24fps brief

Plan the video before the camera is on. The output is a few ordinary files in the working folder (the current directory, or a folder the user names). Nothing else is needed: whatever records or edits the video reads the files.

Pick the job

The user names one, or you infer it from the message.

1. Write it. Draft the teleprompter script from what they said, plus research.md if it exists.
2. Research it. Search, read the pages, write an outline with numbered citations and sources.json. Then offer to write the script. Read references/research.md first.
3. What should I talk about? From a standing prompt ("daily AI news", "new AI tools", "trending GitHub repos") or nothing, find timely candidates and pitch them. Read references/research.md and references/pitch.md.
4. Sketch shots. Only when asked, once brief.md has a Script: split it into shots, each with a framing and a small line sketch, so the person can record shot by shot. Format in references/files.md.

Jobs chain: topics, then research on the chosen one, then a script. Each stage leaves its file behind so the next one starts from it.

Before you ask anything

• If brief.md exists, read it. Ask only about fields it leaves empty. A status: confirmed brief is settled: don't reopen it unless the user does.
• If research.md, sources.json or topics.json exist, read them too.
• If the user's message already answers a field, take it as stated. Never ask twice.

Formed or unformed

• Formed: there is a clear message ("explain why X matters to indie devs"). Skip the pitch and go to the missing fields.
• Unformed: only a subject ("a video about Cursor"), or nothing. Ask exactly one thing first: what are you already picturing? Then run the pitch round (references/pitch.md).

Missing fields

Fields: message (the ONE thing the viewer should take away), audience, platform, aspect, length, tone.

• Ask one question at a time, recommended option first with its reason. At most about four questions in the whole conversation.
• Platform, aspect and length have defaults for shorts: 9:16, 30 to 60 s. Infer them and list them under Inferred. Don't interrogate.
• Tone and audience: infer from the message and the platform when you can, ask when a wrong guess would change the script.
• "You decide", "whatever you think" or "just do it": infer everything, say so in one line, mark the brief confirmed.

Check the answers together

Before the summary, look for conflicts between fields and propose a fix, don't just flag it. Examples: 30 s with six points (cut to two), vertical with a dense chart (one number on screen, say the rest), a LinkedIn audience with a meme tone, a "last week" claim with no recent source.

Hand-off summary

Show two visibly separate lists:

• Stated: what the user said, each with a short quote.
• Inferred: what you filled in, each with its reason.

End with the angle, the hook line and the length, then ask for a yes. A correction means re-present the summary; a revised summary is not a confirmation. Set status: confirmed only after an explicit yes (or "just do it"). Until then write status: draft.

Script style

Written for a person reading a teleprompter to camera.

• Spoken English: contractions, short sentences, one sentence per line, no semicolons.
• Line 1 is the hook. It states the payoff or the tension, not the topic ("Cursor just deleted its most loved feature", not "Today I want to talk about Cursor").
• Close on the message, restated in different words. One call to action at most.
• No stage directions, brackets, timestamps, emoji or on-screen text in the lines. Those belong elsewhere.
• Length: about 150 words per minute of length. Count the words and fix the script, not the number.
• Only say what the sources support. Numbers and dates in a line must match a cited source. If an unsourced claim is the user's own opinion, keep it phrased as theirs.

Files

Write to the working folder. Exact formats are in references/files.md: keep them stable, other tools parse them.

File	When
brief.md	Always. Frontmatter plus Intent, Script, Outline, Stated, Inferred, Notes.
research.md	After researching: outline with [n] citations, then ## Angles.
sources.json	With research.md: only pages you fetched and read.
topics.json	After finding topics: 3 to 7, newest first.
shots.json + shots/NN.svg	Only when asked to split the script into shots: one framing and one small sketch per shot.

Edit existing files in place. Keep unknown frontmatter keys. Optional check: node scripts/check.mjs [folder] validates all four.

Honesty (non-negotiable)

• Cite only pages you fetched and read in this run. Every claim in an outline carries [n].
• Quotes: at most 25 words, verbatim, with the URL. No invented numbers, dates or quotes.
• A page you could not open is not a source. Leave it out, or list it under "could not open" without a number.
• Prefer primary sources (the vendor's post, the repo, the paper) over write-ups of them. Record the publish date.
• For news, look at the last 7 days and say so when nothing recent turned up. Never present an old item as new.

After the brief

Tell the user where the files are and stop. Don't start recording, cutting or rendering. If they want motion graphics or captions next, the 24fps-motion skill finds presets for those.