appendix.
   • Do not append a wide Źródła wykorzystane... block or any process-heavy bibliography.
   • End public articles with a compact ## Źródła section unless the host project explicitly forbids visible sources.
   • In ## Źródła, keep 3-6 grouped bullets max. Use source title + link only. Group repeated institutions into one bullet, e.g. - **APSARA National Authority:** [Beng Mealea](...), [Restoration update](...).
   • Do not leave repeated institutions as separate one-line bullets if they can be grouped cleanly.
   • Prefer practical information-carrying sections over polished narrative scene-setting. If the article needs more depth, add concrete subtopics, lists, comparisons, route notes, or FAQ answers before adding a glossy intro paragraph.
7. TL;DR block: For practical/service-intent articles (visa, prices, tickets, transport, rules, logistics, how-to, checklists), add a short ## W skrócie block immediately after the italic lead and before the first image or H2. Keep 3-5 bullets max. Skip it for essay-like, cultural, or historical narratives where it adds no speed value.
8. FAQ section: If FAQ candidates from Phase 2 passed quality gate (3+ research-backed questions, >800 words, informational intent): draft FAQ section at article end. Each answer traces to fact sheet. Skip if research_limited and no PAA data.
9. Ending discipline: Do not add a generic Na koniec / Podsumowanie section unless it contributes new synthesis in 1-2 short paragraphs. If it only repeats the article, omit it.

Use these exact output shapes when applicable:

## W skrócie
- [Najważniejsza decyzja / odpowiedź]
- [Najważniejszy wymóg / koszt / limit]
- [Najważniejsza opcja / wyjątek]
- [Najważniejszy warunek praktyczny]

## Źródła
- **[Instytucja / grupa źródeł]:** [Tytuł 1](...), [Tytuł 2](...)
- **[Instytucja / grupa źródeł]:** [Tytuł 3](...)
- **[Instytucja / grupa źródeł]:** [Tytuł 4](...)

Never output ## Źródła as an ungrouped flat list when multiple bullets share the same institution.

After all sections + FAQ are drafted, assemble the complete article.

Phase 4 -- Review

4.1 Anti-Slop Review

Dispatch the anti-slop-reviewer agent per env-compat.md:

Agent: Anti-Slop Reviewer
  model: sonnet
  type: Explore (read-only)
  instructions: [read agents/anti-slop-reviewer.md]
  input: complete draft, banned-vocabulary/core.md, banned-vocabulary/languages/<resolved-lang>.md, --tone value
  output: hard violations (CRITICAL), soft violations (tone-dependent), burstiness report

This agent has NO memory of the drafting process. It sees only the output text plus the shared rules and active language list.

Anti-slop review applies to human-facing prose only. Do not treat frontmatter keys, file paths, URLs, image names, JSON-LD/schema, code, or raw source lists as banned-vocabulary violations unless the task explicitly asks to review those zones as prose.

Fix all hard-ban violations. Fix soft-ban violations per tone rules. Burstiness warnings: fix if 3+ consecutive same-range sentences.

4.2 Domain Sensitivity (EC-WA-07)

If topic is medical, legal, or financial AND --tone is casual or marketing: emit WARNING: Casual tone on [domain] topic. Consider --tone technical or --tone formal. Proceeding as requested. Surface risk, do not override user.

4.3 Cross-Model Adversarial Review

Run ~/.zuvo/adversarial-review --json --mode article --files "$DRAFT" where $DRAFT is the draft file you just wrote (fallback: --json --mode audit with WARNING) — substitute the real path, do NOT run a literal [draft path] placeholder (it matches nothing and burns a pass). If not in PATH: ~/.zuvo/adversarial-review (stable; the versioned cache path breaks after any release). CRITICAL → fix. WARNING → fix if localized. INFO → ignore.

Status handling (D2+D3+D4, 2026-05-17): parse the JSON status field:

• status: "timeout" / exit 124 — record Adversarial review: skipped (timeout) and continue without blocking publication.
• status: "single_provider_only" / exit 3 — only 1 provider available after host exclusion. Re-invoke with --single (still useful for content quality) OR record Adversarial review: skipped (single_provider_only) and continue. Do NOT block publication.
• status: "partial" / exit 0 — some providers returned, timeout_count > 0. Continue with partial findings; surface timeout_count in the article delivery log so reduced coverage is visible.

Cross-call rotation (multi-pass flows like content-expand): capture providers_used_list[0] (array field) from pass-1 JSON, thread to pass 2 via --exclude-last <name> so the second pass uses a different provider perspective. (The string providers_used cannot be indexed with [0] in jq.)

Phase 5 -- SEO + Output

5.1 SEO Pass

1. Keyword placement (PQ6): Ensure primary keyword appears in title, H1, first 100 words, and at least 2 H2s
2. Meta tags (PQ7): Generate title (50-60 chars) and description (150-160 chars) with primary keyword
3. Schema (PQ8): Domain-aware JSON-LD per domain-profile-registry.md. Use @type array when multiple types apply (e.g., ["BlogPosting", "Recipe"] for recipe-food). Include @id, isPartOf (Organization), datePublished, and a modification date only when the local schema clearly supports such a field. YMYL niches: add author credentials schema. Framework injection: astro-mdx → component placeholder, hugo → shortcode hint, nextjs-mdx → inline JSON-LD.
4. FAQ Schema: If FAQ section present, auto-append FAQPage JSON-LD with all Q&A pairs.
5. OG Tags: Generate og:title, og:description, og:type: article, og:image in frontmatter only if the local schema clearly supports those fields. Otherwise inherit layout-level OG behavior and note OG: inherited-from-layout in the output/report.
6. Internal links (PQ9): Suggest 2-5 per 1000 words. If --site-dir: validate via Glob. Unverified: tag [UNVERIFIED LINK]
7. Language-aware SEO (EC-WA-06): For non-English, use morphological keyword variants and locale-appropriate schema

5.2 Frontmatter

• If --site-dir: use the schema/config detected in Phase 0 as the hard gate. Populate only fields that are clearly allowed. If OG or modification-date fields are layout-managed or unsupported, do not add them to frontmatter; record that they are inherited or unchanged.
• Else: standard YAML frontmatter (title, description, date, author, tags, keywords).
• If research_limited: add research_limited: true to frontmatter.

5.3 Format Output

Unsupported format (EC-WA-09): fall back to md with note in output.

5.4 Save File

• --site-dir: write to {site-dir}/YYYY-MM-DD-{slug}.{ext}
• Default: write to output/articles/YYYY-MM-DD-{slug}.{ext}
• --batch-mode (EC-WA-12): cache competitor/domain data to memory/write-article-cache-{date}.json. NOTES field includes batch:{N} (sequence number).

5.5 JSON Output

Write article-output-schema.md-conformant JSON alongside the article:

• output/articles/YYYY-MM-DD-{slug}.json (or {site-dir}/...)
• Includes research stats, quality scores, SEO data

Retrospective (REQUIRED)

Follow the retrospective protocol from retrospective.md. Gate check -> structured questions -> TSV emit -> markdown append. This step is MANDATORY — do not skip it. Write the retro BEFORE the terminal report below.

ARTICLE COMPLETE

ARTICLE COMPLETE
-----
Topic: [topic]
Words: [N] | Language: [lang] | Tone: [tone]
Format: [format] | Output: [file path]
Research: [N] sources, [N] facts used / [N] available [| research_limited]
Quality: hard violations [N], soft violations [N], burstiness [score]
Adversarial: [PASS | WARN | FAIL]
Domain: [niche] | Schema: [type(s)] | FAQ: [N items | none]
SEO: keyword "[kw]", meta OK, OG OK [| internal links: N verified / N suggested]
Humanization: [voice matched | rules only | skipped]

Run: <ISO-8601-Z>	write-article	<project>	-	-	<VERDICT>	-	<DURATION>	<NOTES>	<BRANCH>	<SHA7>	<INCLUDES>	<TIER>
-----

Append via wrapper (REQUIRED). Never >> directly to ~/.zuvo/runs.log — the wrapper is the gate that verifies a retro entry exists for this run. Order: retro bash executed → wrapper invoked → completion claimed.

printf '%b\n' "$RUN_LINE" | ~/.zuvo/append-runlog

Expected stdout: OK: appended to runs.log (retro verified for <skill> on <project>). If exit 2 with RETRO_REQUIRED — go execute the retro bash from retrospective.md first; never bypass with ZUVO_SKIP_RETRO_GATE=1. After the wrapper succeeds, print a Logs: evidence line (tail -1 ~/.zuvo/retros.log, grep -c "^<!-- RETRO -->" ~/.zuvo/retros.md, tail -1 ~/.zuvo/runs.log) before claiming completion. Printing the markdown retro section without executing the bash leaves all three log files empty.

VERDICT: PASS (article delivered), WARN (delivered with research_limited or unresolved warnings), FAIL (adversarial review blockers unresolved), BLOCKED (missing required files), ABORTED (user cancelled or topic abandoned after EC-WA-08 cap).

DURATION: standard or compact (mode label).

NOTES: [MODE] topic summary (max 80 chars). Batch mode: append batch:N.

Next steps: zuvo:content-expand [file] | zuvo:seo-audit | zuvo:ship