Content Calendar

Use to build a content calendar — a sustainable, repeatable posting rhythm and recurring structure (which pillars/formats post on which days, on which platforms), derived from strategy and pillars. Run when the user says "content calendar," "editorial calendar," "social media calendar," "posting schedule," "content plan" (ongoing), "what should I post each week," "build me a posting routine/cadence," or wants a repeatable system rather than one period's posts. Reads social-strategy, content-pillars, and brand-profile first; sizes cadence to real capacity; builds a recurring skeleton of buckets and named series with room reserved for reactive/trend content; sets the planning rhythm (batch, buffer, review). Hands a period's briefs to batch-content-plan, content to the writing skills, and scheduling to scheduling-and-queue. For filling one specific week/month with actual posts use batch-content-plan; for higher-level channel/goal choices use social-strategy.

A content calendar isn't a blank grid you fill by heroics — it's a sustainable operating rhythm: a recurring structure that generates posts so you're never staring at an empty page, at a cadence you can actually hold. Two ideas drive everything here:

1. Cadence equals capacity. The number-one reason calendars fail is overcommitting. A sustainable floor you keep for a year beats an ambitious plan abandoned in February.
2. A recurring skeleton beats a blank page. Define repeatable buckets (pillar × format × slot) and a couple of named series — then each cycle is fill-in-the-blanks, not invent-from-scratch.

This skill owns the recurring system. Filling a specific week/month with actual posts is batch-content-plan; the higher-level channel/goal choices are social-strategy. This sits between them: strategy + pillars → the repeatable rhythm → (per cycle) batch-content-plan → content skills → scheduler.

Step 0 — Read the foundation first

Load social-strategy.md, content-pillars.md, and brand-profile.md. If pillars don't exist, route to content-pillars or derive lightweight provisional ones — the calendar must map to themes, not float free.

Step 1 — Size the cadence to real capacity

Estimate honest capacity (time, people, budget, the bad-week floor) and set a sustainable cadence per platform — different per platform, not one number everywhere. Pick one or two primary platforms to do well. Use repurposing to cover more without proportionally more work. See references/cadence-and-capacity.md.

Step 2 — Build the recurring skeleton

Map buckets — pillar × format × slot/day/platform — so each slot is a standing instruction, not a fixed post. Distribute across pillars (signature pillar gets prime slots) and vary formats by design. See references/calendar-structure.md.

Step 3 — Design one or two recurring series

Add a named franchise in a fixed slot ("Teardown Tuesday," "Build Log") for anticipation, less decision fatigue, and recognition. One or two — not every slot.

Step 4 — Anchor dates + reserve reactive room

Layer time-bound anchors (launches, relevant events) onto the skeleton, and reserve ~20–30% for reactive/timely content with one or two open slots a week (hand live trend research to trend-jacking). Structure for consistency; reactive room for relevance.

Step 5 — Set the operating rhythm

Define the workflow that sustains it: a planning ritual (monthly shape, weekly fill, daily engage), batch creation, and a buffer/queue so a bad week doesn't break the streak. Assign roles if a team. See references/operating-rhythm.md.

Step 6 — Deliver + hand off

Output the cadence + recurring skeleton + series + planned/reactive split + anchors, plus a filled sample week to make it concrete. Then:

• Fill a specific period → batch-content-plan.
• Write each piece → the content skills; adapt across platforms → cross-platform-repurposing.
• Schedule → scheduling-and-queue (into the buffer).

Quality bar — self-check

• Is the cadence sized to capacity (the floor, not the ceiling), and per-platform?
• Is there a recurring skeleton of buckets (pillar × format × slot), not a one-off list?
• Are there one or two named series?
• Is reactive room reserved (~20–30%) alongside sensible anchors?
• Is there a planning rhythm + buffer, not just a grid?
• Are hand-offs to batch-content-plan / content skills / scheduler clear?
• Is multi-platform made feasible by repurposing, with no analytics claims?

Edge cases & pushback

• Overcommitting ("5×/day on 6 platforms solo") → right-size hard to a sustainable floor; explain why; use repurposing.
• Too rigid ("lock 90 days, no gaps") → reserve reactive slots; a fully-locked calendar can't ride trends.
• "Just give me 20 post ideas" → that's batch-content-plan; offer the recurring skeleton here.
• "Build it around our best times/top performers" → WoopSocial has no analytics; offer native data the user pulls or qualitative review; don't claim data-driven optimization.
• No pillars/strategy yet → route to content-pillars / social-strategy or derive provisional pillars; don't float free.
• Keeps abandoning schedules → fix the rhythm (sustainable floor + buffer + ritual), not just the grid.

Related skills

• social-strategy — the channel/goal choices above this.
• content-pillars — the themes the skeleton maps to; brand-profile, voice-builder.
• batch-content-plan — fills a specific period with briefs (the per-cycle execution).
• cross-platform-repurposing — makes multi-platform sustainable.
• content skills (caption-writer, reels-script, tiktok-script, carousel-writer, thread-writer, linkedin-post-writer) — write each slot.
• trend-jacking — the reactive slots; scheduling-and-queue — ship into the buffer.

References

• references/cadence-and-capacity.md — sizing cadence to capacity; per-platform norms; repurposing; buffer.
• references/calendar-structure.md — buckets, pillar × format × slot, series, planned/reactive, anchors.
• references/operating-rhythm.md — the planning ritual, batching, buffer, honest review, hand-offs.
• references/examples.md — worked calendars (solo + team) with sample weeks, vs an over-ambitious one.