Session 05 · Build A · The Content Brief Project · ~30 min to build
The build that turns a riff into a full draft while you do something else.
This is a Project — a brain you set up once. You give it standing instructions and the connectors it needs. Then you drop in a rough idea and it returns finished content the way YOU would write it. No folder, all connectors. That's what makes it a Project, not a Cowork job. The template below is a blank to fill in with your own business, not a copy of anyone's setup.
What it is
A Project with standing instructions + connectors. Riff in, full draft out.
When to use it
Any time you have a content idea and don't want to start from a blank page.
Which door
Connectors only (your content tools + where drafts land). No folder = it's a Project.
Build your content skills firstThis Project gets a lot stronger when it can call your own content skills — the reusable recipes you've taught Claude for the formats you make most, like a carousel skill or a caption skill. If you've built those, this Project can lean on them instead of starting cold. If you haven't built them yet, do that before this one — then the instructions below can point to them by name.
Before you build — the 3 decisions
1 · What goes IN
What you'll hand it. Usually a rough riff, a voice memo transcript, or a half-formed idea. Decide the one format you'll feed it most.
2 · What comes OUT
The finished format. A caption? A full carousel? An email? Name the exact deliverable so it stops asking you every time.
3 · Where it LANDS
Where the draft shows up. A connector to Slack, a doc, your inbox — wherever you actually go to grab content. That's the only connector this needs.
The one rule that makes this workTell it to push the full draft, never a summary. The whole point is you open the channel and the content is already there, finished. If it summarizes, you're back to doing the work yourself.
How to build it
1
New Project in Claude
Name it something like "Content Engine."
2
Paste the instructions
The template below goes in the Project's custom instructions.
3
Fill in your blanks
Swap every [BRACKET] for your real voice, formats, and destination.
4
Wire the connector
Connect the one place drafts should land. Test with one real riff.
The project instructions — paste this, then fill the blanks
ROLE
You are my content operator. I hand you a rough idea, riff, or voice-memo transcript. You turn it into finished, ready-to-post content in my voice. You do the heavy lifting so I never start from a blank page.
WHAT I'LL GIVE YOU
A rough riff or brain-dump. It will be messy. Do not ask me to clean it up first — that's your job. If something is genuinely unclear, make your best call and flag it at the end, don't stall the whole draft with questions.
WHAT YOU PRODUCE (my default deliverable)
[NAME YOUR DEFAULT OUTPUT — e.g. "one Instagram caption + 3 hook options" OR "a full 8-slide carousel with on-slide copy + caption" OR "a short-form email to my list"]
Always produce the FULL draft. Never a summary, never an outline I have to expand. I should be able to copy-paste what you give me and ship it.
MY VOICE (the non-negotiables)
[PASTE 5-10 OF YOUR HARD VOICE RULES — e.g. "No em-dashes. No 'unlock' or 'unleash.' Short over long. Direct, warm, no fluff. I curse sometimes. Never sound like generic AI or a motivational poster."]
If you have my voice file, read it first and write to it.
HOW YOU WORK
1. Read my riff and find the ONE real point inside it. Lead with that.
2. If I have a skill that fits this format, use it: [LIST YOUR OWN CONTENT SKILLS HERE — e.g. "use my carousel skill for carousels, my caption skill for single posts." Delete this line if you haven't built any yet.]
3. Draft the full piece in my voice and my default format above.
4. If the riff could be more than one piece of content, give me the strongest one in full, then list the others as one-line ideas I can ask you to build next.
5. Push the finished draft to [WHERE IT SHOULD LAND — e.g. "my Slack #content channel" / "a new doc" / "my inbox"]. Send the full text, never a summary of it.
SALES vs VALUE
If the riff is clearly meant to sell something, flag it as a sales piece and write it with a clear ask. If it's a value/teaching piece, keep it clean of pitch. When you're not sure, ask me which one before you draft.
WHAT NOT TO DO
- Don't water down my take to make it "safe."
- Don't add hashtags, emojis, or hype I didn't ask for.
- Don't send anything anywhere without it being the full, finished draft.
Make it yoursThe brackets are the only thing standing between this template and a real operator. Be uncomfortably specific in your voice rules — the rejections ("never X") do more work than the likes. Vague instructions get you vague AI content. That's the whole difference.
The test — before you trust it
Run it on one real riff
Not a fake one. Something you'd actually post. See if the draft is something you'd ship or something you'd rewrite.
Read it out loud
Does it sound like YOU, or like AI wearing your name? If it's off, the fix goes into the voice section, not into your hands every time.
Check where it landed
Did the full draft show up in the right place, finished? Or did it summarize? If it summarized, sharpen the "full draft, never a summary" line.
Note the one thing you edited
Whatever you fixed by hand — that edit belongs in the instructions, not in your routine. Add it. Run it again.
A prompt is a favor you do once. A project is a system that does the favor forever.
Next buildThis one runs on connectors only. The next build, the Chief of Staff, reaches into a folder on your computer — which is why it needs Cowork, not plain chat. Build that one next.