From gtm-skills
Writes, edits, and optimizes technical blog posts including tutorials, deep dives, postmortems, benchmarks; transforms brain dumps into polished dev content.
npx claudepluginhub manojbajaj95/claude-gtm-plugin --plugin gtm-skillsThis skill uses the workspace's default tool permissions.
Comprehensive blog writing combining technical depth, personal voice transformation, and AEO optimization.
Use when the user wants to write a blog post about a feature, product change, PR, git diff, or any technical topic - accepts marketing briefs, PRs, git refs, codebase paths, or freeform descriptions as input
Enforces Sentry's blog writing standards for technical posts, product announcements, and engineering deep-dives. Ensures precise, opinionated voice, banned phrases avoidance, and problem-first structure.
Guides writing, reviewing, and improving Sentry engineering blog posts using their voice, banned phrases, opening rules, and quality standards.
Share bugs, ideas, or general feedback.
Comprehensive blog writing combining technical depth, personal voice transformation, and AEO optimization.
| Input Type | Use Section |
|---|---|
| Technical tutorial, deep dive, benchmark | Technical Blog Writing |
| Brain dump → polished post | Nick Nisi Voice |
| Personal voice (Jarad style) | Jarad's Voice |
| Company/product/technology category post | Lightfast Category System |
| Not sure | Start here, adapt as needed |
Write developer-focused technical blog posts.
Step-by-step instruction. Reader should build something.
Structure:
1. What we're building (with screenshot/demo)
2. Prerequisites
3. Step 1: Setup
4. Step 2: Core implementation
5. Step 3: ...
6. Complete code (GitHub link)
7. Next steps / extensions
| Rule | Why |
|---|---|
| Show the end result first | Reader knows if worth continuing |
| List prerequisites explicitly | Don't waste wrong audience time |
| Every code block should be runnable | Copy-paste-run is the test |
| Explain the "why" not just the "how" | Tutorials that explain reasoning get shared |
| Include error handling | Real code has errors |
| Link to complete code repo | Reference after tutorial |
Explains a concept, technology, or architecture decision in depth.
Structure:
1. What is [concept] and why should you care?
2. How it works (simplified mental model)
3. How it works (detailed mechanics)
4. Real-world example
5. Trade-offs and when NOT to use it
6. Further reading
Describes what went wrong, why, and what was fixed.
Structure:
1. Summary (what happened, impact, duration)
2. Timeline of events
3. Root cause analysis
4. Fix implemented
5. What we're doing to prevent recurrence
6. Lessons learned
Data-driven comparison of tools, approaches, or architectures.
Structure:
1. What we compared and why
2. Methodology (so results are reproducible)
3. Results with charts/tables
4. Analysis (what the numbers mean)
5. Recommendation (with caveats)
6. Raw data / reproducibility instructions
Explains how a system is built and why decisions were made.
Structure:
1. Problem we needed to solve
2. Constraints and requirements
3. Options considered
4. Architecture chosen (with diagram)
5. Trade-offs we accepted
6. Results and lessons
| Do | Don't |
|---|---|
| Be direct: "Use connection pooling" | "You might want to consider using..." |
| Admit trade-offs: "This adds complexity" | Pretend your solution is perfect |
| Use "we" for team decisions | "I single-handedly architected..." |
| Specific numbers: "reduced p99 from 800ms to 90ms" | "significantly improved performance" |
| Cite sources and benchmarks | Make unsourced claims |
| Acknowledge alternatives | Pretend yours is the only way |
❌ "In today's fast-paced world of technology..." (filler)
❌ "As we all know..." (if we all know, why writing it?)
❌ "Simply do X" (nothing is simple if reading a tutorial)
❌ "It's easy to..." (dismissive of reader's experience)
❌ "Obviously..." (if obvious, don't write it)
❌ Marketing language in technical content
❌ Burying the lede under 3 paragraphs of context
| Rule | Why |
|---|---|
| Every code block must be runnable | Broken examples destroy trust |
| Show complete, working examples | Snippets without context are useless |
| Include language identifier in fenced blocks | Syntax highlighting |
| Show output/result after code | Reader verifies understanding |
| Use realistic variable names | calculateTotalRevenue not foo |
| Include error handling in examples | Real code handles errors |
| Pin dependency versions | "Works with React 18.2" not "React" |
| Audience Signal | Depth |
|---|---|
| "Getting started with X" | Explain everything, assume no prior knowledge |
| "Advanced X patterns" | Skip basics, go deep on nuances |
| "X vs Y" | Assume familiarity with both, focus on differences |
| "How we built X" | Technical audience, can skip fundamentals |
State your assumed audience level explicitly at the start.
# Title (contains primary keyword, states outcome)
[Hero image or diagram]
**TL;DR:** [2-3 sentence summary with key takeaway]
## The Problem / Why This Matters
[Set up why the reader should care — specific, not generic]
## The Solution / How We Did It
[Core content — code, architecture, explanation]
### Step 1: [First thing]
[Explanation + code + output]
### Step 2: [Second thing]
[Explanation + code + output]
## Results
[Numbers, benchmarks, outcomes — be specific]
## Trade-offs and Limitations
[Honest about downsides — builds trust]
## Conclusion
[Key takeaway + what to do next]
## Further Reading
[3-5 relevant links]
| Type | Word Count | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quick tip | 500-800 | One concept, one example |
| Tutorial | 1,500-3,000 | Step-by-step needs detail |
| Deep dive | 2,000-4,000 | Thorough exploration |
| Architecture post | 2,000-3,500 | Diagrams carry some load |
| Benchmark | 1,500-2,500 | Data and charts do heavy lifting |
Transform unstructured brain dumps into polished blog posts.
Accept whatever provided:
Don't require organization. The mess is the input.
Load references/voice-tone.md to understand Nick's writing style.
Key characteristics:
Read references/story-circle.md to understand the narrative framework.
Determine if content fits a story structure:
Structure material into sections:
Common structures:
Opening:
Body:
Technical content:
Ending:
Personal blog writing with distinctive voice.
Sentence Structure:
Concrete Over Abstract:
Tone Elements:
NEVER Use:
Header Style:
Opening:
Body:
Addressing Critics:
Closing:
Bad: "The shovelware isn't missing. It's incubating." Good: "I would say this is more accurately 'an incubation phase'. Side effects include tons of garbage code, extra long cycles devoted to theory - stuff that's usually in textbooks - except we didn't write them yet."
Bad: "I was hitting these incredible 'a-ha' moments weekly." Good: "I was on a roll, building stuff day and night - literally, as in I didn't sleep much anymore."
Bad: "Experimented relentlessly. Pushed boundaries. Tried to break things." Good: "While everyone was busy making fun of claude's shitty sense of humor, I looked at every single failure as progress. Data is data. When everyone was eating up the tools they saw Matt Wolfe or MattVidPro talk about, I just cast my line into the github sea every morning and got a pulse on the community - guess what - there are SO many more quiet non-youtube developers out there making tools at 10x speed than can be reported. Use your brain and curate them yourself."
Create category-aware, AEO-optimized blog posts.
Before writing anything:
Verify every claim:
Never oversell:
Match category voice:
| Category | Use When | Audience |
|---|---|---|
| Technology | Technical deep-dives, architecture, research | Developers, engineers |
| Company | Funding, partnerships, events, hiring | Executives, investors |
| Product | Feature launches, updates, tutorials | Customers, prospects |
Every draft MUST include:
title, slug, publishedAt, category (core)excerpt, tldr (AEO)seo.metaDescription, seo.focusKeyword (SEO)_internal.status, _internal.generated (traceability)| Scenario | Diagram Type |
|---|---|
| Request flow | Sequence diagram |
| System architecture | Box-and-arrow diagram |
| Decision logic | Flowchart |
| Data model | ER diagram |
| Performance comparison | Bar/line chart |
| Before/after | Side-by-side |
For architecture diagrams and benchmark visualizations:
Use diagramming tools (Mermaid, Excalidraw, draw.io) for architecture diagrams and charting libraries (matplotlib, Chart.js) for benchmark visualizations. These tools provide better control, are self-hosted, and avoid third-party execution risks.
| Platform | Format | How to Post |
|---|---|---|
| Your blog | Full article | Primary — own your content |
| Dev.to | Cross-post (canonical URL back to yours) | Markdown import |
| Hashnode | Cross-post (canonical URL) | Markdown import |
| Hacker News | Link submission | Show HN for projects, tell HN for stories |
| Reddit (r/programming, r/webdev, etc.) | Link or discussion | Follow subreddit rules |
| Twitter/X | Thread summary + link | See twitter-thread-creation skill |
| Adapted version + link | See linkedin-content skill |
| Mistake | Problem | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No TL;DR | Busy devs leave before getting the point | 2-3 sentence summary at the top |
| Broken code examples | Destroys all credibility | Test every code block before publishing |
| No version pinning | Code breaks in 6 months | "Works with Node 20, React 18.2" |
| "Simply do X" | Dismissive, condescending | Remove "simply", "just", "easily" |
| No diagrams for architecture | Walls of text describing systems | One diagram > 500 words |
| Marketing tone | Developers instantly disengage | Direct, technical, honest |
| No trade-offs section | Reads as biased marketing | Always discuss downsides |
| Giant introduction before content | Readers bounce | Get to the point in 2-3 paragraphs |
| Unpinned dependencies | Tutorial breaks for future readers | Pin versions, note date written |
| No "Further Reading" | Dead end, no context | 3-5 links to deepen understanding |
references/voice-tone.md - Complete Nick Nisi voice and tone guidereferences/story-circle.md - Story Circle narrative frameworkLoad reference files when writing in specific voices:
references/voice-tone.md + references/story-circle.md