preflight

# Preflight Pre-publish content through simulated audience personas. Get a verdict before you ship. ## Workflow Given content the user wants to publish, run it through audience personas and return a verdict. ### 1. Load Personas Check for `preflight-personas.md` in the project root. If it exists, use those personas. Otherwise use the defaults in `references/personas.md`. For quick checks, use 4 personas: The Scroller, The Skeptic, The Ready Buyer, The Amplifier. For thorough checks, use all 8. ### 2. Evaluate For each persona, adopt that persona fully and evaluate the content by answering: 1. **FIRST REACTION** (1-2 sentences): Gut reaction in the first 3 seconds 2. **WOULD YOU ENGAGE?** (yes/no + why): Would you like, comment, click, or reply? 3. **WOULD YOU SHARE?** (yes/no + why): Would you send this to someone or repost it? 4. **ONE REWRITE** (1-2 sentences): One change to make this work better for this persona Be blunt, specific, and honest. No hedging. Stay in character. ### 3. Score Count engagement and share signals across all personas: - **Engage rate**: % of personas who would engage - **Share rate**: % of personas who would share ### 4. Verdict - 🟢 **SHIP IT** — 50%+ would share. Publish as-is. - 🟡 **REVISE** — engaging but not shareable. Read the rewrites, apply the best one, optionally re-run. - 🟠 **RETHINK** — mixed signals. The message itself may be wrong, not just the wording. - 🔴 **KILL IT** — not landing. Don't publish. Rethink the approach. ### 5. Output Present results as: ``` PREFLIGHT: [verdict] Engage: X/Y personas | Share: X/Y personas [For each persona, one line summary of reaction + their rewrite suggestion] ``` If patterns emerge across personas (e.g., "3 of 4 want to see an image"), call that out as the top actionable insight. Keep output brief. The user wants a decision, not an essay. ## Customization See `references/personas.md` for the default persona library and instructions for creating project-specific personas. ## Integration This skill works as a step in any publishing workflow. When used autonomously (heartbeats, cron, content pipelines), run the quick check (4 personas) by default. Use the full 8 when the user explicitly asks for a thorough preflight.