Cook The Blog

cook-the-blog Workflow

Follow these steps exactly when asked to generate a case study for a company.

MANDATORY SETUP CHECK: Before starting, ensure you have the required environment variables and target destinations configured (Target Repo, Image Bucket/Storage, Author Email, etc.). If any are missing, STOP and ask the user for them.

MANDATORY QA CHECK AT EACH STEP: After completing every single step below, you MUST perform a strict, self-critical QA check. If a step fails or is hallucinated, you MUST retry until it succeeds. Do not fake success.

1. Deep Research (Tavily)

• Use the tavily tool (via MCP) and standard web searches to deeply research the company. Note: Always check if the registered business name differs from the product name. Search Reddit and other relevant forums for authentic developer insights.
• QA Tester: Did you actually extract real, hard metrics and specific details about their GTM strategy, or is it generic fluff? If fluff, research deeper.

2. SEO Keyword Research (Google Trends via SerpApi)

• Run the python script: export SERPAPI_KEY="[YOUR_SERPAPI_KEY]" && python3 [PATH_TO_SEO_SCRIPT] "[Company Name]"
• Identify the breakout and high-growth keywords from the output.
• QA Tester: Did the script succeed? Are the keywords real and high-volume? If not, retry or adjust the query.

3. Title & Cover Generation

• Title: Format: "How [Company] [Achieved X] by [Core Strategy]". Make it specific and highly descriptive.
• Cover: Use the blog-cover-cli generate command to generate the cover image. CRITICAL: The title passed to the cover image generator using the -t flag should contain around 7-10 words total. Do NOT use newlines (\n) in the string. Just provide a normal, single-line string and let the CLI handle the text wrapping automatically! Write a concise, aggressive title (e.g., blog-cover-cli generate -t "How Baseten Scaled AI Infrastructure To a 5 Billion Valuation" -l "domain.com" -o "./cover.png").
• QA Tester: Was the image actually generated and saved? Verify the file exists.

4. MDX Assembly

Synthesize the research and write the case study in a strict MDX format. Writing Rules (Use the stop-slop skill):

• Tone: Sharp, analytical, founder-focused. No fluff. Every sentence should teach something.
• Audience: Early-stage startup founders, AI/developer tool builders, product-led growth enthusiasts.
• Length: 1,200-1,800 words.
• POV: Third-person analysis, like a smart investor memo written for a builder audience.
• Do not ever use em-dashes (—).
• Always use simple and conversational English with connector words. Avoid corporate jargon ("synergy," "leverage," "ecosystem play," "disruption" -> replace with plain language).
• Every claim must feel backed by evidence or logic. Use specific numbers.
• Each H3 sub-section should start with a concept sentence, then explain the mechanism, then give 1 example.
• Do not repeat the title in the MDX body. The title should only exist in the frontmatter. Do NOT include an <h1> or # [Title] just before the TL;DR.
• Never write a conclusion section. End on the takeaway paragraph or the FAQ.

The MDX must follow this exact structure:

---
title: "How [Company] [Achieved X] by [Core Strategy]"
description: "[1-2 sentence compelling summary with hard numbers]"
date: "YYYY-MM-DD"
slug: "[URL-friendly-slug-e.g.-company-name-case-study]"
image: "[PUBLIC_IMAGE_URL]"
readingTime: "[X] Min"
published: true
---

<div style={{ textAlign: 'left' }}>

**TL;DR**
* **Challenge:** [The core painful problem in the market they addressed]
* **Solution:** [What they specifically built or did differently]
* **Results:** [2–3 hard metrics — downloads, revenue, users, growth %]
* **Investment/Strategy:** [The one key strategic bet they made]

## The Problem
[Paint the before-state: What was the world like before this company's solution? Who was suffering, and what were they forced to do instead? Make it visceral use developer/founder language. Length: 2-3 paragraphs. No bullet points.]

## The Execution & GTM Strategy
[Break into 2–4 H3 sub-sections picking from: a) THE DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY, b) THE MONETIZATION LAYER, c) THE TECHNICAL / PRODUCT MOAT, d) THE INTERNAL DOGFOODING MOMENT, e) THE TIMING INSIGHT]
### [H3 Sub-section]
[Concept sentence. Mechanism. 1 Example.]

## The Results & Takeaways
[3–5 hard metrics in bullet points (downloads, revenue, customers, conversions, time saved)]

**What a small startup can take from them:**
[Actionable and specific takeaway connected directly to the target audience. Tie the lesson directly to the company's specific strategy. No generic advice.]

---

## Frequently Asked Questions

<FAQSection>
  <FAQItem question="[AEO Question 1 - e.g., What was their primary growth strategy?]">
    [Fully answered in 2-4 sentences. Never leave blank.]
  </FAQItem>

  <FAQItem question="[AEO Question 2 - e.g., How do they monetize?]">
    [Fully answered in 2-4 sentences. Never leave blank.]
  </FAQItem>
  
  <FAQItem question="[Promotion Question - e.g., How can my startup replicate this?]">
    [Answer explaining the strategy, followed by a subtle pitch for your brand/product: "If you are looking to build a predictable distribution engine like [Company], [YourBrand](https://yourdomain.com) specializes in engineering these exact growth loops. Book a strategy call to see if you are a fit."]
  </FAQItem>
</FAQSection>

</div>

• QA Tester: Are there 0 em-dashes? Is it 1200-1800 words? Are there hard metrics? If not, rewrite.

5. Quality Assurance (QA) Check

Before proceeding, self-audit the draft again:

• MDX Rules: Is it strictly following the MDX format? Are there exactly zero em-dashes?
• Tone: Is it punchy and analytical?
• Cover Image: Is the image generated and ready?

6. Asset Upload

• Upload the cover image to the user's preferred storage bucket (e.g., GCS, AWS S3, Cloudinary).
• Command: Use the appropriate CLI tool (e.g., gsutil cp ./cover.png [TARGET_BUCKET]).
• Verify the public URL matches the image: field in the MDX.
• QA Tester: Did the upload succeed? Verify the public URL exists.

7. GitHub Publishing (Direct Push)

• Use git CLI to clone the target repository: [TARGET_REPO_URL]
• Move the generated MDX file into the target directory (e.g., blogs/).
• Build Check: Before committing, run the project's build command (e.g., npm install && npm run build) inside the repo to ensure the MDX syntax doesn't break the build.
• Git Config: Ensure you are pushing with the correct author details. Run git config user.name "[GIT_USER_NAME]" and git config user.email "[GIT_USER_EMAIL]" before committing.
• Commit the changes and push directly to the remote branch of [TARGET_REPO_URL] using git pull upstream main --rebase && git push upstream main (or the equivalent remote structure).
• QA Tester: Did the build pass? Did the git push succeed? If not, fix the errors.

8. Verification & Delivery

• DO NOT SKIP THIS: Before completing the task, you MUST run git log -1 and git status inside the repo to prove the file was committed and pushed.
• Your final response to the user MUST include:
  1. A detailed summary of the SerpAPI (Google Trends) research.
  2. The public URL of the uploaded cover image.
  3. The actual output of the git log -1 command proving the work is done.
• Email Notification: You MUST also send this exact same final summary via email to [ADMIN_EMAIL]. You can quickly write and execute a Python script using smtplib to send it from the configured sender email using an App Password.
• Final QA Tester: Did you send the email? Did you include the git log in the final message? If not, you have failed the entire pipeline.