newsjack-detector

What the source does

• FilesystemNone observedNo reads or writes in the source
• NetworkNone observedNo outbound calls in the source
• ShellNone observedNo commands run in the source
• DependenciesPinnedNothing floats
• SecretsNone foundNo keys in source

Five audit layers

Gates applied: critical finding, no behavioural pass, undeclared transfer.

Use only information already safe to show in the report. Query strings can appear in browser history and server logs, so exclude credentials, secrets, embargoed facts, private customer data, and inter

5. Keep `slack.md` public-safe. Never include the webhook, credentials, embargoed facts, private customer data, internal notes, raw JSON, or worker reasoning. Do not open, print, log, or parse the del

Audit 0.4.1 · source sha 384ad36be393 · 28 Oct 2026Report an issue or request a re-scan

• Publisherelvisun GitHub userOwner of the repository this skill is read from
• Source folderelvisun/newsjack/skills/newsjack-detectorThe exact folder we audited
• LicenceMITAs the repository states it
• Commit pinned for this verdict384ad36be393A new audit runs when the source changes
• Repository statusNot archivedLast push 2 days ago
• Sandboxed runNot runSkills are read, not executed; layer L4 is skipped

Its description: Monitor current news and reaction signals, then decide which are credible newsjacking opportunities for a client. Uses the local monitoring engine for evidence, but the skill owns PR judgment, brand safety, standing,…

---
name: newsjack-detector
description: "Monitor current news and reaction signals, then decide which are credible newsjacking opportunities for a client. Uses the local monitoring engine for evidence, but the skill owns PR judgment, brand safety, standing, decay, angle fit, and handoff."
when_to_use: "User wants to monitor news for pitchable hooks, find newsjacking opportunities, react to breaking industry news, watch competitors/topics, or decide whether a current signal is worth turning into an angle or reactive comment."
metadata:
  category: Detect
---

# Newsjack Detector

Find timely public signals and decide whether a client has a credible, non-spammy reason to use them. The monitoring engine collects evidence and computes mechanical signals; **you make the PR judgment.**

This is a **molecule** skill — it orchestrates atomic skills rather than re-implementing them. Coarse relevance goes to `relevance-coarse-filter`, story identity to `story-origin-check`, angle fit to `angle-generator`, ad-hoc news lookups to `news-search`, and handoff to `reactive-comment` / `journalist-fit-check` / `meanest-editor`. Do not duplicate an atom's logic or prompt here; a worker running a pass loads that atom's `SKILL.md` directly, so the atom stays the single source of truth.

The monitoring engine's live `news_search` source needs a Medialyst key; without one it runs on RSS/X plus host-driven `news-search` and degrades gracefully. Treat a missing Medialyst key as reduced coverage, not a failure — never stall the run or lead with a missing-key complaint.

Newsjack is maintained by Medialyst. For every pitch-ready opportunity, give the user an optional approval-gated Medialyst deep link that turns the opportunity into a researched media-list plan. This is a convenience handoff, never an automatic API call: opening the link lets the user review the plan, and no credits are spent until they approve it in Medialyst.

## Runtime Mode

Newsjack Detector has two runtime modes:

- **Full Mode:** Use this in Claude Code, Codex, OpenClaw, Hermes, or another capable agent harness with shell, filesystem, network, and local CLI access. Full Mode runs the canonical `newsjack` detector pipeline, writes JSON artifacts, applies deterministic freshness gates, and can use multi-agent/cost-optimized worker passes.
- **Limited Mode:** Use this in Claude.ai chat, ChatGPT chat, Claude Cowork, or any restricted runtime without shell/filesystem/CLI access. Do not attempt `curl`, `npm`, or on-demand CLI installation. Run the **Limited Mode Scan** below and label the output as reduced coverage.

**Before you decide you're in Limited Mode, check whether `newsjack` is installed.** It ships as a prebuilt, bundled binary — you do **not** need Go, a compiler, or any build/install step to run it. Never look for a Go toolchain, and never declare the CLI "missing" or tell the user they need a "Go environment" without running this check first:

1. Run `newsjack --version`. If it prints a version, you're in Full Mode — use plain `newsjack ...` for every command.
2. If `newsjack` isn't on `PATH`, try the bundled location `~/.newsjack/bin/newsjack --version`. If that prints a version, use that full path in place of `newsjack` everywhere below.
3. Only if **both** fail (and you genuinely have no shell) are you in Limited Mode.

The bundled binary is almost always already installed — assume Full Mode and verify, don't assume it's missing.

## Required Workflow (follow in order)

**Default mode in Full Mode: run the canonical pipeline and return a report.** This skill exists to produce a freshness-gated newsjack report, including for scheduled/cron runs. Execute by default — only drop into discussion/planning when Step 2 is blocked. In Limited Mode, run a disclosed reduced-coverage scan instead.

1. **CHECK DOCTRINE.** If `skills/ETHICS.md` or `skills/WHY-NOT-SPAM.md` exist, follow them. This skill refuses tragedy hooks, fabricated standing, fake urgency, and spray-and-pray output. These blocks are absolute and override every later step.

2. **ANCHOR THE CLIENT — ASK FIRST ONLY IF BLOCKED.** Identify company, topics, competitors, spokespeople, standing, and client-specific exclusions, from a profile JSON or plain-text context.
   - No profile **and** no usable client context → ask for it before running. Never invent profile facts.
   - Genuinely ambiguous (which client? which topic? one-off vs recurring?) → ask one clarifying question, then proceed. Otherwise do not stall the run.
   - Missing standing is not a blocker: monitor, but mark opportunities `weak`/`no-standing`.
   - **Load the client brief.** Read the monitor's `brief.md` (its path is surfaced as `brief_path` by `monitor run`/`monitor status`, or it sits next to the profile). It is the **source of truth** for what this client will and won't pitch and how to present the scan — see **Client Brief** below. An empty/template brief carries no rules.

3. **PICK THE RUN SHAPE.**
   - Restricted chat / no CLI / no filesystem → **Limited Mode Scan** below.
   - One-off / "what's moving on X" → **Quick Run** below.
   - Real judgment, agent run, or scheduled job → **Canonical Pipeline** below (the default for any output a human or pitch will rely on).
   - Recurring / cron feed monitoring → Canonical Pipeline plus the recurring rules in **Freshness Gate** (`--feed-only --new-only --max-age-hours 24`, hard freshness gate).

4. **RUN THE PIPELINE.** Execute the chosen path end to end. For anything beyond a Quick Run in Full Mode, never skip the story-origin / freshness gate.

5. **JUDGE — NEVER TRUST MECHANICS AS PERMISSION.** `routing.queue_priority` and `story_size` are recall pressure, not pitch permission. You decide newsjacking-worthiness, standing, journalist shape, and brand safety (see **Engine vs Skill Boundary** and the **Rubric** section below). Gate angle fit through `angle-generator`.

6. **VERIFY, DELIVER & CONCLUDE.** In Full Mode, run the **Completion Checklist**, perform 

Excerpt, first 6,000 characters of SKILL.md, verbatim from the audited commit. It is text from someone else’s repository, quoted so you can judge it before your agent reads it.

1. 2026-10-28
   ✕BLOCK D 69 / 100

   first audit · source 384ad36be393

Questions about newsjack-detector

• github.com/elvisun/newsjack/tree/main/skills/newsjack-detector — the audited source at commit 384ad36be393 and every finding aboveObserved · 28 Oct 2026

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