> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.opendirectory.dev/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# cook-the-blog

> This guide explains how to set up, configure, and run the cook-the-blog skill. This AI agent pipeline autonomously researches companies, extracts SEO keyword...

<Info>
  **Category:** Content · **Version:** `1.0.0` · **Author:** `OpenDirectory` · **Compatibility:** All targets (claude, codex, opencode, gemini, anti-gravity, openclaw, hermes)
</Info>

<img width="1280" height="640" alt="cook-the-blog-cover" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/01fc87a2-78a8-433d-8531-a06a6a6df617" />

This guide explains how to set up, configure, and run the `cook-the-blog` skill. This AI agent pipeline autonomously researches companies, extracts SEO keywords, generates custom cover images, writes high-converting MDX case studies without AI fluff, uploads assets to cloud storage, and pushes the final code to your designated GitHub repository.

## Install

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="npx CLI (Recommended)">
    ```bash theme={null}
    npx "@opendirectory.dev/skills" install cook-the-blog --target claude
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="skills.sh">
    ```bash theme={null}
    npx skills add Varnan-Tech/opendirectory --skill cook-the-blog
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Claude Code Native">
    ```bash theme={null}
    /plugin marketplace add Varnan-Tech/opendirectory
    /plugin install opendirectory-gtm-skills@opendirectory-marketplace
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Claude Desktop">
    <video controls className="w-full aspect-video rounded-xl mb-4" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/cea8b565-2002-4a87-8857-d902bfcfdc1c" />

    1. Copy `https://github.com/Varnan-Tech/opendirectory/tree/main/skills/cook-the-blog` into [download-directory.github.io](https://download-directory.github.io/) to download the ZIP.
    2. Open **Claude Desktop** -> **Customize** -> **Skills** -> **+** -> **Upload a skill** and drop the folder containing `SKILL.md`.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Manus AI">
    <video controls className="w-full aspect-video rounded-xl mb-4" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/17cbee2a-9e17-4bd4-ac46-68e0e92ffab4" />

    [**Install cook-the-blog in Manus AI**](https://manus.im/import-skills?githubUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2FVarnan-Tech%2Fopendirectory%2Ftree%2Fmain%2Fskills%2Fcook-the-blog\&utm_source=opendirectory)
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Prerequisites & Dependencies

Before running the skill, the AI agent needs access to several external tools, APIs, and environment details.

**Agent Instruction:** Before executing the pipeline for the first time, you (the AI Agent) must explicitly ask the user for any missing configuration details listed below (Target Repo, GCS Bucket, Email, etc.). **Do not hardcode these values into the skill.md file automatically without asking.**

### 1. Tavily Search (Deep Research)

Used for deep, high-quality web research to extract hard metrics, founder details, and GTM strategies.

* **Setup:** You need a Tavily API key from [Tavily](https://tavily.com/).
* **Installation:** Install the Tavily MCP server so the agent can use it natively.
  ```bash theme={null}
  npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-tavily
  ```
* **Environment Variable:** Set `TAVILY_API_KEY` in your agent's environment or MCP config.

### 2. SerpApi (SEO Keyword Research)

Used to pull Google Trends data to find breakout search queries.

* **Setup:** Get a SerpApi key from [SerpApi](https://serpapi.com/).
* **Installation:** Ensure Python 3 and the `requests` / `google-search-results` libraries are installed. The user must provide a custom Python script (e.g., `blog_seo_research.py`) that queries the Google Trends API. The agent must be told the exact file path to this script.
* **Environment Variable:** `SERPAPI_KEY`

### 3. Blog Cover Image CLI

A custom Node.js CLI tool used to generate 16:9 minimalist cover images with company logos.

* **Installation:** Install the tool globally via npm.
  ```bash theme={null}
  npm i -g blog-cover-image-cli
  ```
* **Usage:** The agent calls it via `blog-cover-cli generate -t "Title" -l "Logo URL" -o "./cover.png"`.

### 4. Cloud Storage (e.g., Google Cloud Storage, AWS S3)

Used to host the generated cover images. The user must specify which cloud provider they want to use.

* **Setup (Example for GCP):** The user needs a Google Cloud Service Account with storage write permissions.
* **Installation:** Install the Google Cloud SDK (`gcloud` and `gsutil`).
* **Authentication:** The user must provide a `service-account.json` file to authenticate.
  ```bash theme={null}
  gcloud auth activate-service-account --key-file=service-account.json
  ```
* **Target Bucket:** The user must provide the target bucket URL (e.g., `gs://your-bucket-name/covers/`).

### 5. GitHub CLI & Git

Used for pushing the final MDX file to the target repository.

* **Setup:** Ensure `git` and `gh` (GitHub CLI) are installed on the host.
* **Authentication:** Log in to the GitHub CLI using a personal access token.
  ```bash theme={null}
  gh auth login --with-token < token.txt
  ```
* **Configuration:** The agent will need the user's `git config user.name` and `git config user.email` to ensure proper commit attribution.

### 6. Email Notifications (SMTP)

Used to send a final success summary to the admin.

* **Setup:** The agent creates a Python script (`send_summary.py`) using the built-in `smtplib`.
* **Credentials:** The user must provide a dedicated sender Gmail account and an **App Password** (not their real password), as well as the destination admin email.

### 7. Stop Slop (AI Output Quality)

Used to ensure the generated case studies avoid typical AI fluff and maintain a high-quality, human-like tone.

* **Setup:** Add the [Stop Slop](https://github.com/hardikpandya/stop-slop) skill to your agent's loaded skills before running the generation pipeline.

***

## Configuration Variables to Ask For

When initializing this skill, the agent must ask the user to provide or confirm the following placeholders before running the pipeline:

1. **`[TARGET_REPO_URL]`**: The exact GitHub repository URL or slug (e.g., `username/my-blog-repo`).
2. **`[TARGET_BUCKET]`**: The cloud storage bucket path (e.g., `gs://my-images-bucket/blogs/`).
3. **`[PUBLIC_IMAGE_BASE_URL]`**: The public base URL where the uploaded images will be accessible (e.g., `https://storage.googleapis.com/my-images-bucket/blogs/`).
4. **`[GIT_USER_NAME]` & `[GIT_USER_EMAIL]`**: The exact name and email to use for Git commit authorship.
5. **`[ADMIN_EMAIL]`**: Where to send the final summary report.
6. **`[SENDER_EMAIL]` & `[SENDER_APP_PASSWORD]`**: The credentials for the SMTP Python script.
7. **`[PATH_TO_SEO_SCRIPT]`**: The exact path to the Python script that handles the SerpApi Google Trends queries.
8. **Brand Promotion Link**: The URL and pitch text to inject into the final FAQ of the MDX template (e.g., "If you want to build this, check out [MyBrand](https://mybrand.com)").

***

## How to Run

1. Once the user has provided the environment variables and configuration details, place the `skill.md` file in your agent's workspace.
2. The agent will read `skill.md` to understand the 8-step execution loop.
3. Trigger the agent by saying: *"Run the case study generator for \[Company Name]."*
4. The agent will autonomously execute the entire pipeline from research to deployment.


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