plan-video

name	plan-video
description	Create a complete YouTube video plan with title options, thumbnail concepts, hooks, and content outline. Use when planning a new video, creating title/thumbnail/hook options, or when the user says 'plan a video', 'video plan', 'plan my next YouTube video', or 'I want to make a video about'.

Plan Video

Overview

This orchestrator sequences foundation skills to produce a complete video plan: researched titles, thumbnail concepts, hook strategies, and a content outline. It manages the user selection workflow between steps but delegates all content generation to specialized skills.

Core Principle: This is a thin orchestrator. All content generation goes through foundation skills — that's where the proven patterns, formulas, and quality logic live. This skill manages workflow sequence, user decisions, and plan file assembly only.

How Reference Delegation Works

Each step below invokes a foundation skill that owns its own reference files. When you invoke creator-stack:title, it loads references/youtube-title-formulas.md from its own directory. When you invoke creator-stack:thumbnail, it loads references/thumbnail-formulas.md from its own directory. You don't need to manage these paths — just invoke the skill and provide context.

YouTube-Specific Context

Episode Directory Convention

All episode files live under ./youtube/episode/[episode_number]_[topic_short_name]/.

• Research file: research.md in the episode directory
• Plan file: plan.md in the episode directory
• Thumbnails: saved to the episode directory during finalization

Channel Information

If a local channel context file exists (e.g., ./youtube/channel.md or similar), load it at the start of the workflow to provide channel-specific context to downstream skills.

YouTube MCP Tools Available

When creator-stack:research is invoked from this orchestrator, the YouTube Analytics MCP tools are available for data gathering:

• search_videos — find videos by keyword, channel, or criteria
• get_video_details — video stats, views, likes, comments, publish date
• get_channel_details — channel metadata, subscriber count, video count
• get_video_comments — comment text and sentiment data
• get_video_transcript — full video transcript
• get_related_videos — videos related to a specific video
• get_trending_videos — currently trending videos
• get_video_enhanced_transcript — enhanced transcript with timestamps

The YouTube Researcher agent (defined in this plugin's agents/youtube-researcher.md) can also be used for structured data gathering tasks.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Research has been completed and you need to create a video plan
• The user asks to plan a new video
• You need title, thumbnail, hook, and outline options for a video
• You want to produce a production-ready plan with multiple options for user selection

Prerequisites

Research for the video must be completed first. Either:

1. Research file exists at ./youtube/episode/[episode_number]_[topic_short_name]/research.md, OR
2. Invoke creator-stack:research to conduct research first (YouTube MCP tools are available)

Planning Workflow

Execute all steps below in order. Track progress systematically.

Step 0: Load Research

Read the research file for this episode:

• Location: ./youtube/episode/[episode_number]_[topic_short_name]/research.md

If research does not exist, invoke creator-stack:research first. The YouTube MCP tools are available from this orchestrator context, enabling the research skill to gather YouTube-specific data.

The video plan should incorporate research findings at each step — research grounds every recommendation.

Step 1: Create Plan File

Create a new plan file at: ./youtube/episode/[episode_number]_[topic_short_name]/plan.md

If a plan file already exists, read it to understand what has been done so far and continue from there.

Initialize the plan file with this template:

# [Episode_Number]: [Topic] - Video Plan

## Research Summary
[Summary of research insights]

## Titles
[3 title options with rationale and star ratings]

## Thumbnails
[2 thumbnail concepts per title with rationale and star ratings]

## Hooks
[3 hook options for selected title+thumbnail with rationale and star ratings]

## High-Level Content Outline
[Section structure with key points]

## Final Plan
[Selected title, 3 AB test thumbnails, selected hook, outline]

Update this document as you progress through the planning steps.

Step 2: Generate Title Options

1. Invoke creator-stack:title to generate 3 optimized titles.

   • Provide the research summary as context.

2. Document all title options in the plan file including:

   • Title text
   • Rationale for why it is predicted to perform well and how it aligns with research insights
   • Star rating from 1-3 stars indicating your recommendation

Complete title generation before proceeding to thumbnails — thumbnails need to complement the titles.

Step 3: Generate Thumbnail Concepts

1. Invoke creator-stack:thumbnail to generate 2 thumbnail concepts for each title. These should be concept descriptions only, not actual images yet.

   • Provide each title as context so thumbnails complement them.

2. Document all thumbnail concepts in the plan file including:

   • Title pairing
   • Concept description
   • Rationale for why it is predicted to perform well, how it aligns with research, and how it complements the title
   • Star rating for top 3 thumbnail concepts

Step 4: Present Recommendation and Get User Selection

1. Present all title/thumbnail combinations to the user, along with your top 3 recommended title + thumbnail pairings.

2. Ask the user to select their one preferred title + thumbnail pairing to proceed with.

3. Update both the title and thumbnail sections in the plan file to indicate the user's selection with a (User Selection) marker next to the selected options.

Always present all options so the user can make an informed decision — that's the whole point of generating multiple options.

Step 5: Generate Hook Strategy

1. Invoke creator-stack:hook to generate 3 retention-optimized hooks, only for the user's selected title + thumbnail pairing.

   • Provide the selected title + thumbnail concept as context.

2. Document all hook strategies in the plan file including:

   • Hook strategy description (including the actual hook script)
   • Rationale for why it is predicted to perform well, how it aligns with research, and how it complements the title + thumbnail
   • Star rating for each hook

3. Present all hook options to the user and ask the user to select their preferred hook strategy.

4. Update the hook section in the plan file to indicate the user's selection.

The plan should now contain a user-selected title, thumbnail, and hook combination.

Step 6: High-Level Content Outline

1. Invoke creator-stack:write to create a high-level content outline.

   • Provide the selected title, thumbnail concept, and hook as context.

2. Create and document the strategic roadmap:

   • Break video into sections (Hook, Intro, Main Content, Outro)
   • List key points and estimated durations
   • Identify critical demonstrations/examples
   • Note transitions

3. Keep the outline high-level — structure and key points only, no detailed scripts. Focus on what is important to cover from the viewer's perspective rather than assuming specific content.

Step 7: Finalize Plan with AB Testing Thumbnails

Now that the user has selected their preferred title, thumbnail, and hook, finalize the plan.

1. Invoke creator-stack:thumbnail to generate 3 thumbnail options for AB testing. These should be actual images generated with creator-stack:nanobanana, not just concepts. The first thumbnail should be based on the user's selected thumbnail concept. The other 2 should test different visual styles of the first thumbnail.

2. Update the final plan section in the plan file with the complete final selections:

## Final Plan
- **Title**: [Selected title]
- **Thumbnails**:
   - ![Thumbnail A](/path/to/thumbnail_a.png)
      Thumbnail A Description
   - ![Thumbnail B](/path/to/thumbnail_b.png)
      Thumbnail B Description
   - ![Thumbnail C](/path/to/thumbnail_c.png)
      Thumbnail C Description
- **Hook**: [Selected hook strategy]
- **Rationale**: [Why this combination works]

A final plan always includes 3 thumbnails to AB test — that's how you learn what works for your audience.

Delegation Reference

Each foundation skill owns its own reference files and loads them automatically:

Content	Skill	Reference (loaded by the skill)
Titles	creator-stack:title	youtube-title-formulas.md
Thumbnails	creator-stack:thumbnail	thumbnail-formulas.md
Hooks	creator-stack:hook	youtube-hooks.md
Outline	creator-stack:write	youtube-script.md
Voice	creator-stack:voice	Invoked automatically by writing skill

Complementarity Check

Before finalizing, verify that title/thumbnail/hook work together:

• Thumbnail complements title visually (doesn't repeat it)
• Hook extends curiosity (doesn't repeat title)
• All elements align with the unique value proposition from research

Quality Checklist

Verify completion before finalizing plan:

• Research file loaded and reviewed
• creator-stack:title invoked — 3 title options generated
• creator-stack:thumbnail invoked — 2 thumbnail concepts per title
• User selected title + thumbnail pairing
• creator-stack:hook invoked — 3 hook strategies generated
• User selected hook strategy
• creator-stack:write invoked — high-level content outline created
• creator-stack:thumbnail invoked — 3 AB testing thumbnails generated
• Plan file complete with all sections populated
• Recommendations marked by star rating
• Title/thumbnail/hook complementarity verified
• Recommendations backed by research insights

Common Pitfalls

1. Skipping skill invocation: Generating titles/thumbnails/hooks manually — the foundation skills have proven patterns you'd miss.
2. Single option: Only providing one recommendation — always provide all options so the user can choose.
3. Missing research: Starting without research — load research or invoke the research skill first.
4. Ignoring complementarity: Title/thumbnail/hook don't work together — verify alignment before finalizing.
5. No rationale: Recommendations without explanation — back everything with research insights.
6. Too-detailed outline: Writing a full script instead of high-level structure — keep it strategic.

Example Execution

Scenario: User requests plan for video about "Building AI agents with memory" (research already complete)

1. Load research — Read ./youtube/episode/18_ai_agents_with_memory/research.md, extract key insights
2. Create plan file at ./youtube/episode/18_ai_agents_with_memory/plan.md
3. Invoke creator-stack:title — 3 title options focused on practical implementation
4. Invoke creator-stack:thumbnail — 2 concepts per title (6 total)
5. Present all options, user selects title + thumbnail pairing
6. Invoke creator-stack:hook — 3 hook strategies for selected pairing
7. User selects hook
8. Invoke creator-stack:write — high-level content outline
9. Invoke creator-stack:thumbnail — 3 AB testing thumbnails for final plan
10. Update plan file with complete final selections

Result: Production-ready plan with multiple options for user selection, all backed by research and generated using proven patterns from foundation skills.