youtube-description-optimizer

Pack Availability Guard

Before telling the user to run a skill from another project-local pack, check .agents/project.json.enabled_packs. If the target pack is not enabled, recommend /pack install <pack> instead of the target skill. Global skills are always valid. Skills from this same pack are valid because the current skill is already running from that pack.

YouTube Description Optimizer

Invoke as /youtube-description-optimizer.

Report-First Approval Gate

Default to report-only: present findings, evidence coverage, assumptions, recommended artifact path, and proposed file changes in a pre-approval alignment page plus a concise conversation summary for user approval before creating or updating canonical research, spec, or task files.

Do not write or overwrite synthesized deliverables until the user explicitly approves, unless the user invoked an explicit write/update/fix mode or clearly asked to write files upfront. Raw evidence capture may be persisted before analysis when reproducibility requires it; report those raw paths separately and still gate synthesized research/report writes.

When stopping for approval, build and attempt to open the alignment preview page first, then ask the user to review it and approve, question, or request adjustments. Do not include Recommended next skill, Recommended next command, or downstream routing language. The approval request itself is the next action. Only emit next-skill routing after the approved artifact has been written or updated.

Optimize YouTube descriptions and adjacent metadata for existing videos, future uploads, and repeatable series templates. This is the description/metadata lane; use /youtube-video-audit for full single-video performance diagnosis and /youtube-title-thumbnail-audit for title/thumbnail packaging.

Inputs

• Required target: video URL, video ID, script/outline path, channel slug, or existing creator-media artifact.
• Optional --mode audit|draft|template: default audit for video targets, draft for script/outline targets, and template for channel/series targets.
• Optional --series <name>: names the repeatable show or format for template work.
• Optional --compare-channel <slug>: reuse channel evidence under research/youtube/data/<slug>/.

Workflow

1. Resolve the target and mode. If the target is ambiguous, infer from file existence and URL/video-ID shape before asking the user.
2. Prefer existing evidence:
   • research/youtube/data/<video-id>/metadata-*.json
   • research/youtube/data/<slug>/videos-*.jsonl
   • research/youtube/video-audit-*.md
   • research/youtube/title-thumbnail-audit-*.md
   • research/youtube/channel-audit-*.md
   • specs/youtube/series-*.md
   • script or outline files supplied by the user
3. For existing videos, use public metadata descriptions, tags, chapters, title, URL, upload date, and available transcript/opening evidence. If public metadata is missing and the target is a video URL or ID, fetch it through yt-dlp --dump-json "VIDEO_URL" and persist it under research/youtube/data/<video-id>/metadata-YYYY-MM-DD.json.
4. For future drafts, use the supplied script/outline plus any creator-positioning, content-programming, series, product-led media, and search-positioning artifacts that are current.
5. For templates, use channel/series evidence to define reusable blocks, required links, optional links, CTA hierarchy, chapter style, hashtag policy, sponsor/disclosure slots, and update rules.
6. Analyze:
   • First 2 lines and above-the-fold promise support.
   • Search/topic clarity, entity names, reusable keywords, and avoidable keyword stuffing.
   • Match between title, thumbnail promise, intro/hook, chapters, and description.
   • CTA hierarchy, link order, stale or missing links, sponsor/disclosure language, attribution/credits, pinned-comment fit, and hashtag discipline.
   • Whether the description supports acquisition, trust-building, proof, education, launch support, community, or conversion.
7. Produce practical edits: keep/change/add/remove notes, rewritten description blocks, pinned-comment recommendation when useful, and a future-video checklist.

Output

Create the research/youtube/, research/youtube/data/<video-id>/, and specs/youtube/ directories if they do not exist.

Write exactly one artifact:

• Audit mode: research/youtube/description-optimizer-<video-id>-YYYY-MM-DD.md
• Draft mode: research/youtube/description-draft-<slug>-YYYY-MM-DD.md
• Template mode: specs/youtube/description-template-<slug>.md

Use this structure:

# YouTube Description Optimizer - [Target]

> Mode: audit / draft / template
> Target: [URL, video ID, file path, channel slug, or series]
> Date: YYYY-MM-DD
> Evidence: [paths used]

## Evidence Coverage

| Evidence | Status | Path or gap |
|---|---|---|
| Public metadata | Available / Missing / Not applicable | ... |
| Transcript or opening | Available / Missing / Not applicable | ... |
| Channel evidence | Available / Missing / Not applicable | ... |
| Script or outline | Available / Missing / Not applicable | ... |
| Series template | Available / Missing / Not applicable | ... |

## Description Diagnosis

- **First 2 lines**: ...
- **Promise match**: ...
- **Search/topic clarity**: ...
- **CTA/link hierarchy**: ...
- **Chapters/hashtags/disclosures**: ...
- **Pinned-comment fit**: ...

## Recommended Description

[Upload-ready description or revised description block.]

## Metadata Notes

- **Tags/keywords**: ...
- **Chapters**: ...
- **Hashtags**: ...
- **Links and credits**: ...
- **Disclosure/sponsor slots**: ...

## Keep / Change / Add / Remove

| Action | Item | Why | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keep / Change / Add / Remove | ... | ... | ... |

## Future Checklist

[Reusable checks for the next upload or this series.]

Constraints

• Do not invent links, product URLs, sponsors, disclosures, chapters, transcript details, comments, or owner-only metrics.
• Mark missing evidence explicitly instead of filling gaps.
• Do not recommend deceptive metadata, keyword stuffing, tag spam, misleading hashtags, or CTAs that conflict with the video's promise.
• Keep description changes practical for the creator's apparent production capacity.
• Archive existing canonical artifacts before replacing them under docs/history/archive/YYYY-MM-DD/HHMMSS/<original-relative-path>.

Approved Artifact Handoff

After an approved synthesized write, explicit write/update mode, or any direct artifact mutation:

• List every created or updated synthesized artifact path in the final response.
• State the verification performed, such as readback, schema/check command, or why no executable verification applies for a Markdown-only strategy artifact.
• Check and report the relevant git status for intended artifacts when the project is a git repository. If intended artifacts are modified or untracked, make the next action shipping, committing, or an explicit dirty-artifact handoff before recommending downstream strategy work.
• Do not imply the research workflow is complete while approved artifacts remain untracked or uncommitted unless the user explicitly asked not to ship.
• If stopping for approval before writing, the approval request remains the next action; do not include downstream routing.

Intent-Aware Routing

Before applying the default ## Next-Skill Routing sequence, classify the user's immediate intent and route to the missing action that best serves that intent:

• Strategy refresh: recommend the missing or stale positioning, programming, portfolio, metrics, or product-media artifact.
• Recording prep: recommend the missing series spec, script, build proof, walkthrough guide, or validation artifact needed before recording.
• Upload prep: recommend packaging, title/thumbnail, description, chapters, or final metadata work before broader strategy work.
• Performance review: recommend metrics, cadence, portfolio, peer benchmark, or owner-analytics export work before new content planning.
• Owner analytics or private/manual platform evidence: route to an explicit manual/guide handoff instead of inventing unavailable metrics.
• Dirty intended artifacts: route to shipping/commit/handoff first, not another creator strategy skill.

Use the default next-skill sequence only when no stronger user intent, missing artifact, manual blocker, or dirty-artifact handoff applies.

Alignment Page

When this skill produces durable deliverables (research, specs, plans, reports, prototypes, or any document output), build a full-depth HTML alignment page following ALIGNMENT-PAGE.md in this skill's directory. Output: alignment/youtube-description-optimizer-{topic}.html.