Create Article

Create a single technical article interactively with multi-language support.

Documentation: docs/COMMANDS.md | docs/PROCESS.md

Usage

From topic (uses default author):

/article-writer:article implementing rate limiting in Laravel

From topic with specific author:

/article-writer:article implementing rate limiting --author mwguerra

From queue:

/article-writer:article from-queue 42

Prerequisites

1. Plugin initialized: /article-writer:init
2. At least one author configured in .article_writer/authors.json

Author Selection

1. If --author ID specified, use that author
2. If from queue and task has author, use task's author
3. Otherwise, use first author in authors.json

Process

1. Select author and load profile from .article_writer/authors.json
2. Load settings from .article_writer/settings.json (companion project defaults + article_limits.max_words)
3. Initialize folder: content/articles/{date}_{slug}/ (including code/)
4. Guide through: Planning → Web Research → Drafting → Companion Project Creation → Review → Condense
5. Search web for documentation, news, and related content
6. Write initial draft in author's primary language
7. Create practical companion project using settings defaults (scaffold_command, post_scaffold, etc.)
8. Update draft with companion project code/content
9. Review article for flow and voice compliance
10. Condense if over max_words (preserving quality and voice)
11. Translate to other languages
12. Update article_tasks.json with output paths, sources, and companion project info

Web Research

During research phase, searches for:

• Official documentation for the technology
• Recent news and updates (within 1 year)
• Tutorials and best practices
• Related GitHub repositories

All sources are recorded in sources_used array.

Practical Companion Projects

Every article includes a practical companion project. Companion project defaults come from .article_writer/settings.json:

# View defaults before creating
/article-writer:settings show code

Companion project workflow:

1. Load settings - Get scaffold_command, verification commands
2. Write initial draft with <!-- EXAMPLE: ... --> markers
3. Execute scaffold_command from settings
4. Execute post_scaffold commands from settings
5. Add article-specific code (models, controllers, tests)
6. ⚠️ VERIFY - Actually run the code:
   • install_command - Must succeed (vendor/ exists)
   • run_command - App must start without errors
   • test_command - All tests must pass
7. If verification fails → Fix code → Re-verify
8. Update draft with actual code from companion project
9. Review integrated article as a whole

The companion project is NOT complete until verification passes.

Multi-Language Output

For author with languages: ["pt_BR", "en_US"]:

content/articles/2025_01_15_rate-limiting/
├── rate-limiting.pt_BR.md    # Primary (written first)
└── rate-limiting.en_US.md    # Translation

Word Limit Enforcement

Articles are subject to a hard word limit defined in settings:

# Check current limit
jq '.article_limits.max_words' .article_writer/settings.json

Default: 3000 words (prose only, excludes frontmatter and code blocks)

If the draft exceeds max_words, the Condense phase:

1. Identifies and removes redundancy
2. Tightens verbose passages
3. Preserves author voice and technical accuracy
4. Maintains narrative flow and quality

Checkpoints

Confirm at:

• Author and language selection
• Audience and article type
• Outline before research
• Research findings summary
• Draft review (primary language)
• Word count compliance (after condensation)
• Translation review
• Ready for finalization

Output

• Primary article: {slug}.{primary_lang}.md
• Translations: {slug}.{lang}.md for each additional language
• Supporting files in dated folder subfolders