curator-notes

name	curator-notes
description	Processes the human curator's monthly notes file into pipeline-ready content. Reads raw URLs, text hints, and structured sections from the curator's brain dump, classifies each item, filters internal/industry content, visits surviving URLs, and outputs processed items + editorial signals. Use between Phase 1C and Phase 3 when a curator notes file exists. Keywords: curator notes, brain dump, links file, monthly notes, human curation, editorial signals.
metadata	{"category":"domain","phase":"1.5"}

Curator Notes Processing

Process the human curator's monthly notes file into pipeline-ready content and editorial signals.

Quick Start

1. Check for workspace/curator_notes_YYYY-MM.md (or known variants)
2. If no file exists, skip this phase entirely -- pipeline continues normally
3. Parse and classify every item using the link type taxonomy
4. Filter: internal links become editorial signals; public links get visited
5. Output processed items + editorial signals
6. Items feed into Phase 3 curation alongside Phase 1C discoveries

Inputs

• Curator notes file (optional): workspace/curator_notes_YYYY-MM.md
  • May also appear as: workspace/<month>.md, workspace/<Month>.md, workspace/Jan.md, etc.
  • Check for any .md file in workspace/ that looks like a brain dump of links
• Phase 1C Discoveries: For cross-reference (avoid duplicates)

Output

• workspace/curator_notes_processed_YYYY-MM.md -- Items in universal extraction format, ready for Phase 3
• workspace/curator_notes_editorial_signals_YYYY-MM.md -- Priority hints, theme suggestions, internal context

Core Workflow

Step 0: Locate the Notes File

Check these paths in order:

1. workspace/curator_notes_YYYY-MM.md (canonical)
2. workspace/<Month>.md (e.g., workspace/Jan.md, workspace/February.md)
3. Any .md file in workspace/ containing 3+ URLs that isn't a pipeline output

If no file found: SKIP. Output nothing. Pipeline continues.

Step 1: Parse and Classify

For each line/item in the notes file, classify into one of these types:

Type	Detection Pattern	Action
GitHub Changelog	github.blog/changelog/	PROCESS: visit URL, extract item
GitHub Blog	github.blog/news-insights/ or github.blog/ai-and-ml/	PROCESS: visit URL, extract item
VS Code Release Notes	code.visualstudio.com/updates/	PROCESS: visit URL, extract features
Microsoft DevBlog	devblogs.microsoft.com/	PROCESS: visit if GitHub-specific
Community resource	github.com/<user>/, personal sites, awesome-lists	PROCESS: visit URL, extract description
VS Code extension	marketplace.visualstudio.com/	PROCESS: visit URL, extract description
YouTube video	youtube.com/watch, youtu.be/	PROCESS: visit, extract title and context
Event registration	registration.goldcast.io/, github.com/resources/events/	PROCESS: extract event details
Named feature hint	Text line without URL referencing a product name	SIGNAL: flag as editorial priority
Internal link	github.slack.com/, docs.google.com/, github.com/github/ (private repos), thehub.github.com/	SIGNAL: translate topic to public reference
Industry content	hbr.org/, substack.com/, medium.com/, martinfowler.com/, analyst reports	SIGNAL: framing context only
Competitor content	blog.cloudflare.com/, sonarsource.com/, etc.	SIGNAL: competitive context only
Text note (vague)	Bare text, no URL, no product name	SIGNAL: note for context

Step 2: Filter and Route

PROCESS items (visit, extract, output as discoveries):

• GitHub Changelog, Blog, VS Code, DevBlog, Community, Extensions, Videos, Events
• Visit each URL and extract: title, date, description, enterprise relevance

SIGNAL items (output as editorial signals):

• Internal links: identify the topic and note "watch for public announcement about [topic]"
• Industry content: summarize the thesis for framing context
• Named feature hints: flag as lead section candidates
• Competitor content: note competitive positioning opportunity

Step 3: Cross-Reference with Phase 1C

For each PROCESS item, check if Theme 1C discoveries already cover it:

• Already covered: Mark as "REINFORCEMENT" (human agreed this is important -- boost priority in Phase 3)
• Not covered: Mark as "ADDITION" (unique content from curator -- must include in Phase 3)

Step 4: Visit and Extract

For each PROCESS item not already covered by Phase 1C:

1. Fetch the URL
2. Extract: title, date, description (2-3 sentences), enterprise relevance (1-10)
3. Format in universal extraction format
4. Assign category from the newsletter taxonomy

Step 5: Write Outputs

Processed items (workspace/curator_notes_processed_YYYY-MM.md):

## Curator Notes: Processed Items

### Additions (not in Phase 1C)
- **[Item Title]** -- Description. - [Label](URL)
  - Source: Curator notes
  - Enterprise Relevance: N/10

### Reinforcements (also in Phase 1C -- boost priority)
- **[Item Title]** -- Already in discoveries. Curator explicitly flagged.

Editorial signals (workspace/curator_notes_editorial_signals_YYYY-MM.md):

## Editorial Signals from Curator Notes

### Lead Section Candidates
- [Feature hint]: Curator named this explicitly. Consider for lead.

### Priority Boosts
- [Topic]: Curator linked N items about this topic. Strong signal.

### Framing Context
- [Industry article summary]: Useful for newsletter introduction framing.

### Internal Signals (not linkable)
- [Slack thread topic]: Something is happening around [X]. Watch for public announcement.

Integration with Pipeline

• Phase 1C -> Phase 1.5 (this skill) -> Phase 3
• Phase 3 (content-curation) reads BOTH Phase 1C discoveries AND curator notes processed items
• Editorial signals inform Phase 3's lead section decision and item prioritization
• If a named feature hint matches a Phase 1C discovery, it gets 2.0x priority boost

Link Type Survival Intelligence

From analysis of 10 benchmark cycles (see reference/curator-notes-intelligence.md):

Type	Survival Rate	Notes
Named feature hints	100%	Always become sections/leads
Community resources	100%	Pipeline can't find these
Team member content	100%	Personal curation uniqueness
GitHub Changelog	67%	May be superseded
Microsoft DevBlog	50%	Only if GitHub-specific
YouTube videos	25%	Only major conference sessions
Internal links	0%	Translate to public references
Industry blogs	0%	Framing context only
Analyst reports	0%	Never linked directly

Reference

• Curator Notes Intelligence -- Full analysis from 10 benchmark cycles
• Content Format Spec -- Output formatting rules

Done When

• Notes file located (or confirmed absent)
• All items classified by type
• Public URLs visited and extracted
• Cross-referenced with Phase 1C discoveries
• Processed items file exists (if notes file existed)
• Editorial signals file exists (if notes file existed)
• No internal links leaked to processed items output