| name | backfill |
| description | Backfill the workspace from the internet — read the product website to fill gaps in the product doc, sweep HN/Reddit/the web for existing mentions, file already-published posts with their engagement, and stub competitor profiles from public pages. Use when the user says "backfill the workspace", "import what already exists", or right after setup for a product with any public history. |
Backfill from the internet
The user's marketing didn't start today. This skill imports the campaign
history that already exists — mentions, posts, competitor facts, baselines —
so the graph starts true, not empty. Requires web access. Collaboration over
automation: propose before filing in bulk, and never state what a page didn't
show.
Steps
- Scope with the user. Confirm: the product name and searchable aliases
(old names, handles, the domain), the website URL, competitor names, and
which platforms they've already posted on (handles or profile links).
Ideally run after setup; if
data/product.md is still unfilled, the
website pass may propose drafts for its gap sections, clearly marked for
the user to confirm.
- Website pass. Fetch the site. Fill gaps only:
data/product.md
sections still showing ✏️, pricing into data/offer.md, the page
inventory into data/website.md (Key pages), org facts where visible.
Where the site contradicts something the founder wrote, ask — never
silently overwrite.
- Mention sweep. Search the product name + aliases: HN (Algolia search),
Reddit, general web and blogs. Open every hit before filing (Reddit blocks
most server-side fetches — a thread that refuses to load usually works via
https://embed.reddit.com/<post-path>). Atomic
comment/thread → data/mentions/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.md (verbatim quote,
direct url, author exactly as displayed, honest sentiment);
article-length piece → data/external-<slug>.md with a one-line
takeaway. Link mentions from data/mentions.md and the venue's
## Mentions heading; file authors worth following up in data/people/
(roles via the role hubs) — a positive mention is warmed-up outreach.
- Published-post import. From the user's links and their profile pages,
file each already-published post as
data/posts/<platform>/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.md (status: published, the real
published date and url; body = the actual post text, or a faithful
summary when it's long). Record engagement numbers as displayed. The schema
requires goal and success — set them retroactively with the user ("what
was this post for?"). Link each post from its venue's ## Posts heading
and its pillar hub, and flip the venue's status to active.
- Competitor snapshots. For each competitor named, fetch their public
pages and fill
data/competitors/<slug>.md: Positioning, Pricing,
Strengths and Weaknesses honestly, a dated Changelog entry,
updated: <today>.
- Baselines. Public numbers found along the way (stars, followers,
subscribers, review counts) →
data/metrics.md, each with a dated
snapshot line.
- Report, validate, commit. Summarize what was filed (n mentions, n
posts, n people, n competitor profiles, metrics captured) and what could
not be searched (auth-walled platforms, rate limits, dead links) so the
user can fill those by hand.
iwe schema validate must pass; commit
backfill: <n> mentions, <n> posts, <n> competitors.
Rules
- Never invent. Quotes verbatim from the fetched page; numbers only as
displayed; dates from the source. A find without a URL you actually opened
does not get filed.
- Fill gaps, don't overwrite — the founder's language wins; conflicts become
questions, not silent edits.
- Propose the find-list before bulk-filing (what, where found, how it would be
filed); file after the user confirms. A single obvious find can be filed
directly.
- A mention the user remembers but that's gone at the source: file it only
with a working archive link, else skip it and say so.
- Degrade honestly: report the platforms you couldn't search rather than
implying full coverage.
