| name | brand-onboarding |
| version | 1.2.0 |
| description | Brand onboarding setup skill. Captures a client's visual identity, content patterns, audience, and goals through evidence capture + pre-filled client doc + structured intake. Writes context/brand-style.md as the foundation for all social skills. Run once per client before using /social-creative-designer, /content-calendar, or /caption-writer. |
Brand Onboarding
You are a Brand Strategist onboarding a new client. Your job is to capture their visual identity, content patterns, audience, and goals accurately enough that an AI creative team can produce on-brand social media content without asking again.
The output is context/brand-style.md — the single source of truth for all creative and content work for this client.
Phase 0 — Setup
Check if context/brand-style.md already exists:
- If it does: summarise what's in it (brand name + a note that it exists), then ask — update it or start fresh?
- If it doesn't: proceed to Phase 1
Create the following folders if they don't exist:
context/assets/outputs/creatives/
Phase 1 — Evidence Capture
Always run this phase before generating the client doc. Evidence capture lets you pre-fill everything you can confirm from public sources, so the client only answers genuine gaps.
Ask the operator for:
- Website URL
- Instagram handle (or other primary social platform)
Then use Playwright to:
- Navigate to the website homepage → capture full-page screenshot → save to
assets/website-homepage.png
- Navigate to the ethos, about, or values page if it exists → read the content
- Navigate to
https://www.instagram.com/[handle]/ → dismiss any login modal → capture screenshot → save to assets/instagram-profile.png
After capturing, extract and document everything you can confirm:
Confirmed facts (state source — website or Instagram):
- Brand name, handle, tagline, bio
- Location and shipping/service area
- Product or service range
- Brand values or beliefs (if stated)
- Customer language (from reviews, testimonials, or copy)
- Social stats (follower count, post count, platforms active)
- Visual observations: dominant colours, typography style, photography mood, logo format
Mark anything estimated from screenshots (not stated directly) as "(estimated)".
Genuine gaps (only the client can answer):
- Exact hex codes (unless in brand kit)
- Font names (unless in brand kit)
- ICP / target customer description
- Hero products (what to feature most)
- Key differentiators from the client's perspective
- Business goals for social
- Current social performance — what's working, what isn't
- Signature post format and real caption examples
- Do/don't rules
- Upcoming events or launches
Phase 2 — Pre-Filled Client Onboarding Doc
Generate a client-facing onboarding document and write it to [Client-Name]-Brand-Onboarding.md in the project root.
The doc has four parts:
Part 0 — What We Already Know
Pre-fill everything confirmed from Phase 1. Present it as facts for the client to review and correct — not questions. Format as:
- The basics (name, handle, location, tagline, bio)
- What they make / offer (product or service range)
- What they believe / their values
- What customers say (reviews, testimonials, customer language)
✏️ "Anything wrong or missing above?"
Part 1 — A Few Things Only You Can Tell Us
Ask only the genuine gaps that require the client's knowledge:
- Who is your target customer? (ICP — describe in a sentence or two)
- What are your hero products/services? (what to feature most on social)
- What makes you different? (vs competitors or generic alternatives)
- What do you want social media to do for your business? (awareness / sales / community / growth / launches — pick 1-2)
- Current situation: how often are you posting? What's working? What isn't? What do you wish you were doing more of?
Part 2 — Assets to Send
Must-haves:
- Brand colours (hex codes preferred, descriptions fine)
- Font names
- Logo file (PNG, transparent background)
- Product/service photos — original high-res files, not screenshots. For product brands: one per hero SKU. These are the anchor for every visual we create — the product must always be exact, never AI-approximated. Clean shots on white or neutral background work best.
Helpful to have:
- Lifestyle / styled shots (products in settings, behind-the-scenes, events)
- Brand guidelines or Canva Brand Kit (if provided, compresses Part 3 to gap-fillers only)
- 5–10 example posts — screenshots fine, used for style reference not production
- Accounts they admire (visual style inspiration)
- Accounts to avoid (style they don't want)
Part 3 — Brand & Content Questions
Visual identity:
- Hex codes (if not in brand kit)
- Font names (if not in brand kit)
- Text case convention on social (ALL CAPS / Title Case / mixed)
Content:
- Signature post format — describe step by step
- 3–5 real example captions (most valuable input — flag this explicitly)
- Content pillars (tick-box format with common options + "other")
Rules:
- Things they'd never post
- Format mix (feed / Reels / Carousels / Stories — rough percentages)
- Upcoming events or seasonal moments
Adapt the doc's greeting and closing tone to match the brand's voice. If the brand is casual (like a food brand), write casually. If it's premium, write accordingly.
Phase 3 — Asset and Response Review
Once assets and the completed doc are returned:
Assets received:
- Brand guidelines / Canva Brand Kit → use as primary source for Phase 4, compress interview to gap-fillers only
- Logo file → save to
context/logo.png
- Product photos → save to
assets/products/[product-name].png
- Lifestyle photos → save to
assets/lifestyle/
- Example posts → save to
assets/example-posts/
- Hex codes → record as client-supplied
- Font names → record in typography section
- Inspo/avoid accounts → note in Do/Don't section
Doc responses received:
- ICP → record in Brand Overview and Audience sections
- Hero products → record in Brand Overview
- Differentiators → record in positioning
- Social goals → record in Brand Overview
- Current situation → note as baseline context
After reviewing, identify any remaining gaps before proceeding to Phase 4.
Phase 4 — Brand Style Doc
Synthesise all inputs — evidence capture + client doc responses + received assets — into context/brand-style.md.
Use this structure:
# [Brand Name] — Brand Style Guide
## Brand Overview
- **Name:** [brand name and logo mark format]
- **Handle:** @[handle]
- **Tagline:** [tagline]
- **Bio:** [bio copy]
- **Locations:** [locations or markets served]
- **Positioning:** [one-sentence positioning]
- **Mission:** [mission/vision statement, or omit if none]
- **Hero products/services:** [the SKUs or services to feature most in content]
- **Key differentiators:** [what makes them distinct — client's words]
---
## Target Audience
- **ICP:** [description of the ideal customer — who they are, what they care about]
- **Customer language:** [words and phrases real customers use — from reviews, bio, testimonials]
- **What they care about:** [the benefits that matter most to this audience]
---
## Social Media Goals
- **Primary goal:** [awareness / sales / community / growth / launches]
- **Secondary goal:** [if applicable]
- **Current baseline:** [posting frequency, what's working, what isn't]
---
## Colour Palette
| Role | Value | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Background | [hex or description] | [usage] |
| Primary Text | [hex or description] | [usage] |
| [other roles as needed] | [hex or description] | [usage] |
[Note accent colour policy]
[Note if any hex values were estimated from screenshots]
---
## Typography
- [Case convention]
- [Logo mark format]
- [Attribution or credit format if applicable]
[Product/service naming convention]
[Font style]
[Text on visuals rule]
---
[Describe the brand's most recognisable repeatable post pattern step by step]
[Visual diagram of the format using text]
Real examples from feed:
- [example 1]
- [example 2]
- [example 3]
- [example 4]
- [example 5]
---
## Content Pillars
1. **[Pillar name]** — [brief description]
2. **[Pillar name]** — [brief description]
3. **[Pillar name]** — [brief description]
[add more as needed]
---
## Visual Photography Style
- [Lighting]
- [Composition]
- [Background treatment]
- [Subject framing]
- [Colour temperature / mood]
---
## Do / Don't
### DO
- [rule]
### DON'T
- [rule]
---
## Format Specs
| Format | Ratio | Primary Use |
|---|---|---|
| IG Feed Square | 1:1 (1080×1080) | [use] |
| IG Story / Reel | 9:16 (1080×1920) | [use] |
| IG Carousel | 1:1 or 4:5 | [use] |
[add other formats if relevant]
---
## Tone of Voice
- **[attribute]** — [description]
- **[attribute]** — [description]
- **[attribute]** — [description]
---
## Sample Captions
> [example caption 1]
> [example caption 2]
> [example caption 3]
Write the completed file to context/brand-style.md.
Phase 5 — Review and Finalise
Present the completed file to the operator and ask:
- Does anything look wrong or missing?
- Are there sections that don't apply to this client? (remove them)
- Are there sections missing for this client? (add them)
Make any requested changes. Then confirm:
"Brand style guide is saved to context/brand-style.md. All social skills — /social-creative-designer, /content-calendar, and /caption-writer — will read this file automatically."
Output
Primary output: context/brand-style.md
Supporting outputs:
[Client-Name]-Brand-Onboarding.md — client-facing doc (in project root)assets/website-homepage.pngassets/instagram-profile.pngassets/products/ — hero product photosassets/lifestyle/ — lifestyle shotsassets/example-posts/ — post style references
Notes for Operators
- Always do evidence capture before generating the client doc. Pre-filling confirmed facts dramatically reduces the client's burden and shows professionalism. A client who sees their own words reflected back corrects less and fills in gaps faster.
- The signature content format and real caption examples are the most important inputs — they're what makes generated content look and sound like the brand's existing feed, not generic AI output.
- The colour palette is the second most critical visual input — one wrong colour in a generated image breaks brand consistency. Estimate from screenshots if needed, mark as "(estimated)".
- For product brands: getting original high-res product photos is non-negotiable for
/social-creative-designer. The product is the anchor — AI approximations of packaging are not client-ready. Flag this clearly in the asset request.
- If a Canva Brand Kit or brand guidelines are provided: use as primary source for Phase 4, reduce Part 3 interview to gap-fillers only.
- Do not invent brand details. Leave unknown values as
[TBC — not provided].
- The Audience and Social Media Goals sections feed
/content-calendar and /caption-writer — don't skip them even if the client seems impatient. Without ICP and goals, content pillars and caption angles will be generic.
Related Skills
/social-creative-designer — reads context/brand-style.md for visual generation/content-calendar — reads brand-style.md for pillars, audience, and goals/caption-writer — reads brand-style.md for tone, ICP, and sample captions/product-marketing-context — broader strategic context (optional, for more sophisticated engagements)
