backfill

name	backfill
description	Backfill the workspace from the internet — read the product website to fill gaps in the product doc, sweep HN/Reddit/the web for existing mentions, file already-published posts with their engagement, and stub competitor profiles from public pages. Use when the user says "backfill the workspace", "import what already exists", or right after setup for a product with any public history.

Backfill from the internet

The user's marketing didn't start today. This skill imports the campaign history that already exists — mentions, posts, competitor facts, baselines — so the graph starts true, not empty. Requires web access. Collaboration over automation: propose before filing in bulk, and never state what a page didn't show.

Steps

1. Scope with the user. Confirm: the product name and searchable aliases (old names, handles, the domain), the website URL, competitor names, and which platforms they've already posted on (handles or profile links). Ideally run after setup; if data/product.md is still unfilled, the website pass may propose drafts for its gap sections, clearly marked for the user to confirm.
2. Website pass. Fetch the site. Fill gaps only: data/product.md sections still showing ✏️, pricing into data/offer.md, the page inventory into data/website.md (Key pages), org facts where visible. Where the site contradicts something the founder wrote, ask — never silently overwrite.
3. Mention sweep. Search the product name + aliases: HN (Algolia search), Reddit, general web and blogs. Open every hit before filing (Reddit blocks most server-side fetches — a thread that refuses to load usually works via https://embed.reddit.com/<post-path>). Atomic comment/thread → data/mentions/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.md (verbatim quote, direct url, author exactly as displayed, honest sentiment); article-length piece → data/external-<slug>.md with a one-line takeaway. Link mentions from data/mentions.md and the venue's ## Mentions heading; file authors worth following up in data/people/ (roles via the role hubs) — a positive mention is warmed-up outreach.
4. Published-post import. From the user's links and their profile pages, file each already-published post as data/posts/<platform>/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.md (status: published, the real published date and url; body = the actual post text, or a faithful summary when it's long). Record engagement numbers as displayed. The schema requires goal and success — set them retroactively with the user ("what was this post for?"). Link each post from its venue's ## Posts heading and its pillar hub, and flip the venue's status to active.
5. Competitor snapshots. For each competitor named, fetch their public pages and fill data/competitors/<slug>.md: Positioning, Pricing, Strengths and Weaknesses honestly, a dated Changelog entry, updated: <today>.
6. Baselines. Public numbers found along the way (stars, followers, subscribers, review counts) → data/metrics.md, each with a dated snapshot line.
7. Report, validate, commit. Summarize what was filed (n mentions, n posts, n people, n competitor profiles, metrics captured) and what could not be searched (auth-walled platforms, rate limits, dead links) so the user can fill those by hand. iwe schema validate must pass; commit backfill: <n> mentions, <n> posts, <n> competitors.

Rules

• Never invent. Quotes verbatim from the fetched page; numbers only as displayed; dates from the source. A find without a URL you actually opened does not get filed.
• Fill gaps, don't overwrite — the founder's language wins; conflicts become questions, not silent edits.
• Propose the find-list before bulk-filing (what, where found, how it would be filed); file after the user confirms. A single obvious find can be filed directly.
• A mention the user remembers but that's gone at the source: file it only with a working archive link, else skip it and say so.
• Degrade honestly: report the platforms you couldn't search rather than implying full coverage.