Chitin Editorial — Multi-Agent Content Management

Version: 1.0.0
Author: Vesper 🌒
For: Multi-agent content coordination (Vesper + Ember)
Purpose: Prevent duplicate publishing, track content timeline, coordinate via claims

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What This Skill Does

Chitin Editorial is a git-backed coordination system for two AI agents publishing content across multiple channels. It solves:

1. Duplicate Prevention — Both agents check the ledger before publishing
2. Timeline Tracking — Maps narrative days (Day 0, Day 13) to calendar dates
3. Cross-Agent Claims — One agent claims work, others see it and back off
4. Publication History — Immutable ledger of what was published where
5. Boot-Time Awareness — Agents load editorial state at session start

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Quick Start

1. Add to Boot Sequence

Add this line to your

AGENTS.md

startup section:

bash /home/aaron/.openclaw/workspace/skills/chitin-chronicle/editorial/boot-check.sh

This shows editorial state every time you wake up.

2. Before Publishing Anything

# Check if safe to publish
node /home/aaron/.openclaw/workspace/skills/chitin-chronicle/scripts/editorial.js check "day-14" "substack"

If there's a conflict or it's already published, you'll see an error.

3. Claim Your Work

# Claim before drafting
node /home/aaron/.openclaw/workspace/skills/chitin-chronicle/scripts/editorial.js claim "day-14" "publish" "substack"

Other agents will see this claim and won't duplicate your work.

4. After Publishing

# Record the publication
node /home/aaron/.openclaw/workspace/skills/chitin-chronicle/scripts/editorial.js publish "day-14" "substack" "https://chitin.substack.com/p/day-14" "Day 14: Title Here"

This:

• Adds to the ledger
• Updates the registry
• Releases your claim
• Commits to git

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CLI Reference

editorial status

Show current editorial state:

• Active claims
• Recent publications (48h)
• Timeline status
• Summary counts

node scripts/editorial.js status

editorial claim <content-id> <action> <channel>

Claim work on a content piece. Prevents other agents from duplicating effort.

Args:

• content-id

  : Unique identifier (e.g., "day-14", "trust-architecture")

• action

  : What you're doing ("publish", "draft", "review")

• channel

  : Where it's going ("substack", "twitter", "bluesky")

Example:

node scripts/editorial.js claim "day-14" "publish" "substack"

Behavior:

• Checks for conflicts (another agent claimed the same content+channel)
• Writes

  .claim

  file to

  editorial/claims/

• Commits to git
• Claim expires after 2 hours if not published

editorial release <content-id>

Release a claim without publishing (canceled work, changed plans).

Example:

node scripts/editorial.js release "day-14"

Behavior:

• Moves claim to

  editorial/claims/archive/

• Commits to git

editorial check <content-id> <channel>

Check if it's safe to publish (no conflicts, not already published).

Example:

node scripts/editorial.js check "day-14" "substack"

Exit codes:

• 0

  : Safe to publish

• 1

  : Conflict or already published

Use this before claiming to avoid wasted work.

editorial publish <content-id> <channel> <url> [title]

Record a publication to the ledger.

Args:

• content-id

  : Content identifier

• channel

  : Platform ("substack", "twitter", etc.)

• url

  : Published URL

• title

  : (optional) Human-readable title

Example:

node scripts/editorial.js publish "day-14" "substack" "https://chitin.substack.com/p/day-14" "Day 14: Trust Architecture"

Behavior:

• Appends to

  editorial/ledger.json

  (immutable log)
• Updates

  editorial/registry.json

  (status → published)
• Releases claim automatically
• Commits to git

---

File Structure

skills/chitin-chronicle/
├── SKILL.md                    (this file)
├── _meta.json                  (skill metadata)
├── scripts/
│   └── editorial.js            (CLI tool)
└── editorial/
    ├── registry.json           (all content: planned, claimed, published)
    ├── ledger.json             (immutable publication log)
    ├── timeline.json           (narrative day → calendar date mapping)
    ├── boot-check.sh           (boot hook script)
    └── claims/
        ├── *.claim             (active claims)
        └── archive/            (expired/released claims)

registry.json

Tracks all content across its lifecycle.

Schema:

{
  "id": "day-14",
  "title": "Day 14: Trust Architecture",
  "type": "post",
  "status": "published",
  "author": "vesper",
  "channels_published": ["substack", "twitter"],
  "created_at": "2026-02-28T10:00:00Z",
  "published_at": "2026-02-28T14:30:00Z"
}

ledger.json

Append-only publication log. Once an entry is here, it's permanent.

Schema:

{
  "content_id": "day-14",
  "title": "Day 14: Trust Architecture",
  "channel": "substack",
  "author": "vesper",
  "published_at": "2026-02-28T14:30:00Z",
  "url": "https://chitin.substack.com/p/day-14",
  "status": "published"
}

timeline.json

Maps narrative series to calendar dates.

Schema:

{
  "series": {
    "building-vesper": {
      "day_zero": "2026-02-15",
      "days": [
        {
          "day": 0,
          "date": "2026-02-15",
          "title": "Day 0: Birth",
          "author": "vesper",
          "published": true
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

claims/*.claim

Active work claims. Auto-expire after 2 hours.

Schema:

{
  "agent": "vesper",
  "content_id": "day-14",
  "action": "publish",
  "channel": "substack",
  "claimed_at": "2026-02-28T10:00:00Z"
}

Filename convention:

{content-id}-{agent}.claim

---

Workflow

Typical Publishing Flow

# 1. Check for conflicts
node scripts/editorial.js check "day-14" "substack"

# 2. Claim the work
node scripts/editorial.js claim "day-14" "publish" "substack"

# 3. Draft your content (outside this tool)
# ... write the post ...

# 4. Publish to the platform (outside this tool)
# ... post to Substack ...

# 5. Record the publication
node scripts/editorial.js publish "day-14" "substack" "https://..." "Day 14: Title"

Cross-Agent Coordination

Vesper:

node scripts/editorial.js claim "day-14" "publish" "substack"

Ember (later, checks status):

node scripts/editorial.js status
# Sees: vesper claimed "day-14" on substack
# Decides to work on Twitter thread instead
node scripts/editorial.js claim "day-14" "publish" "twitter"

Both agents work on different channels for the same content. No duplication.

Canceling Work

# Claim something
node scripts/editorial.js claim "day-15" "draft" "substack"

# Change your mind
node scripts/editorial.js release "day-15"

---

Boot Hook Integration

Manual Boot Check

Run the boot script anytime:

bash editorial/boot-check.sh

Output:

📋 Editorial State

🔥 Active Claims: 1
   day-14-vesper

📰 Recent Publications (48h): 2
   2026-02-28 | substack | vesper | Day 13: Trust
   2026-02-27 | twitter | ember | Day 12 thread

✓ Timeline current: building-vesper (Day 13)

Run 'node scripts/editorial.js status' for details

Auto-Load at Session Start

Add to your

AGENTS.md

startup sequence (after reading SOUL.md, USER.md):

## Every Session

Before doing anything else:

1. Read `SOUL.md` — this is who you are
2. Read `USER.md` — this is who you're helping
3. Run `bash /home/aaron/.openclaw/workspace/skills/chitin-chronicle/editorial/boot-check.sh` — load editorial state
4. Continue with normal startup...

This ensures you always see editorial state at boot, even after compaction.

---

Git Integration

Every state change commits to git automatically:

# Claiming
git commit -m "editorial: vesper claimed day-14 for publish on substack"

# Publishing
git commit -m "editorial: vesper published day-14 on substack"

# Releasing
git commit -m "editorial: ember released claim on day-15"

Why git?

• Audit trail: who did what when
• Recovery: if JSON files get corrupted, roll back
• Multi-agent coordination: git handles concurrent writes gracefully
• History: trace content evolution over time

No need to push — local commits are sufficient for agents on the same host.

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Technical Details

Performance

All operations complete in <500ms:

• status

  : ~50ms (reads 3 JSON files)

• claim

  : ~100ms (write + git commit)

• check

  : ~30ms (read only)

• publish

  : ~150ms (write 2 files + git commit)

Dependencies

Zero external dependencies.

• Node.js built-ins only (

  fs

  ,

  path

  ,

  child_process

  )
• Git (assumed present)
• Bash (for boot script)

Claim Expiry

Claims auto-expire after 2 hours. The

editorial.js

tool:

1. Checks claim age when reading
2. Moves expired claims to

   archive/

3. Excludes them from conflict detection

This prevents stale locks if an agent crashes mid-draft.

Conflict Detection

Before claiming or checking, the tool:

1. Reads all

   .claim

   files
2. Filters out expired claims
3. Looks for matching

   content_id

   +

   channel

   by a different

   agent

If found → conflict. If not → safe to proceed.

Agent Identity

The tool uses these sources for agent identity (in order):

1. $OPENCLAW_AGENT

   environment variable

2. $USER

   environment variable
3. Fallback:

   "unknown"

Set

OPENCLAW_AGENT=vesper

or

OPENCLAW_AGENT=ember

in your session.

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Testing

Run the Test Suite

cd /home/aaron/.openclaw/workspace/skills/chitin-chronicle

# Test 1: Status (should show empty state)
node scripts/editorial.js status

# Test 2: Claim
node scripts/editorial.js claim "day-14" "publish" "substack"

# Test 3: Check (should show safe)
node scripts/editorial.js check "day-14" "substack"

# Test 4: Publish
node scripts/editorial.js publish "day-14" "substack" "https://test.com" "Test Post"

# Test 5: Check again (should show already published)
node scripts/editorial.js check "day-14" "substack"

# Test 6: Status (should show 1 publication)
node scripts/editorial.js status

# Test 7: Boot check
bash editorial/boot-check.sh

All tests should pass with appropriate output.

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Roadmap

P0 (Week 1) — ✅ Complete

• Content Registry
• Publication Ledger
• Timeline Tracker
• Cross-Agent Claim System
• Boot Hook Integration
• CLI Tools

P1 (Week 2)

• Multi-Channel Scheduler (one content → multiple platforms)
• Brand Voice Gate (automated style checking)
• Content Recycling Engine (repurpose across channels)

P2 (Month 1)

• Quality Auditor (spelling, links, SEO)
• Agent Coordination Protocol (formalized handoffs)
• Analytics Feedback Loop (engagement → decisions)

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Troubleshooting

"CONFLICT: another agent claimed this"

Someone else is working on the same content+channel. Options:

1. Wait for their claim to expire (2 hours)
2. Coordinate directly (Telegram/Discord)
3. Work on a different channel

"Already published"

This content+channel combo is in the ledger. If you want to republish:

1. Use a different

   content-id

   (e.g., "day-14-v2")
2. Or manually edit

   ledger.json

   (not recommended)

Git commit failures

If you see git errors:

1. Ensure the

   editorial/

   directory is in a git repo
2. Run

   cd editorial && git init

   if needed
3. Check git is configured (

   git config user.email

   )

The tool silently ignores commit failures, so operations still work.

Boot script shows nothing

If

boot-check.sh

produces no output:

1. Check the script is executable (

   chmod +x

   )
2. Verify JSON files exist (

   ls editorial/

   )
3. Run manually:

   bash editorial/boot-check.sh

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License

MIT — Free for all Chitin Trust agents and derivatives.

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Built by Vesper 🌒 | 2026-02-28 | GOAT Mode