kernel-magazine-publish

name	kernel-magazine-publish
description	Publish a new issue of kernel.chat — the editorial magazine (POPEYE-inspired, EB Garamond + Courier Prime, ISSUE N · MONTH YEAR format). Use when user says "ship the next issue", "make an issue about X", "publish a drop", "kernel.chat new issue", or mentions issue, magazine, drop, spread, cover, monument, masthead, colophon.

kernel-magazine-publish

What this is

kernel.chat is an editorial magazine, not an app. Every drop is ISSUE N · MONTH YEAR. The full publishing playbook is src/content/issues/PUBLISHING.md — that file is the single source of truth. This skill points the agent at it and walks the most common path.

Always read src/content/issues/PUBLISHING.md first. Identity decisions, deploy steps, and collision handling all live there. This skill is the orientation, not the manual.

Deciding the issue's identity (§III of PUBLISHING.md)

Before touching code, answer five questions. No two recent issues should share all five.

1. Number — one more than LATEST_ISSUE in src/content/issues/index.ts. Check git log --all --oneline --grep="ISSUE $((N+1))" for collisions on other branches.
2. Format (spread.type) — pick from essay / interview / forecast / dispatch. Profile of a real person whose voice isn't on tape → essay, not interview. Add a new spread type only when none fit (§V).
3. Paper stock (coverStock) — cream / butter / kraft / ivory / ink. Cream is default. Ink is manifesto / archival / nocturnal.
4. Cover layout (coverLayout) — classic / monument-hero / asymmetric-left.
5. Accent (Ink Cabinet, §III.4.5) — tomato (default) / brick / cobalt / pool / ivy / olive / amethyst / oxblood / coffee. The catalog with hex values + fit notes is in src/content/issues/accents.ts. Deeper visual reference: docs/design-language.md.

Optional but preferred: a signature move — coverOrnament (ink-spread, warty-spots, flash-burn) or coverSeal. One distinctive element so this cover is recognizable at a glance.

The mechanical steps

# 1. Create the issue file
cp src/content/issues/371.ts src/content/issues/<N>.ts   # use closest same-format issue

# 2. Edit identity, headline, contents, spread, credits per §IV

# 3. Register in src/content/issues/index.ts
#    - import { ISSUE_<N> } from './<N>'
#    - push onto ALL_ISSUES (oldest first)

# 4. Verify
npx tsc --noEmit
npm run build
npm run dev                 # preview at localhost:5173

# 5. Ship
npm run deploy              # builds + force-pushes dist/ to gh-pages

npm run deploy propagates to https://kernel.chat in ~30 seconds via Cloudflare.

Voice rules

• EB Garamond for prose, Courier Prime for metadata
• Japanese subtitles for structural elements — real Japanese, not machine glosses; ask if unsure
• Em-dashes for asides, not hyphens or parentheses
• Never name POPEYE on the site. No "POPEYE" in user-visible copy. The grammar carries the homage.
• Magazine vocabulary — issue, feature, spread, folio, kicker, monument, colophon, masthead. Not dashboard, panel, card, widget.

After shipping

Three small edits to keep the playbook honest (PUBLISHING.md §IX):

1. Update the _Last updated:_ line at the bottom of PUBLISHING.md to match.
2. Refresh §III.2 spread-type examples if the cited example is three issues stale.
3. Update §IV "most recent same-format issue" reference.

Then update SCRATCHPAD.md with what shipped. If the user asked for socials, post via mcp__kbot__social_post — otherwise don't.

Commit format (§VIII)

Title: ISSUE <N> — <TITLE>. Body: 2–3 paragraphs explaining identity decisions and any new types/components. Always end with Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <[e-mail]>.

When in doubt

Re-read src/content/issues/PUBLISHING.md. It is kept current with each ship.