Matt Van Horn
32992834ee
- Xiaohongshu search via local MCP service (opt-in, zero impact if service not running) - Reddit public JSON fallback (works with zero API keys) - Reddit priority: ScrapeCreators -> OpenAI -> public fallback - Updated env.py: Reddit always available via public fallback Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
376 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
376 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "feat: Paperclip Marketing Automation for last30days"
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type: feat
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status: active
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date: 2026-03-07
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---
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# Paperclip Marketing Automation for last30days
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## Overview
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Set up a Paperclip "company" that auto-runs marketing for the last30days open-source skill (3,800+ stars). Four agent roles handle daily demo showcases, release announcements, community engagement, and analytics - all using a draft-then-approve workflow through Paperclip's built-in approval gates.
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The killer angle: **last30days markets itself by running itself.** The Content Creator agent runs `/last30days [trending topic] --agent` on hot topics daily, then drafts X threads showing the results. Every post is a live demo.
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## Problem Statement / Motivation
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- All marketing is currently manual - ~60KB of pre-drafted X threads sit in `docs/` unposted
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- No automated community monitoring (GitHub issues, contributor shoutouts)
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- No metrics tracking (star growth, fork trends, social engagement)
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- Solo entrepreneur can't sustain daily content + community management + development
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- The tool's best ad is itself running on interesting topics, but that requires daily effort
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## Proposed Solution
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A Paperclip company called **"last30days Marketing"** with 4 agent roles, all draft-then-approve.
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### Company Structure
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```
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last30days Marketing (Company)
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Mission: "Grow last30days to 10K GitHub stars through daily demo content,
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release marketing, and community engagement"
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Marketing Director (Claude Code agent)
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- Sets daily topic priorities
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- Reviews draft quality before surfacing to human
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- Coordinates cross-agent work
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Content Creator (Python script agent)
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- Runs last30days on trending topics daily
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- Drafts X showcase threads from the results
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- Heartbeat: daily at 8 AM PT
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Release Manager (Bash + Python agent)
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- Watches for new git tags on upstream
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- Drafts release announcement threads
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- Heartbeat: every 6 hours (tag check is cheap)
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Community Manager (Python script agent)
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- Monitors GitHub issues/PRs via gh CLI
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- Drafts welcome messages for new contributors
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- Surfaces popular feature requests
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- Heartbeat: every 4 hours
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Analytics Analyst (Python script agent)
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- Tracks GitHub stars, forks, traffic
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- Tracks X engagement (@slashlast30days)
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- Generates weekly digest
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- Heartbeat: daily at 11 PM PT (collect), weekly Monday 9 AM (digest)
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```
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### Draft-Then-Approve Flow
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```
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Agent creates draft
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-> Saved to ~/Documents/Last30Days/drafts/{agent}/{date}-{slug}.md
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-> Paperclip approval gate triggers
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-> Matt reviews in Paperclip UI (approve / reject / edit)
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-> On approve: Python script posts to X API via tweepy
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-> Audit log records everything
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```
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## Technical Approach
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### Phase 1: Infrastructure (Day 1-2)
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Set up Paperclip and external API access.
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**Files to create:**
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- `marketing/paperclip-config.yaml` - Company definition, org chart, budgets
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- `marketing/scripts/post_to_x.py` - X API v2 posting via tweepy (draft queue -> X)
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- `marketing/scripts/github_monitor.py` - GitHub event monitoring via gh CLI
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- `marketing/scripts/metrics_collector.py` - Star/fork/engagement tracking
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- `marketing/.env.example` - Required API keys template
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**Setup steps:**
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1. Install Paperclip locally:
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```bash
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git clone https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip
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cd paperclip && pnpm install && pnpm dev
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```
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2. Get X API v2 credentials (developer.x.com) for @slashlast30days
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- Need: API key, API secret, Access token, Access token secret
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- Permissions: Read + Write (posting)
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3. GitHub token for monitoring (gh auth already configured)
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4. Create the company in Paperclip UI at localhost:3100:
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- Company name: "last30days Marketing"
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- Mission: "Grow last30days to 10K GitHub stars"
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- Monthly budget cap: $50 (mostly API token costs)
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### Phase 2: Content Creator Pipeline (Day 3-5)
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The core marketing engine. Uses last30days to market itself.
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**How it works:**
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1. **Topic Discovery** - `marketing/scripts/discover_topics.py`
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- Scrapes trending topics from: Wikipedia pageviews API, HN front page, Reddit r/all
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- Filters for topics that would make compelling demos (tech, culture, sports, geopolitics)
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- Outputs ranked topic list to `~/Documents/Last30Days/topics-queue.json`
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2. **Research & Draft** - `marketing/scripts/create_showcase.py`
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- Picks top topic from queue
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- Runs: `python3 scripts/last30days.py "{topic}" --agent --emit=compact --save-dir=~/Documents/Last30Days`
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- Reads the saved research output
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- Drafts a 1-2 tweet thread in the established style (see Style Guide below)
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- Saves draft to `~/Documents/Last30Days/drafts/content/{date}-{slug}.md`
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3. **Approval Gate** - Paperclip surfaces draft for review
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- Matt approves/edits in Paperclip UI
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- On approve: triggers `post_to_x.py` with the draft content
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**Style Guide (extracted from existing launch threads):**
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```
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Format: Stats-first hook + key finding + tool credit
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Example (from v2.5 launch):
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"/last30days Anthropic Pete Hegseth"
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14 Reddit threads. 29 X posts (11,559 likes). 20 YouTube videos (739K views).
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5 HN stories. 9 Polymarket markets.
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[Key finding in 2-3 sentences]
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Polymarket: [relevant odds with specific numbers]
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[One-liner showing the tool's value]
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github.com/mvanhorn/last30days-skill
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```
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Rules:
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- Always lead with the /last30days command that was run
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- Always include the stats line (thread/post/video counts)
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- Always end with the GitHub link
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- Pick topics people care about RIGHT NOW
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- Never use em dashes - use hyphens instead
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- Keep threads to 1-2 tweets max for daily showcases
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- Save longer threads (3-6 tweets) for releases
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### Phase 3: Release Manager Pipeline (Day 5-6)
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**How it works:**
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1. **Tag Watcher** - `marketing/scripts/watch_releases.py`
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- Runs `git -C /Users/mvanhorn/last30days-skill-private fetch upstream --tags` every 6 hours
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- Compares local tags vs upstream tags
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- On new tag: reads CHANGELOG.md diff since last tag
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2. **Thread Drafter** - `marketing/scripts/draft_release_thread.py`
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- Reads changelog diff + release-notes.md
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- Drafts a 3-6 tweet thread following the v2.5 launch thread style
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- Includes: version number, headline features, demo queries, contributor shoutouts
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- Saves to `~/Documents/Last30Days/drafts/releases/{tag}.md`
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3. **Approval Gate** - Same flow as content pipeline
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**Template (from existing docs/v2.5-launch-tweets.md):**
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```
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Tweet 1: Announcement + 3 headline features + GitHub link
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Tweet 2-4: One demo per tweet (command + stats + finding)
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Tweet 5: Contributor shoutouts
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Tweet 6: Install instructions
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```
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### Phase 4: Community Manager Pipeline (Day 6-7)
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**How it works:**
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1. **GitHub Monitor** - `marketing/scripts/github_monitor.py`
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- Runs `gh issue list --repo mvanhorn/last30days-skill --state open --json number,title,author,createdAt,labels`
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- Runs `gh pr list --repo mvanhorn/last30days-skill --state open --json number,title,author,createdAt`
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- Compares against `~/Documents/Last30Days/community/seen.json` to detect new items
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- Categorizes: bug report, feature request, question, PR
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2. **Response Drafter** - `marketing/scripts/draft_community_response.py`
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- For new issues: drafts a welcome + triage response
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- For new PRs: drafts a thank-you + initial review comment
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- For merged PRs: drafts a contributor shoutout tweet
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- Saves to `~/Documents/Last30Days/drafts/community/{type}-{number}.md`
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3. **Approval Gate** - GitHub responses go through same Paperclip approval
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- Approved responses posted via `gh issue comment` or `gh pr comment`
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- Shoutout tweets posted via `post_to_x.py`
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**Response templates:**
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```markdown
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# New Issue (bug)
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Thanks for the report! I'll look into this. Can you share:
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- Your OS and Python version
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- The exact command you ran
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- Whether you have SCRAPECREATORS_API_KEY set
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# New Issue (feature request)
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Interesting idea! [1-2 sentences acknowledging the value].
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Adding this to the backlog for consideration.
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# New PR
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Thanks for the contribution, @{author}! I'll review this shortly.
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[If first-time contributor: Welcome to the project!]
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# Merged PR (tweet)
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Shoutout to @{author} for [what they did] in last30days v{version}!
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[Brief description of the change and why it matters]
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github.com/mvanhorn/last30days-skill/pull/{number}
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```
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### Phase 5: Analytics Pipeline (Day 7-8)
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**How it works:**
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1. **Metrics Collector** - `marketing/scripts/metrics_collector.py`
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- Daily: GitHub stars, forks, open issues, open PRs (via `gh api`)
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- Daily: X followers, tweet impressions for @slashlast30days (via X API v2)
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- Stores in SQLite at `~/Documents/Last30Days/analytics.db`
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2. **Weekly Digest** - `marketing/scripts/weekly_digest.py`
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- Runs Monday 9 AM PT
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- Generates markdown report with week-over-week changes:
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- Star growth (absolute + rate)
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- New forks
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- Issues opened/closed
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- PRs merged
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- Top-performing tweets
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- Notable community interactions
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- Saves to `~/Documents/Last30Days/digests/{date}-weekly.md`
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- Optionally sends via email (SendGrid) or Slack webhook
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**Schema for analytics.db:**
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```sql
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CREATE TABLE daily_metrics (
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date TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
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github_stars INTEGER,
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github_forks INTEGER,
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github_open_issues INTEGER,
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github_open_prs INTEGER,
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x_followers INTEGER,
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x_impressions INTEGER,
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x_engagement_rate REAL
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);
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CREATE TABLE tweet_performance (
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tweet_id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
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posted_at TEXT,
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type TEXT, -- 'showcase', 'release', 'shoutout'
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topic TEXT,
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impressions INTEGER,
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likes INTEGER,
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retweets INTEGER,
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replies INTEGER,
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link_clicks INTEGER
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);
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```
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## Technical Considerations
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### API Costs
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| Service | Usage | Est. Monthly Cost |
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|---------|-------|-------------------|
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| Paperclip | Self-hosted | $0 |
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| X API v2 | Free tier (posting) | $0 |
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| ScrapeCreators | ~30 daily research runs | ~$15 |
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| GitHub API | gh CLI, already authed | $0 |
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| Claude API | Marketing Director agent | ~$20 |
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| **Total** | | **~$35/month** |
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### Security
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- API keys stored in `marketing/.env` (gitignored, never committed)
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- X API tokens scoped to @slashlast30days only (not personal account)
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- Paperclip budget cap prevents runaway spend
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- All posts go through human approval gate - no autonomous posting
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- GitHub token uses existing `gh auth` session
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### Failure Modes
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- **last30days script fails** - Content Creator skips that day, logs error, tries again tomorrow with new topic
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- **X API rate limit** - Queue drafts and retry on next heartbeat cycle
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- **Paperclip goes down** - Drafts accumulate in filesystem, nothing posts (safe failure)
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- **Bad topic selection** - Marketing Director agent filters topics before research (no politics, no NSFW)
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- **Stale approval queue** - If drafts pile up >3 days unapproved, send a nudge notification
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### Topic Selection Criteria
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The discover_topics.py script should filter for topics that:
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1. Are trending NOW (Wikipedia pageview spike, HN front page, Reddit r/all)
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2. Would produce interesting multi-source results (not too niche, not too broad)
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3. Are safe for a developer tool brand (tech, sports, culture, science - avoid divisive politics)
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4. Haven't been covered in the last 7 days (dedup against previous showcases)
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5. Span different categories to show the tool's versatility (not all tech, not all sports)
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Good examples (from existing launch threads): "Anthropic Pete Hegseth", "Seedance prompting", "Arizona basketball", "Iran war"
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## Acceptance Criteria
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- [ ] Paperclip running locally with "last30days Marketing" company created
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- [ ] Content Creator agent runs last30days daily on a trending topic and produces a draft
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- [ ] Release Manager agent detects new git tags and drafts announcement threads
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- [ ] Community Manager agent detects new GitHub issues/PRs and drafts responses
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- [ ] Analytics agent collects daily metrics and generates weekly digest
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- [ ] All drafts go through Paperclip approval gate before posting
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- [ ] X API integration posts approved drafts to @slashlast30days
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- [ ] GitHub responses posted via gh CLI after approval
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- [ ] Monthly budget stays under $50
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- [ ] Style of generated tweets matches existing launch thread tone
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## Success Metrics
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- **Content velocity**: 5-7 showcase tweets/week (up from ~0 currently)
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- **Star growth**: Track week-over-week acceleration after content starts
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- **Time savings**: <5 min/day reviewing drafts vs 30-60 min/day manual marketing
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- **Content quality**: Drafts require minimal editing before approval (>80% approved as-is within 2 weeks)
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## Dependencies & Risks
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| Dependency | Risk | Mitigation |
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|-----------|------|------------|
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| Paperclip stability | Early-stage project, may have bugs | Pin to specific commit, keep simple config |
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| X API free tier | May get rate-limited or deprecated | Queue-based posting, daily limits |
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| Topic discovery quality | Bad topics = bad demos | Human review in approval gate, topic blocklist |
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| Claude API for Marketing Director | Cost could spike | Budget cap in Paperclip, simple prompts |
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| ScrapeCreators API | PAYG costs scale with usage | Cap at 1 research run/day for showcases |
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## File Structure
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```
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last30days-skill-private/
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marketing/
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README.md # Setup instructions
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.env.example # Required API keys
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paperclip-config.yaml # Company definition
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scripts/
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discover_topics.py # Trending topic discovery
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create_showcase.py # Research + draft showcase tweet
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draft_release_thread.py # Release announcement drafter
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github_monitor.py # GitHub issue/PR monitor
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draft_community_response.py # Community response drafter
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post_to_x.py # X API posting (after approval)
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metrics_collector.py # Daily metrics collection
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weekly_digest.py # Weekly analytics digest
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templates/
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showcase.md # Tweet template for daily demos
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release.md # Thread template for releases
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community_responses.md # Response templates by type
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```
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## Sources & References
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- Paperclip GitHub: github.com/paperclipai/paperclip
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- Paperclip docs: paperclip.ing
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- Existing launch threads: `docs/v2.5-launch-tweets.md`, `docs/v2.1-tweets.md`
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- Existing launch copy: `docs/v2.1-launch-copy.md`
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- Planned Last30Days.com: `docs/plans/2026-02-20-feat-last30days-com-trending-topics-plan.md`
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- last30days `--agent` mode: SKILL.md line 115-142 (non-interactive output for automation)
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