editorial-calendar

name	editorial-calendar
description	Maintain the show's editorial calendar in the configured Google Sheet (or local CSV fallback) and sync recording and publish dates to the configured Google Calendar so the co-host sees the schedule. Supports adding new episodes, updating status and metadata (recorded, edited, published, downloads, top clip), querying single episodes, and a "what's on deck" report that lists upcoming episodes and what's missing for each. Run this skill when the user says "update the editorial calendar", "what's on deck", "next episode status", "mark EP042 as published", "schedule EP043 recording", "what's missing for EP043", "sync the calendar", "add EP043 to the calendar", or any equivalent ask about episode status, scheduling, or the calendar pipeline. The default action with no arguments is the next-episode report.
version	0.1.0

Purpose

The editorial calendar is the production pipeline view. It says what is recorded, what is edited, what is published, and what is on deck. It also carries the post-show numbers — runtime, downloads, top-performing clip — so the host can see episode-over-episode performance in one row.

The Google Sheet is the source of truth when connected. A local CSV at outbox/editorial-calendar.csv is the fallback. Either way the schema is identical so a host can switch between them later without losing data.

This skill also writes recording and publish dates to the configured Google Calendar so the co-host can see the schedule from their own calendar app without having to open a sheet.

Inputs

Input	Type	Default	Notes
action	string	next	One of add, update, get, list, next, sync-calendar.
episode_number	string	(required for add, update, get)	Episode identifier (EP042).
fields	object	none	Map of field updates for update action. Examples: {"status": "published", "actual_publish_date": "2026-05-01", "runtime_minutes": 47}.
lookahead_episodes	int	3	For next and list actions. How many upcoming episodes to include.

Schema

Every row in the calendar carries these fields. Order matters when writing the CSV.

Field	Type	Notes
episode_number	string	EP042
working_title	string	From episode-program output
status	enum	idea, scheduled, recorded, edited, published
topics	string	Comma-separated topic IDs or short titles
segments	string	Comma-separated segment IDs run this episode
target_publish_date	date	YYYY-MM-DD
recording_date	date	YYYY-MM-DD
actual_publish_date	date	YYYY-MM-DD
runtime_minutes	int	from show-notes
downloads	int	from post-show-debrief analytics pull
views	int	from YouTube Studio pull
top_clip_id	string	from clip-finder + post-show-debrief
notes	string	freeform

Outputs

Output	Path	Notes
Updated row	Google Sheet (output_targets.google_sheets.editorial_calendar_id)	Or outbox/editorial-calendar.csv if Sheets unavailable.
Calendar events	Google Calendar (output_targets.google_calendar.calendar_id)	Recording event + publish event per episode. Created/updated by add, update, and sync-calendar actions.
Status report	stdout	Printed for next, list, and get actions.

Process

1. Verify config exists.

   • If config/podcast.yaml is missing, redirect to podcast-init.

2. Resolve the calendar backend.

   • If output_targets.google_sheets.editorial_calendar_id is set and the Sheets connector is available, use Sheets.
   • Otherwise fall back to outbox/editorial-calendar.csv. Create it with headers if missing.

3. Dispatch on action.

   add

   • Require episode_number. Optional fields for any non-default values.
   • Default new row: status: scheduled if a recording_date is provided, otherwise status: idea.
   • Pull working_title, topics, segments from outbox/episodes/EP###/run-of-show.md if present.
   • Write the row to the backend.
   • If recording_date or target_publish_date is set and Google Calendar is connected, create or update the calendar events.

   update

   • Require episode_number and fields.
   • Validate field names against the schema. Reject unknown fields.
   • Apply updates. Status transitions are not enforced — the host may move backward (e.g., published → edited) if a re-edit is needed.
   • If a date field changes, update the corresponding Google Calendar event.

   get

   • Return the row for the given episode_number as a structured printout. Note any missing required fields.

   list

   • Return all rows from the backend. Include status counts at the top.

   next (default)

   • Find the next episode that is not yet published, sorted by target_publish_date then recording_date then episode_number.
   • Report:
     • Episode number, working title, status.
     • Days until target publish (or days overdue).
     • Checklist of expected artifacts and which ones exist:
       • run-of-show.md (required for scheduled and beyond)
       • briefs/topic-N.md for each topic on the rundown (required for scheduled and beyond)
       • cohost-brief.md (required for scheduled and beyond)
       • Recording event on Google Calendar (required for scheduled and beyond)
       • transcript-clean.md (required for recorded and beyond)
       • show-notes.md (required for edited and beyond)
       • clips.md and clips.json (required for edited and beyond)
       • distribution.md or scheduled Blotato posts (required for published)
     • For each missing artifact, the suggested skill to run.
   • Then list the next lookahead_episodes - 1 upcoming episodes with their status.

   sync-calendar

   • For every row with status in scheduled or beyond, ensure the recording event and publish event exist on the configured Google Calendar.
   • Title format: Record EP042 — <Working Title> and Publish EP042 — <Working Title>.
   • Add the co-host (cohost.email) as an attendee on the recording event.
   • Skip if Google Calendar connector is unavailable; note in the run summary.

4. Voice check on notes content the skill writes.

   • Auto-generated notes (e.g., "Backfilled from EP-folder artifacts") pass style/voice.md rules. Host-entered notes are not rewritten.

5. Print summary.

   • Action performed, rows changed, calendar events created or updated, fallback path if Sheets/Calendar were unavailable.
   • For next, print the on-deck report directly to stdout in scannable form.

Connectors and APIs

Connector	Use	Fallback
Google Sheets	Read and write rows	outbox/editorial-calendar.csv
Google Calendar	Create and update recording / publish events	Print event details to stdout, skip creation
Filesystem read	Detect existing artifacts in outbox/episodes/EP###/ for the on-deck checklist	Required

Examples

Example 1: Default — what's on deck

User: "what's on deck"

EP043 — "When does an open-source model become a moat?" — status: scheduled
Target publish: 2026-05-08 (in 7 days). Recording: 2026-05-05.

Artifact checklist:
  ✓ run-of-show.md
  ✓ briefs/topic-1.md
  ✗ briefs/topic-2.md         → run: research-brief T-20260501-04
  ✗ cohost-brief.md           → run: cohost-brief EP043
  ✓ Calendar event (recording)
  — transcript-clean.md       (required after recording)
  — show-notes.md             (required after editing)
  — clips.md / clips.json     (required after editing)
  — distribution.md           (required at publish)

Upcoming:
  EP044 — "..." — idea — target 2026-05-15
  EP045 — "..." — idea — target 2026-05-22

Example 2: Mark an episode published

User: "mark EP042 as published, runtime 47 minutes, 2,318 downloads first week"

Skill updates the EP042 row: status: published, actual_publish_date: <today>, runtime_minutes: 47, downloads: 2318. Updates the publish event on the calendar to past. Run summary confirms the changes and reminds the host to run post-show-debrief EP042 for the loop closure.

Example 3: Add an episode in idea state

User: "add EP044 to the calendar, target publish May 15, three topics from the radar, no recording date yet"

Skill creates a row with status: idea, target_publish_date: 2026-05-15, the three topic IDs in the topics field. No calendar event is created since there's no recording date yet. Notes that recording date should be set before episode-program is run.

Example 4: Sync after manual edits

User: "sync the calendar, I edited some dates manually"

Skill walks every row, ensures the corresponding Google Calendar events match. Updates the events that drifted, creates missing ones, and reports any rows that fall outside the configured calendar's allowed range.