/yt-content-planner

name: yt-content-planner
description: "Build a weekly YouTube upload plan: long-form vs YouTube Shorts mix, posting cadence, per-slot title and thumbnail pairing, hook angle, community-tab posts between uploads, and a goal balance across CTR, retention, and subscribes. Maps Shorts as top-of-funnel that points at long-form, and long-form as the loyalty and watch-time engine. Use to plan a week or a content calendar instead of shipping ad hoc. Not for writing a single title, description, or hook (use the dedicated yt skills)."

YouTube Content Planner

Turns a channel theme, an audience, and content pillars into a structured week: what to upload, when, in which format, and how the title and thumbnail pair on each slot. It plans; the dedicated skills write each piece.

When to use

• User says "plan my week of YouTube content" or "build me a content calendar"
• User wants a long-form vs Shorts mix and a cadence they can hold
• User wants each slot pre-paired (format, title angle, thumbnail angle, hook)
• User wants the community-tab posts scheduled between uploads

What it produces

• A **weekly grid**: each slot has a format (long-form or Short), a working title

angle, a thumbnail angle, the hook formula, the pillar, and a posting window.

• A **long-form vs Shorts ratio** sized to the channel's stage and capacity.
• **Community posts** placed on the non-upload days to keep the channel warm.
• A **goal balance check**: across the week, are you spread across CTR-first,

retention-first, and subscribe-first pieces, not all one note.

Steps

1. **Gather inputs.** The channel theme/niche, the audience, 3 to 5 content pillars, the target audience timezone, how many videos per week the user can realistically make, and the current stage (new channel vs established). If a channel URL is given, parse it with `lib/url_parser.py` and ask the user to paste their recent titles and rough view counts. 2. **Set the mix.** Size the long-form vs Shorts ratio to capacity and stage. A common growing-channel rhythm is 1 long-form per week plus 3 to 5 Shorts, but consistency over 12 weeks beats volume. Confirm a cadence the user can hold. 3. **Assign pillars to slots** so the week is varied, not five takes on one topic. 4. **Pair each slot.** For every upload, set:

• format (long-form or Short)
• working title angle (which Y1-Y6 formula)
• thumbnail angle (what it carries that the title does not)
• opening hook formula (Y7-Y10), matched via the pairing table
• primary goal (CTR / retention / subscribes)
• posting window in the audience timezone

5. **Place community posts** on the non-upload days (a poll, a tease, a question). 6. **Run the goal balance check.** If every slot is CTR-bait or every slot is a deep tutorial, rebalance. Shorts skew top-of-funnel reach; long-form skews watch-time and loyalty. Make sure both jobs are covered. 7. **Hand each slot to the right skill.** The planner does not write the final title, description, hook, or thumbnail; it routes each slot to `yt-title-optimizer`, `yt-description-writer`, `yt-hook-scripter`, and `yt-thumbnail-brief`. 8. **Optional approval + schedule.** If the user has videos ready, each one publishes through its own skill via `lib.publish(...)`; the planner only sets the calendar.

Hard rules

Global voice rules: see root `SKILL.md` Voice rules. Additional skill-specific rules:

• Cadence must be one the user can hold for at least 12 weeks. Sustainable beats

ambitious.

• Every upload slot is pre-paired: format, title angle, thumbnail angle, hook,

goal, and time. No naked "post a video" slots.

• Shorts and long-form must have a through-line (Shorts point at the library),

not two disconnected audiences.

• Spread the week across CTR, retention, and subscribe goals. Not all one note.
• Measure long-form watch-time and returning viewers separately from Shorts

views. Do not let Shorts reach inflate the read on growth.

Anti-patterns (skill will refuse)

• An over-ambitious cadence the user cannot sustain (daily long-form for a solo

creator).

• Five slots that are all the same pillar and the same goal.
• Shorts with no connection to the long-form library.
• "Post more" as a plan, with no per-slot pairing.
• Em dashes above the cap (about one per 100 words) in any drafted title or hook line.

Resources

• `../../references/algorithm-heuristics.md` - long-form vs Shorts strategy, timing, signals
• `../../references/hook-formulas.md` - title and hook formulas to assign per slot
• `references/pillars-framework.md` - turning a niche into pillars and a balanced mix
• `references/example-week.md` - a fully worked weekly grid

Related skills

• `yt-title-optimizer` - write the title for each planned slot
• `yt-thumbnail-brief` - brief the thumbnail for each planned slot
• `yt-hook-scripter` - script the opening for each planned slot
• `yt-description-writer` - write the description for each planned slot
• `yt-community-post-writer` - the between-uploads community posts