creative-brief-protocol

name	creative-brief-protocol
description	CreativeBrief envelope contract, intake template, and validation checklist for Calliope and any head receiving strategic intent.
user-invocable	false
argument-hint	<intake|validate|emit>
allowed-tools	["Read","Write","Edit"]

CreativeBrief Protocol

The canonical contract between strategic intent (Hermes / CMO CSuiteDecisionPacket) and the Eight Garland Heads crew. Calliope owns this; every other head consumes it.

Purpose

Ensure every campaign run begins with a fully-populated CreativeBrief envelope that matches the Hydra schema. A malformed or under-specified brief MUST NOT enter fan-out.

When to use

• Calliope receives a raw request, CSuiteDecisionPacket, or HANDOFF envelope and must shape it into a CreativeBrief.
• Any head detects a missing required field on an inbound brief and needs to bounce it back.
• /creative-campaign or /brand-refresh is initialized.

Envelope schema (Hydra hydra_core/schemas.py:CreativeBrief)

Required fields:

• type — literal string "CreativeBrief"
• campaign_id — stable slug, lowercase-kebab, prefix cmp- (e.g. cmp-acme-q3-launch)
• objective — single sentence stating the measurable outcome (impressions, signups, sentiment delta, etc.)
• target_audience — object with primary (persona name + 2-3 traits) and optional secondary
• key_messages — ordered list, 3 to 5 entries, each one full sentence
• channels — list drawn from controlled vocabulary: instagram, tiktok, youtube, x, linkedin, threads, meta-ads, google-ads, programmatic, email, pr-earned, landing-page, ooh, broadcast
• brand_constraints — object: voice, tone, taboo_topics, competitor_mentions_allowed (bool), must_include, must_avoid
• assets_required — list of {kind, count, specs} where kind is one of key-art, hero-video, product-shot, social-cut, copy-block, press-release, landing-section

Optional but recommended: budget_usd, deadline_iso, risk_tolerance (low|med|high), prior_campaign_ids.

Inputs

• Raw human request, OR
• CSuiteDecisionPacket from ExecutiveSuite/Hermes, OR
• Upstream HANDOFF envelope from Hydra planner.

Outputs

• A CreativeBrief JSON object MUST be emitted before any fan-out occurs.
• A gaps.md note SHOULD be written to RLM/output/intake/{campaign_id}-{date}.md when fields were inferred rather than supplied.

Intake template (Calliope asks the requestor)

If the inbound request is under-specified, Calliope MUST send back these questions before proceeding:

1. What is the single measurable outcome by what date? (objective)
2. Who is the primary audience — name the persona and 2-3 defining traits.
3. What 3 things MUST the audience walk away believing? (key_messages)
4. Which channels are in-scope? Which are explicitly out-of-scope?
5. Voice/tone constraints — any taboo topics, banned phrases, or competitor mentions to avoid?
6. What deliverables and how many — key art, hero video, social cuts, copy blocks?
7. Budget ceiling for paid + production, and risk tolerance for edgy creative?
8. Any prior campaigns we should recall or explicitly diverge from?

Procedure

1. Read the inbound payload. If it is a CSuiteDecisionPacket, map fields: decision.summary -> objective; decision.audience -> target_audience.primary; decision.messaging_pillars -> key_messages; decision.channels -> channels; decision.brand_guardrails -> brand_constraints.
2. Recall prior context: eights.memory.recall(query=objective, domain="creative", scopes=["public","team:garland-crew"], k=8).
3. Run the validation checklist (below). For every missing required field, EITHER infer from recall + state the inference explicitly in gaps.md, OR bounce back the intake template questions.
4. Assign campaign_id (lowercase-kebab, cmp- prefix, 12-30 chars).
5. Emit CreativeBrief JSON via rlm.output.write(domain="creative", scopes=["public","team:garland-crew"]).
6. Notify fan-out targets (Erato, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Euterpe, Clio, Urania, Helios) by attaching the brief to the dispatch envelope.

Validation checklist

• campaign_id matches ^cmp-[a-z0-9-]{8,28}$
• objective is one sentence, contains a measurable noun (signups, ROAS, reach, sentiment, etc.) and a timeframe
• target_audience.primary has persona name AND 2-3 traits
• key_messages has 3-5 entries, each a complete sentence
• channels is non-empty and every entry is from the controlled vocab
• brand_constraints.voice and brand_constraints.tone are populated
• assets_required is non-empty; each entry has kind, count, specs
• No PII or client-confidential strings appear in objective or key_messages unless scopes includes sensitive:client-confidential

Failure modes / escalation

• Field missing AND not inferable — bounce with intake template; do NOT fan out.
• Schema mismatch on emit — Hydra planner will reject; log to RLM/progress/events.jsonl with error: schema_violation and retry once.
• risk_tolerance == "low" AND any key_message contains a competitor name — escalate to HITL via governance-c2pa.
• Conflicting constraints (e.g. must_include overlaps must_avoid) — HITL; Calliope MUST NOT auto-resolve.

References

• Schema: hydra_core/schemas.py in the Hydra repository (CreativeBrief)
• Upstream mapping: integrations/executive-suite.md
• Memory contract: integrations/eights.md