/competitive-intel-watch

name: competitive-intel-watch
argument-hint: "[prior snapshot (pasted/attached), and anything specific to watch]"
description: "Scheduled delta monitoring against a prior competitive snapshot. Use when tracking competitors on a cadence: material shifts only, cited evidence, battle-card update flags, runs unattended."
intent: >-
  A competitive intelligence delta monitor: given a previous Competitive Research Snapshot, sweep for
  material shifts since the last run and report only what changed — a cited changelog plus flags naming
  which battle card or positioning sections now need updating. Designed to run unattended on a loop or
  schedule; an empty changelog is a valid, useful result.
type: workflow
theme: market-intelligence
best_for:
  - "Keeping battle cards and positioning current without regenerating research weekly"
  - "Running unattended on a schedule and reporting only changes a rep or roadmap owner would act on"
  - "Turning competitive research from a one-off deliverable into a standing capability"
scenarios:
  - "Run this against last quarter's snapshot and tell me what actually changed"
  - "Set up a monthly competitor watch that flags when our battle card goes stale"
estimated_time: "10-25 min per run (after the baseline exists)"

Competitive Intel Watch

Purpose

Monitor a competitive landscape for **material shifts** since the last run. Diff the world against the previous snapshot; report only what changed, with evidence; flag which downstream artifacts need updating. This is the skill that turns competitive research from a document into a cadence — the weekly SIGINT sweep and monthly OSINT digest from the fusion cadence live here. A watch reports *change*, not *state*: regenerating the same report weekly is theater, and "no material shifts this cycle" is a valid, useful result.

Input

**Works best with:** the previous Competitive Research Snapshot (pasted or attached) — the baseline this run diffs against — and the competitor list (defaults to those in the snapshot). **Also useful:** anything specific you're watching for this cycle, and a materiality bar adjustment if the default needs tightening or loosening.

Input supplied inline with the invocation — text after the skill name, a pasted context dump, or an appended `ARGUMENTS:` line — counts as answers already given. Use it against the question budget; don't re-ask.

**Arriving empty-handed? That works too.** With no prior snapshot, the skill falls back to **baseline mode**: it produces a first snapshot using the `competitive-research-snapshot` structure and stops — the delta value starts on run two.

**Example invocation:** `Competitive intel watch — prior snapshot pasted below; this cycle I'm specifically watching for pricing moves. [snapshot]`

Key Concepts

• **Governing protocol:** honors the [`autonomous-investigation`](../autonomous-investigation/SKILL.md)

contract — question budget of 2 (this skill's tightest), search-plan gate, Fact/Inference/Assumption labels, Just Enough Mode, stable schema, 4-option Final Step.

• **Discipline mix:** SIGINT first (site diffs, pricing pages, job posts — the freshest layer), with

OSINT and HUMINT signals monthly and FININT on the quarterly pass — the fusion cadence in [`intelligence-collection-disciplines`](../intelligence-collection-disciplines/SKILL.md) is this skill's operating rhythm.

• **The materiality bar.** Report a change only if a sales rep, pricing owner, or roadmap owner would

plausibly act on it: pricing/packaging changes, launches and deprecations, positioning shifts, leadership moves, funding or M&A, major customer wins/losses, credible roadmap signals. Below the bar: cosmetic site changes, routine content marketing, minor releases. *Why it matters:* a watch that cries wolf gets ignored by cycle three — the bar is what keeps the audience.

• **Delta discipline.** Read the prior snapshot fully before searching; diff against it, never

regenerate it. The empty changelog is a first-class outcome.

• **Update flags close the loop.** Research is only done when it names the artifact it changes — each

material shift maps to the battle card, positioning, pricing, or roadmap sections now stale.

• **Do-not-invent list:** competitors, features, pricing, market share, customer wins, roadmap items,

product claims. Every claimed change carries a URL *and a date*.

• **When NOT to use:** no baseline exists and you want the full treatment → run

[`competitive-research-snapshot`](../competitive-research-snapshot/SKILL.md) first; the scope itself changed (new segment, pivot) → re-snapshot from scratch rather than diffing a stale scope.

Application

1. **Determine mode.** Prior snapshot provided → delta mode. None → baseline mode: produce a snapshot per the `competitive-research-snapshot` schema and stop. 2. **Credit inline context**, then ask only the unanswered questions (max 2): 1. Do you have the previous snapshot, or should I create a baseline? 2. Anything specific you're watching for this cycle? If unanswered, proceed: baseline mode if no snapshot, default materiality bar otherwise. 3. **Read the prior snapshot fully before searching.** The diff target is the document, not your memory of the market. 4. **Show the 3-bullet search plan** — what you'll check per competitor, source types (company sites, pricing pages, release notes, press, investor materials, credible news, review sites, job postings), how facts will be separated from inference. Continue unless revised. 5. **Sweep and filter through the materiality bar.** When nothing clears it, say so plainly. 6. **Emit the schema below exactly** — runs must be diffable.

Output schema (do not reorder)

~~~markdown

Competitive Watch Report

1. Run Header

**Scope (from prior snapshot):** | **Prior snapshot date:** | **This run date:** | **Competitors checked:**

2. Changelog (Material Shifts Only)

For each material shift:

[Competitor] — [4 to