X Articles Skill

Create, format, and publish long-form articles on X (Twitter) with proven viral patterns.

Quick Reference

Content Formatting Rules (CRITICAL)

X Articles uses Draft.js editor with specific quirks:

1. Line breaks = paragraph breaks - Each newline creates a new paragraph block with spacing
2. Join sentences on ONE LINE - All sentences in the same paragraph must be on a single line
3. Use plain text, not markdown - X Articles uses rich text, not markdown
4. No em dashes (—) - Replace with colons or rewrite sentences

Wrong:

Sentence one.
Sentence two.
Sentence three.

Right:

Sentence one. Sentence two. Sentence three.

Embed Limitation (IMPORTANT)

Embedded posts ALWAYS render at the END of the content block, not inline.

Workarounds:

• Structure article to reference "see posts below"
• Accept visual flow: text → text → embeds at bottom
• Use Insert > Posts menu (don't paste URLs)

Image Specs

Viral Article Structure

The Template

HOOK (hit insecurity or opportunity)

WHAT IT IS (1-2 paragraphs with social proof)

WHY MOST PEOPLE WON'T DO IT (address objections)

THE [X]-MINUTE GUIDE
- Step 1 (time estimate)
- Step 2 (time estimate)
- ...

YOUR FIRST [N] WINS (immediate value)
- Win 1: copy-paste example
- Win 2: copy-paste example

THE COST (value comparison)

WHAT TO DO AFTER (next steps)

THE WINDOW (urgency)

CTA (soft or hard)

Hook Patterns That Work

Insecurity/FOMO:

everyone's talking about X... and you're sitting there wondering if you missed the window

Big Opportunity:

this is the biggest opportunity of our lifetime

News Hook:

X just open sourced the algo. Here's what it means for you:

RIP Pattern:

RIP [profession]. This AI tool will [action] in seconds.

WTF Pattern:

WTF!! This AI Agent [does amazing thing]. Here's how:

Personal Story:

When I was young, I was always drawn to people who...

CTA Patterns

Hard CTA (engagement bait):

RT + follow + reply 'KEYWORD' and I'll send the cheat sheet

Soft CTA:

If you take this advice and build something, let me know!

Simple:

Feel free to leave a like and RT if this helped.

Style Guide

Damian Player Style (Tactical)

• All lowercase (deliberate)
• Urgent, tactical tone
• 1500+ words
• Heavy step-by-step detail
• Hard CTA with lead magnet

Alex Finn Style (Motivational)

• Normal capitalization
• Warm, motivational tone
• 800-1200 words
• Mix of WHY and HOW
• Soft CTA + product links

Dan Koe Style (Philosophical)

• Long-form essay (2000+ words)
• Personal storytelling opener
• Named frameworks ("The Pyramid Principle")
• Deep teaching, not just tactics
• Newsletter CTA

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Short articles under 500 words
• Facts without story/emotion
• No clear sections or headers
• No objection handling
• No immediate wins section
• No CTA
• Generic AI-sounding language
• Em dashes (—) everywhere
• Excessive emojis
• Pasting tweet URLs instead of using Insert menu

Browser Automation (agent-browser)

Prerequisites

• clawd browser running on CDP port 18800
• Logged into X on the browser

Navigate to Article Editor

# Open new article
agent-browser --cdp 18800 navigate "https://x.com/compose/article"

# Take snapshot to see current state
agent-browser --cdp 18800 snapshot

Paste Content

# Put content in clipboard
cat article.txt | pbcopy

# Click content area, select all, paste
agent-browser --cdp 18800 click '[contenteditable="true"]'
agent-browser --cdp 18800 press "Meta+a"
agent-browser --cdp 18800 press "Meta+v"

Upload Cover Image

# Upload to file input
agent-browser --cdp 18800 upload 'input[type="file"]' /path/to/cover.png

# Wait for Edit media dialog, click Apply
agent-browser --cdp 18800 snapshot | grep -i apply
agent-browser --cdp 18800 click @e5  # Apply button ref

Publish

# Find and click Publish button
agent-browser --cdp 18800 snapshot | grep -i publish
agent-browser --cdp 18800 click @e35  # Publish button ref

# Confirm in dialog
agent-browser --cdp 18800 click @e5   # Confirm

Cleanup (Important!)

# Close tab after publishing
agent-browser --cdp 18800 tab list
agent-browser --cdp 18800 tab close 1

Troubleshooting: Stale Element Refs

If clicks fail due to stale refs, use JS evaluate:

agent-browser --cdp 18800 evaluate "(function() { 
  const btns = document.querySelectorAll('button'); 
  for (let btn of btns) { 
    if (btn.innerText.includes('Publish')) { 
      btn.click(); 
      return 'clicked'; 
    } 
  } 
  return 'not found'; 
})()"

Content Preparation Script

Convert Markdown to X-Friendly Format

# scripts/format-for-x.sh
#!/bin/bash
# Converts markdown to X Articles format

INPUT="$1"
OUTPUT="${2:-${INPUT%.md}-x-ready.txt}"

cat "$INPUT" | \
  # Remove markdown headers, keep text
  sed 's/^## /\n/g' | \
  sed 's/^### /\n/g' | \
  sed 's/^# /\n/g' | \
  # Remove markdown bold/italic
  sed 's/\*\*//g' | \
  sed 's/\*//g' | \
  # Remove em dashes
  sed 's/ — /: /g' | \
  sed 's/—/:/g' | \
  # Join lines within paragraphs (keeps blank lines as separators)
  awk 'BEGIN{RS=""; FS="\n"; ORS="\n\n"} {gsub(/\n/, " "); print}' \
  > "$OUTPUT"

echo "Created: $OUTPUT"

Pre-Publish Checklist

• Hook grabs attention in first line
• Objections addressed early
• Step-by-step with time estimates
• Immediate wins section included
• CTA at the end
• No em dashes (—)
• Sentences joined on single lines
• Cover image 5:2 aspect ratio
• Embeds referenced as "see below"
• Proofread for AI-sounding language

Tweetable Quote Patterns

For promoting your article:

Result + Cost:

I gave an AI agent full access to my MacBook. It checks email, manages calendar, pushes code. Costs $20/month. A VA costs $2000.

You Don't Need X:

You don't need a Mac Mini. You don't need a server. I'm running my AI agent on an old MacBook Air from a drawer.

Gap Warning:

The gap between 'has AI agent' and 'doesn't' is about to get massive. I set mine up in 15 minutes.

Urgency:

Most people will bookmark this and never set it up. Don't be most people. The window is closing.

Example Workflow

1. Write article in markdown with clear sections
2. Run format script to convert to X-friendly plain text
3. Generate cover image with DALL-E (1792x716 or 5:2 ratio)
4. Open X article editor via browser automation
5. Paste content and add section headers manually in editor
6. Upload cover image via file input
7. Add inline images at section breaks
8. Insert embeds (they'll appear at bottom)
9. Preview and proofread
10. Publish
11. Post promotional tweet with hook + article link

Related Skills

• bird - X/Twitter CLI for posting tweets
• de-ai-ify - Remove AI jargon from text
• ai-pdf-builder - Generate PDFs (for lead magnets)