claude-skills-journalism

Scaffold a new Open Knowledge Format (OKF) knowledge base and populate it from existing material: a tree of small markdown concept files with YAML frontmatter, a spec, a validator, and session-start hooks that orient Claude on the knowledge base before it works. Use when the user wants to start an OKF atlas/wiki/knowledge base, build one from existing docs, plans, notes, or a repo, structure docs as one-concept-per-file with provenance, or initialize OKF in a repo (optionally into its GitHub wiki).

Use this skill when the user asks to update CLAUDE.md, save a lesson, or persist something from the current session: phrases like "update claude.md", "what should we remember", "save this lesson", or "add to context". Scans the conversation for hard-won lessons, new file paths, infrastructure changes, and new workflows, then proposes scoped edits to the project's CLAUDE.md for approval before writing.

Use when preparing photos or images for a news wire, publication, photo CMS, or archive — embedding caption, byline, credit, alt text, keywords, copyright or Creative Commons license, and location into a file's IPTC, EXIF, and XMP metadata, or batch-tagging a folder of press photos with exiftool.

Social media monitoring, narrative tracking, and open-source intelligence for journalists. Use when tracking viral content spread, analyzing coordinated campaigns, monitoring breaking news on social platforms, investigating accounts for authenticity, or detecting misinformation patterns. Essential for reporters covering online narratives and digital investigations.

Use this skill when creating new files that represent architectural decisions — data models, infrastructure configs, auth boundaries, API contracts, CI/CD pipelines, or event systems. Flags irreversible decisions and forces a discussion about trade-offs before committing.

Configure install-time cooldowns for npm/bun (minimum release age) and run a sandboxed pre-install scan when the cooldown has to be bypassed. Use when the user asks about supply-chain attacks, npm/bun security, "minimum release age", a "cooldown" for installs, hardening against Shai-Hulud-class worms, or how to safely install a package that was just published. Also use after any recent supply-chain incident in the npm ecosystem.

Generate CLAUDE.md project memory files that transfer institutional knowledge, not obvious information. Use when setting up new journalism projects, onboarding collaborators, or documenting project-specific quirks. Includes templates for editorial tools, event websites, publications, research projects, content pipelines, and digital archives.

Use when suggesting APIs for a project, looking for free data sources, building weekend projects that need external data, or when the user needs weather, news, finance, sports, ML, or entertainment data without paid subscriptions

Generate LESSONS.md retrospective files that capture institutional knowledge, especially failures. Use when closing out journalism projects, investigations, events, or publications. Includes templates for research projects, event post-mortems, editorial tools, and publications.

Choose the correct CLAUDE.md or LESSONS.md template for journalism projects. Use when starting a new project, setting up documentation, or unsure which template category fits best. Provides decision trees and selection guidance for 6 journalism-focused template types.

Generate self-contained HTML pages that visually explain systems, data stories, investigations, editorial workflows, and code changes. Use when the user asks for a diagram, architecture overview, diff review, plan review, project recap, source map, comparison table, timeline, or any visual explanation of technical or editorial concepts. Also use proactively when about to render a complex ASCII table (4+ rows or 3+ columns) — present it as a styled HTML page instead. Adapted from nicobailon/visual-explainer with journalism, newsroom, and academic design sensibilities.

API security hardening patterns. Use when implementing rate limiting, input validation, CORS configuration, API key management, request throttling, or protecting endpoints from abuse. Covers defense-in-depth strategies for REST APIs with practical implementations for Express, FastAPI, and serverless, oriented around the OWASP API Security Top 10:2023.

Secure authentication implementation patterns. Use when implementing user login, registration, password reset, session management, JWT authentication, OAuth, MFA, or passkeys. Provides production-ready patterns aligned with NIST SP 800-63B-4, OWASP 2026 cheat sheets, OAuth 2.1, and WebAuthn L3, with breach-driven lessons.

Pre-deployment security audit for web applications, organized by OWASP Top 10:2025 categories. Use when reviewing code before shipping, auditing an existing application, or when users mention "security review," "ready to deploy," "going to production," or express concern about vulnerabilities. Covers access control, supply chain, cryptography, injection, auth, integrity, logging, and exception handling.

Web accessibility patterns for news sites, journalism tools, and academic platforms. Use when building accessible interfaces, auditing existing sites for WCAG compliance, writing alt text for news images, creating accessible data visualizations, or ensuring content reaches all readers including those using assistive technologies. Essential for newsroom developers and anyone publishing web content.

Electron desktop application development with React, TypeScript, and Vite. Use when building desktop apps, implementing IPC communication, managing windows/tray, handling PTY terminals, integrating WebRTC/audio, or packaging with electron-builder. Covers patterns from AudioBash, Yap, and Pisscord projects.

Remote JavaScript console access and debugging on mobile devices. Use when debugging web pages on phones/tablets, accessing console errors without desktop DevTools, testing responsive designs on real devices, or diagnosing mobile-specific issues. Covers Eruda, vConsole, Chrome/Safari remote debugging, and cloud testing platforms.

Python data processing pipelines with modular architecture. Use when building content processing workflows, implementing dispatcher patterns, integrating Google Sheets/Drive APIs, or creating batch processing systems. Covers patterns from rosen-scraper, image-analyzer, and social-scraper projects.

This skill should be used when the user reports a bug, describes unexpected behavior, says something is "broken", "not working", "failing", mentions an "error", "issue", or "problem" in code, or asks to "fix" something. Enforces test-driven bug fixing workflow.

Methodology for effective AI-assisted software development. Use when helping users build software with AI coding assistants, debugging AI-generated code, planning features for AI implementation, managing version control in AI workflows, or when users mention "vibe coding," Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Aider, Continue, Cline, Codex, Windsurf, or similar AI coding tools. Provides strategies for planning, testing, debugging, and iterating on code written with LLM assistance.

Web scraping with anti-bot bypass, content extraction, undocumented APIs and poison pill detection. Use when extracting content from websites, handling paywalls, implementing scraping cascades or processing social media. Covers requests, trafilatura, Playwright with stealth mode, yt-dlp and instaloader patterns.

Signs of taste in web UI. Use when building or reviewing any user-facing web interface — dashboards, SaaS apps, marketing sites, internal tools. Covers interaction speed, navigation depth, visual restraint, copy quality, and the small details that separate polished products from rough ones.

Zero-build frontend development with CDN-loaded React, Tailwind CSS, and vanilla JavaScript. Use when building static web apps without bundlers, creating Leaflet maps, integrating Google Sheets as database, or developing browser extensions. Covers patterns from rosen-frontend, NJCIC map, and PocketLink projects.

Academic writing, research methodology, and scholarly communication workflows. Use when writing papers, literature reviews, grant proposals, conducting research, managing citations, preparing for peer review, choosing OA routes under Plan S / 2026 OSTP Nelson Memo, posting preprints, working with persistent identifiers (ORCID, DOI, ROR), assigning CRediT contributor roles, preregistering analyses on OSF / AsPredicted, or disclosing LLM use to journals and funders. Essential for researchers, graduate students, and academics across disciplines.

Legal methods for accessing paywalled and geo-blocked content. Use when researching behind paywalls, accessing academic papers, bypassing geographic restrictions, or finding open access alternatives. Covers Unpaywall, library databases, VPNs, and ethical access strategies for journalists and researchers.

Digital archiving workflows with AI enrichment, entity extraction, and knowledge graph construction. Use when building content archives, implementing AI-powered categorization, extracting entities and relationships, or integrating multiple data sources. Covers patterns from the Jay Rosen Digital Archive project.

Web page monitoring, change detection, and availability tracking. Use when tracking content changes, detecting when pages go down, monitoring for updates, preserving content before deletion, or generating feeds for pages without RSS. Covers Visualping, ChangeTower, Distill.io, and self-hosted monitoring solutions.

Web page archiving and retrieval from cached/deleted sources. Use when accessing unavailable pages, preserving web content, creating legal evidence archives, or building redundant archival workflows. Covers Wayback Machine, Archive.today, ArchiveBox, and evidence preservation tools.

Data journalism workflows for analysis, visualization, and storytelling. Use when analyzing datasets, creating charts and maps, cleaning messy data, calculating statistics or building data-driven stories. Essential for reporters, newsrooms and researchers working with quantitative information.

Eliminate AI-generated writing patterns that erode reader trust. Activate when writing articles, documentation, press releases, or any content where AI patterns would undermine credibility. For journalists using AI assistance who need human-sounding output.

Crisis communication and rapid response workflows for journalists and communications professionals. Use when covering breaking news events, managing organizational communications during crises, coordinating rapid fact-checking efforts, or developing crisis response plans. Essential for newsrooms, PR teams, and anyone who needs to communicate accurately under time pressure.

Manage editorial workflows for newsrooms and publications. Use when tracking story assignments, managing deadlines, coordinating editorial calendars, or establishing handoff protocols between reporters and editors. Includes templates for assignment tracking, editorial calendars, and workflow documentation.

Structured workflow for fact-checking claims in journalism. Use when verifying statements for publication, rating claims for fact-check articles, or building pre-publication verification processes. Includes claim extraction, evidence gathering, rating scales, and correction protocols.

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and public records request workflows. Use when drafting records requests, tracking submissions, understanding exemptions, appealing denials, or managing large document productions. Essential for investigative journalists, researchers, and transparency advocates.

Prepare for journalism interviews with research checklists, question frameworks, and attribution guidelines. Use when preparing to interview sources, planning follow-up questions, or managing interview logistics. Covers consent, recording laws, and professional protocols.

Transcription workflows, recording management, and quote extraction for journalists. Use when processing audio/video recordings, generating transcripts with timestamps, extracting quotes for fact-checking, or building source-and-recording databases. For interview question design and pre-interview preparation, see the interview-prep skill.

Email newsletter workflows for journalists and researchers. Use when creating, managing, or optimizing email newsletters, building subscriber lists, designing email templates, analyzing engagement metrics, or planning newsletter content calendars. For independent journalists, academic communicators, and media organizations building direct audience relationships.

Enforce AP Style and newsroom conventions for journalism writing. Use when writing news articles, editing drafts, creating headlines, or converting notes into publishable copy. Ensures professional standards for attribution, numbers, dates, and formatting.

Journalism source verification and fact-checking workflows. Use when verifying claims, checking source credibility, investigating social media accounts, reverse image searching, detecting AI-generated content, or building verification trails. For reporters, fact-checkers, and researchers working with unverified information.

Craft effective story pitches for different publication types and formats. Use when pitching to editors, preparing query letters, or developing story angles. Includes templates for daily news, features, investigations, op-eds, and freelance queries.