wp-editorial-planner

Overview

The editorial planner manages monthly content calendars as .state.md files stored in .content-state/. It reads site configuration for publishing cadence, optionally consumes the signals feed generated by wp-analytics for data-driven topic ideas, and produces structured briefs that flow into the content pipeline for WordPress publishing. The workflow follows four sequential steps: PLAN (create or update the monthly calendar), BRIEF (convert planned entries into pipeline brief files), SCHEDULE (create WordPress future posts from ready briefs), and SYNC (synchronize WordPress publish status back to the calendar). Each step is idempotent and can be run independently.

When to Use

• User wants to create a new monthly editorial plan
• User asks to update or view the current calendar
• User wants to convert planned entries into content briefs
• User asks to schedule ready briefs as WordPress future posts
• User wants to sync WordPress publish status back to the calendar
• User mentions "piano editoriale", "calendario", "schedula"

Workflow Overview

CONTEXT --> PLAN --> BRIEF --> SCHEDULE --> SYNC

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Step 0: CONTEXT

What it does: Provides editorial context before the main workflow begins. This is an informational step -- it never blocks the workflow.

Trigger: Automatic -- run this step at every skill invocation, before Step 1.

Procedure:

1. Determine the target site_id from user context (explicit mention, active site, or ask the user)
2. Read .content-state/{site_id}.config.md -- extract site_url from frontmatter
3. Find the most recent .content-state/*-editorial.state.md file -- parse the editorial table and count entries by status (planned, draft, ready, scheduled, published). Extract goals.posts_target from frontmatter
4. Identify the next upcoming deadline: first non-published entry with a title, sorted by date
5. Display the context snippet:

── Editorial Context ──────────────────────
  {site_url} | {calendar period}
  Pipeline: {draft_count} draft → {ready_count} ready → {scheduled_count} scheduled
  Next: {date} — "{title truncated to 40 chars}..."
  Posts: {published_count}/{posts_target} pubblicati
───────────────────────────────────────────

If files are missing:

• No config file → skip snippet, note "No site config found for {site_id}" and continue to Step 1
• No editorial calendar → show partial snippet with "no calendar" in place of period
• No upcoming deadline → omit the Next line
• Never stop the workflow because of missing context -- Step 0 is informational only

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Step 1: PLAN -- Create or update editorial calendar

When to run: User asks to create a new plan or update an existing one.

Procedure:

1. Read site configuration from .content-state/{site_id}.config.md:

   • cadence.posts_per_week -- calculate goals.posts_target as posts_per_week * weeks_in_month
   • cadence.preferred_days -- determine which weekdays to assign calendar entries
   • cadence.publish_time -- note for the SCHEDULE step
   • defaults.categories, defaults.content_type -- pre-fill the entry Tipo column

2. Read signals feed from .content-state/signals-feed.md if it exists:

   • Extract anomalies with action containing "content cluster" or "Investigate"
   • Suggest these as topics for [da assegnare] entries
   • Present suggestions to user for approval before inserting into the calendar

3. Optional strategic planning: If the user wants a higher-level content strategy, suggest invoking GenMarketing for content calendar strategy development before populating individual entries.

4. Generate or update .content-state/{YYYY-MM}-editorial.state.md:

   • Create YAML frontmatter with calendar_id, site_id, period, goals
   • Create weekly tables with one row per preferred_day
   • Fill known titles where provided, leave others as [da assegnare]
   • Set all new entries as status: planned

5. Present the calendar to the user for review before writing to disk.

Safety rules:

• ALWAYS show the generated calendar to the user before writing the file
• If a calendar for the month already exists, show the diff and ask before overwriting
• Preserve existing entries that have status: draft or higher -- never reset them to planned

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Step 2: BRIEF -- Convert calendar entries to brief files

When to run: User asks to "create briefs from calendar" or "convert planned entries to briefs".

Procedure:

1. Read the current editorial calendar .state.md file.

2. For each entry with status: planned AND a defined title (not [da assegnare]): a. Generate a new brief_id as BRF-YYYY-NNN (sequential; scan existing briefs in both pipeline-active/ and pipeline-archive/ to determine the next number) b. Read .content-state/{site_id}.config.md for site defaults c. Create .content-state/pipeline-active/{brief_id}.brief.md with:

   • source.skill: wp-editorial-planner
   • source.domain: editorial-calendar
   • target.site_id: from calendar site_id
   • target.content_type: from entry Tipo column
   • target.scheduled_date: from entry Data column (convert to ISO 8601)
   • target.categories: from site config defaults
   • distribution.channels: from entry Canali column (parse comma-separated)
   • content.title: from entry Titolo column
   • status: draft (brief starts as draft; user fills content) d. Update the calendar entry: status: planned becomes draft, set the Brief ID column

3. For entries with an existing Brief ID (already has a brief): skip creation, just verify the brief file exists in pipeline-active/. If the file is missing, report it.

4. Write the updated calendar back to the .state.md file.

5. Report to user:

   N brief creati in pipeline-active/. Compila il contenuto e imposta status: ready.
   

Safety rules:

• NEVER create briefs for entries with [da assegnare] title -- report them as needing titles first
• NEVER overwrite existing brief files -- if a Brief ID already exists as a file, skip and report
• Show a summary of briefs to be created and ask user confirmation before writing any files

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Step 3: SCHEDULE -- Convert ready briefs to WordPress scheduled posts

When to run: User asks to "schedule ready posts" or "schedula i post pronti".

Procedure:

1. Read the current editorial calendar .state.md file.

2. For each entry with status: ready: a. Read the corresponding brief file from pipeline-active/{brief_id}.brief.md b. Verify the brief has status: ready (consistency check between calendar and brief) c. Create the WordPress post using MCP tool:

   create_content:
     content_type: {entry.Tipo}
     title: {brief.content.title}
     content: {brief body markdown}
     excerpt: {brief.content.excerpt}
     status: "future"
     date: {entry.Data as ISO 8601 datetime with site config publish_time}
     slug: {auto-generated from title}
   

   d. Assign taxonomy terms using MCP tool:

   assign_terms_to_content:
     content_type: {entry.Tipo}
     id: {post_id}
     categories: {brief.target.categories}
     tags: {brief.target.tags}
   

   e. Update the calendar entry: status: ready becomes scheduled, set Post ID column f. Update the brief file: add post_id and post_url to frontmatter

3. If the entry has distribution.channels (from the Canali column):

   • Compute scheduled_at using the entry date + config.cadence.publish_time + distribution.schedule_offset_hours
   • For Buffer: call buf_create_update with the computed scheduled_at

     buf_create_update:
       profile_ids: [{config.channels.buffer.profile_id}]
       text: {adapted content}
       media:
         photo: {featured image URL if available}
       scheduled_at: {ISO 8601 UTC timestamp}
     

   • For Mailchimp: note for manual campaign creation (not auto-scheduled at this step)

4. Write the updated calendar back to the .state.md file.

5. Report to user:

   N post schedulati su WordPress. Verranno pubblicati automaticamente alla data prevista.
   

Safety rules:

• ALWAYS create WordPress posts as status: future (never directly publish)
• ALWAYS confirm with user before scheduling, showing the list of posts and their dates
• If create_content fails for any entry, stop processing that entry, report the error, and keep the entry as ready
• Verify the scheduled date is in the future before calling create_content -- if the date is in the past, report to user and skip

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Step 4: SYNC -- Synchronize WordPress status back to calendar

When to run: User asks to "sync calendar" or "aggiorna stato calendario".

Procedure:

1. Read the current editorial calendar .state.md file.

2. For each entry with a Post ID (status: scheduled or published): a. Call list_content with the content type and filter by post ID:

   list_content:
     content_type: {entry.Tipo}
     search: {post_id}
     per_page: 1
   

   b. Check the returned post status and update the calendar accordingly:

   • If WP status = publish and calendar status = scheduled --> update to published
   • If WP status = future --> keep as scheduled
   • If WP status = draft --> note: post was reverted, update calendar to draft
   • If WP status = trash --> note: post was deleted, report to user

3. Recalculate goals.posts_published = count of entries with status: published.

4. Write the updated calendar back to the .state.md file.

5. Report to user:

   Sync calendario {calendar_id}:
   - Post pubblicati: {posts_published}/{posts_target}
   - Post schedulati: {scheduled_count}
   - Post in lavorazione: {draft_count + ready_count}
   - Slot da assegnare: {planned_count}
   

Safety rules:

• NEVER modify WordPress post status during sync -- sync is read-only from WordPress
• If a post was deleted or trashed, report to user but do not remove the calendar entry (mark with a note instead)

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Creating a Calendar Manually

When the user wants to create a calendar without running the full PLAN step:

1. Copy the structure from references/editorial-schema.md
2. Fill in site_id, dates for each entry, and known titles
3. Set status: planned for all entries
4. Save as .content-state/{YYYY-MM}-editorial.state.md
5. Then run the BRIEF step to generate brief files from the planned entries

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Safety Rules Summary

• ALWAYS show the calendar and briefs to the user before writing any files
• ALWAYS create WordPress posts as status: future (never publish directly)
• NEVER overwrite existing briefs or calendar entries with higher status
• NEVER modify WordPress posts during SYNC (read-only operation)
• ALWAYS confirm with the user before scheduling posts to WordPress
• LOG all scheduling actions in the calendar state file

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Known Limitations

AIWU MCP Server (cloud-based)

The AIWU MCP server (mcp__claude_ai_AIWU) does not support the post_date field in wp_create_post or wp_update_post. This means post_status: "future" cannot be achieved through AIWU — WordPress auto-publishes the post when no future date is provided.

E2E test results (2026-03-02):

• wp_create_post with post_status: "future" → auto-published (no post_date parameter available)
• wp_update_post with post_date + post_status: "future" from draft → auto-published (post_date not passed through)
• wp_update_post on already-published post → post_date updated but status cannot revert from publish to future

Workaround: Use the wp-rest-bridge MCP server's create_content tool, which natively supports the date parameter for scheduling future posts. AIWU can still be used for SYNC (read-only) and for content management tasks that don't require future scheduling.

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Reference Files

• references/editorial-schema.md -- complete schema for editorial calendar .state.md files
• ../wp-content-pipeline/references/content-brief-schema.md -- brief file format and frontmatter fields
• ../wp-content-pipeline/references/site-config-schema.md -- site configuration defaults and cadence settings
• ../wp-analytics/references/signals-feed-schema.md -- signals feed format for topic suggestions

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Related Skills

• wp-content-pipeline -- publishes briefs created by the BRIEF step through the full pipeline workflow
• wp-analytics -- generates the signals feed consumed by the PLAN step for data-driven topic ideas
• wp-content -- content creation and management (provides create_content, list_content MCP tools)
• wp-social-email -- distribution channel scheduling (Buffer via buf_create_update, Mailchimp campaigns)
• wp-content-repurposing -- multi-format adaptation for social distribution channels