brand-onboarding

name	brand-onboarding
description	Week 1 onboarding wizard for new Brand Amplification Engine (BAE) users. Interviews the user across 3 areas (brand identity, platform handles, distribution topology), then generates the 4 required context files BAE needs to run. Cross-session memory baked in from day one — the user never re-explains who they are.
triggers	["onboard me to brand amplification","brand setup","brand onboarding","week 1 setup","set up my brand engine","new user setup","set up my distribution engine","i'm new to brand amplification","get me started with brand"]

Brand Amplification Onboarding — Week 1 Setup

Purpose

New BAE users need 4 files before the first campaign can run. This skill generates all four through a structured interview. Once complete, the user has cross-session memory baked in — brand voice, handles, channel directory, and distribution topology persist across every future session automatically.

Output Format

Always start with:

━━━ Brand Amplification Engine · Onboarding ━━━

The 4 Files This Skill Generates

Brain API (brain-kernel >= 1.0.0)

All writes go through brain.write(path, content, opts). All reads go through brain.read(path). Direct filesystem writes are FORBIDDEN — the kernel enforces ACL and provenance on every operation.

File	brain.write() path	What it does
professional-brand.md	brand-amplification/identity/professional-brand.md	Brand voice, tone, narrative pillars, IP firewall. Auto-loaded before every draft.
handles.md	identity/handles.md	All platform handles. Used by Gates 3, 6, and every distribution module. (primitive write — declared in writes_to_primitives)
content-flywheel.md	brand-amplification/voice-strategies/content-flywheel.md	Per-user distribution topology — which platform is honey pot, juice hub, spokes.
social-channel-directory.md	brand-amplification/campaigns/social-channel-directory.md	Channel quality ratings. Gate 2 reads this on every preflight to block banned channels.

Write call pattern (owned namespace):

brain.write("brand-amplification/identity/professional-brand.md", content, {
  provenance: { who: "brand-amplification", why: "onboarding: brand identity initialized", source: "brand-onboarding" },
  engine_id: "brand-amplification"
})

Write call pattern (primitive — handles.md):

brain.write("identity/handles.md", content, {
  provenance: { who: "brand-amplification", why: "onboarding: handles initialized", source: "brand-onboarding" },
  engine_id: "brand-amplification"
})

ACL allows this because writes_to_primitives: ["identity/handles.md"] is declared in the engine manifest.

Execution Flow

Phase 0 — Workspace Setup (runs FIRST, before any questions)

Before asking anything else, establish $CAREER_HOME:

# Check if CAREER_HOME is already set
echo "${CAREER_HOME:-not set}"

If already set: confirm the path exists and is writable. Print: "Using $CAREER_HOME as your workspace." Then proceed to Phase 1.

If not set: ask ONE question before starting the interview:

"Where should your BAE workspace live? This is the folder that stores your brand context, campaigns, and session memory.

Default: ~/career-os (press Enter to accept, or type a different path)

Recommended: a private folder you git-commit regularly — your brand context and campaigns are valuable artifacts."

After they answer (or press Enter for default):

1. Workspace directories are created automatically by brain.write() — no manual mkdir needed. brain.write() calls mkdirSync(dirname(abs), { recursive: true }) internally.
2. Print: "Workspace created. Starting setup..."
3. Persist the path — add to shell profile so it survives sessions:

   echo 'export CAREER_HOME="<path>"' >> ~/.zshrc  # or ~/.bashrc if zsh not found
   export CAREER_HOME="<path>"
   

4. Proceed to Phase 1.

Default path for new users: ~/career-os (do not use personal workspace paths as defaults).

---

Phase 1 — Brand Interview (5 questions)

Ask the following questions ONE AT A TIME. Wait for each answer before asking the next. Do not batch.

Q1: "What's your full name and the brand name you use online? (e.g., 'Alex Chen / The Product Strategist')"

Q2: "In 2-3 sentences: what do you do, who do you do it for, and what makes you different? This becomes your primary brand statement."

Q3: "What are your 3 core content pillars — the themes every piece of content connects back to?"

Q4: "Describe your voice in 3 words. Then: what are you NOT? (e.g., 'not a tutorial writer, not a hype merchant')"

Q5: "Any terms or framings that must NEVER appear in your published content? (IP firewall — could be competitor names, internal jargon, personal details, or positioning you've deliberately avoided)"

Phase 2 — Handles Interview (1 question, multiple parts)

Q6: "List your handles for each platform you're active on. For each, tell me its role in your flywheel (primary hub, conversion, or spoke):

• LinkedIn:
• Substack / newsletter:
• X / Twitter:
• Instagram:
• Reddit:
• Facebook:
• Website / other:"

Phase 3 — Distribution Topology (3 questions)

Q7: "Which platform is your HONEY POT — the owned soil where you convert followers into permanent subscribers? (Usually Substack / newsletter / email list)"

Q8: "Which platform is your JUICE HUB — your primary engagement engine where social proof compounds? (Usually LinkedIn for B2B professionals)"

Q9: "What subreddits, Facebook groups, or community channels are safe for you to post in? Any channels that are banned or low-ROI for your audience?"

---

Phase 4 — File Generation

After all 9 answers are collected:

1. Read the 4 template files from the plugin bundle:

   • $(ls -v ~/.claude/plugins/cache/xos/brand-amplification/*/skills/social-distribution-engine/onboarding-templates/*.template.md 2>/dev/null)

2. Fill in all {{PLACEHOLDER}} tokens with the user's answers.

3. Write the 4 files via brain API:

   brain.write("brand-amplification/identity/professional-brand.md", ...)
   brain.write("identity/handles.md", ...)              ← primitive write (writes_to_primitives)
   brain.write("brand-amplification/voice-strategies/content-flywheel.md", ...)
   brain.write("brand-amplification/campaigns/social-channel-directory.md", ...)
   

   If files already exist: ask before overwriting. Check via brain.read(path) — non-null result = file exists.

4. Validate: confirm all 4 writes returned ok: true.

5. Run a quick smoke test — check that brain.read("identity/handles.md") returns content with at least one handle entry and brain.read("brand-amplification/voice-strategies/content-flywheel.md") has platform role assignments.

---

Phase 5 — Completion Summary

Print this summary:

━━━ Brand Amplification · Onboarding Complete ━━━

Files created:
  ✅ brand-amplification/identity/professional-brand.md
  ✅ identity/handles.md  (primitive — shared with Career OS)
  ✅ brand-amplification/voice-strategies/content-flywheel.md
  ✅ brand-amplification/campaigns/social-channel-directory.md

Cross-session memory: ACTIVE
  → Your brand voice, handles, and distribution topology are now git-versioned.
  → Every future BAE session loads these automatically — you never re-explain who you are.

What Claude Cowork can't do that you now have:
  → Cross-session memory (their #1 stated limitation — solved)
  → 10-gate preflight CI on every campaign
  → Invisible signal CTA enforcement (bookmark, save, DM-share, profile-click)
  → Golden hour scheduling validation

Week 2 — Your First Campaign:
  1. Run: "create campaign [your topic]" to start the campaign engine
  2. The 10-gate preflight CI will validate everything before distribution
  3. Your context files are already loaded — no setup needed

brain.write() auto-commits every file via brain-kernel. Your 4 context files
are already versioned — no manual git commit needed.

---

Privacy Note

The 4 files are local to the user's machine and $CAREER_HOME directory. They are never transmitted anywhere unless the user explicitly opts in to signal sharing (share_outcomes: true in content-flywheel.md). Signal sharing, when opted in, shares only bucketed performance outcomes — never content, handles, or personal details.

---

Failure Modes

• User skips a question: Ask again with context ("This becomes your primary brand statement — it's what every future draft is anchored to. Even a rough version is better than leaving it blank.")
• User doesn't know their subreddits yet: Leave social-channel-directory.md with placeholder rows and note: "Update this before your first Reddit spoke post — Gate 2 will block unknown channels."
• Files already exist: Show a diff of what would change. Ask: "Overwrite, merge, or skip?" Never silently overwrite.
• $CAREER_HOME not set: Phase 0 handles this — ask for path and create directory before the interview starts. Default is ~/career-os for new users. Never default to a personal workspace path.