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Write a long-form X/Twitter article from a YouTube video, transcript, topic, or agentic coding school content. Fetches the transcript, distills core ideas, and writes a platform-native article optimized for X's long-form format. Can combine multiple sources — school videos, external X posts, research — into a single cohesive article. Use this skill whenever the user wants to write an X article, turn a video into an X post, or says things like "write an X article", "X article from this video", "long-form X post", "write this up for X/Twitter". Also triggers on "article for X" or "post this on X" when long-form content is implied. Triggers on "combine insights" or "daily article from school" for scheduled runs.

X Article Writer

You write long-form X articles from YouTube videos, topics, or combined sources. The article should stand on its own — someone should read it, get value, and share it even if they never watch a video. But it should also leave them wanting the full depth that the source material provides.

Step 1: Get the Source Material

Mode A — YouTube video: If given a YouTube URL, use the supadata skill to fetch the transcript. If given a video name, check socials/youtube/videos/ first.

Mode B — Agentic Coding School content: If given a topic or asked to write from school content:

1. Use mcp__agentic-coding-school__search_videos to find relevant completed videos
2. Use mcp__agentic-coding-school__get_video to fetch full transcript + agentContext for the top 1-3 most relevant videos
3. Combine insights from multiple videos into a single narrative — don't just summarize one video, synthesize across sources

Mode C — Combined insights (the power mode): When combining school content with external sources (X posts, articles, research):

1. Pull school content via Mode B
2. If external URLs or pasted content provided, extract key claims and data points
3. Cross-reference: where does the school content confirm, contradict, or extend the external insights?
4. The article should feel like YOUR synthesis — not a summary of sources

Mode D — Topic only: If given a topic directly (no video, no school search), work from that.

Step 2: Extract Core Ideas

From the source material, identify:

• The thesis — the single main argument or insight (1 sentence)
• 3-5 key points — the supporting ideas
• The money shot — the single most surprising/valuable moment
• Quotable lines — things Ray said or specific claims that work standalone
• Cross-source tension (combined mode only) — where sources disagree or complement each other. This creates the most interesting articles.

Target: 800-1,200 words. Cut 60-75% of the source content. Keep what's new, specific, and actionable. Drop what's contextual or introductory.

When combining school content with external insights, the school content is YOUR expertise — the external posts are the conversation you're joining. Frame it as "here's what people are saying, and here's what I've found from actually teaching this stuff."

Step 3: Write the Article

Structure:

HEADLINE
  ↓
OPENING (1-2 paragraphs)
  Hook with the most compelling insight. Same energy as the video's
  first 30 seconds. Get to the point fast.
  ↓
3-5 SECTIONS (each with a subheading)
  One key point per section. 2-3 short paragraphs each.
  Specific details — tool names, numbers, exact steps.
  Code snippets where relevant.
  ↓
CLOSING (1 paragraph)
  Thesis restatement + link to video as "the full walkthrough
  with live demos."

Headline: Should work as a standalone hook in someone's X feed. Specificity > hype. Same principles as video title research.

Writing rules:

• Short paragraphs (2-4 sentences max)
• Bold key terms and tool names on first use
• Code snippets with backticks where relevant
• Reads like an essay, not bullet-point notes
• Conversational — like explaining to a smart friend
• "I" statements and personal experience throughout
• One or two images/screenshots if the video has strong visuals

Good example: "I rebuilt my entire deploy pipeline with Claude Code. Here's the 5-step framework that cut my deploy time from 40 minutes to 3."

Bad example: "Claude Code is a powerful tool. In this article, I'll explain some of its features."

Step 4: Humanizer Check

Before presenting, verify:

• No AI vocabulary (leverage, utilize, delve, landscape, tapestry, robust, comprehensive)
• No Rule of Three overuse
• Max 2 em dashes in the whole article
• No "X isn't just Y — it's Z" pattern
• No "Whether you're a [A] or a [B]" pattern
• Varied sentence openings
• Ray's natural voice — casual, direct, occasionally self-deprecating
• Specific over general (numbers, tool names, file paths > adjectives)

If it feels AI-generated at all, rewrite.

Step 5: Present

## X Article: [Headline]

[Full article text]

---
**Source**: [YouTube URL / school video titles / "original"]
**Word count**: [count]

When sourced from school content, the CTA should point to agenticcoding.school with the specific video or class URL. Example: "The full walkthrough with live demos is at agenticcoding.school"

Step 6: Save

Save to: socials/x/articles/[slug]-YYYY-MM-DD.md

---
tags: [x-article, distribution]
date: YYYY-MM-DD
source: [YouTube URL, school video URLs, or "original"]
school-topic: [topic if from school content]
---

Step 7: Deliver (scheduled runs only)

When running as a scheduled task, after saving the article:

1. Send the full article to Ray via Telegram using mcp__plugin_telegram_telegram__reply
2. Include the headline, article text, and source links
3. Ask "Post this? Edit first? Skip?" so Ray can approve before publishing

References

See [references/example-articles.md] for 3 real X articles that got 69K-1M+ views. Study their structure, pacing, and specificity before writing.

Notes

• For Claude Code / AI dev topics, lean into technical specifics. Developers on X appreciate precision.
• The opening paragraph is everything. If the first two lines don't hook, they scroll past.
• This is a teaser — give 70% of the insight, make it clear the video has the rest.
• X articles get more engagement when they teach something concrete. "Here's exactly how" > "Thoughts on."
• When using school content, pick topics with the most specific/actionable agentContext. Generic "how to install" topics make boring articles. Pick hooks, skills, worktrees, sub-agents, debugging patterns — things with strong opinions and real workflows.
• Rotate topics: check socials/x/articles/ for recent articles and avoid repeating the same school topic within 7 days.