Niche Research

Niche Research

Codex and Claude runtime

• Use this skill in Codex or Claude with the tools actually available in the current task. AskUserQuestion examples describe the questions, not a required API: use an available question tool within its limits, or ask in chat. Reuse answers and source material already supplied.
• Work in the user-selected project. Read its about-me.md, voice.md and relevant brand files before personalised work. Confirm the intended author if files conflict or contain starter defaults. Ask for missing facts or run voice-builder; never inherit the maintainer's identity, accounts or private files.
• Resolve bundled references/ relative to this skill folder. For an explicitly requested profile refresh, read and update the canonical about-me.md, voice.md or newsletter-voice.md in place, preserving unrelated user facts and rules. Consumers must reread those canonical files. Use a new filename only for new deliverables that would collide with unrelated existing files. Installation alone never starts an interview or writes files. Do not write persistent learnings unless requested.
• Use supplied evidence first. Verify external claims through available search/source tools when needed. If a source or integration is unavailable, name the missing capability and offer supplied text/export input. Never invent facts, first-person experience, metrics or a successful tool run.
• Connect only services needed for the chosen route through the user's existing account. Never print credentials or overwrite connections. Drafting, saving and reviewing do not authorise publishing, sending messages or changing accounts.

CRITICAL: Auto-start on load

When this skill triggers, go straight to Step 1. Do not summarise the research method.

Prerequisites

Use the live web search and browser capabilities actually available in Codex or Claude. No particular extension or assistant vendor is required. Read tool documentation and check access before choosing a route. Use the user's existing authorised sessions for personalised feeds; never change their connections.

Browser feed access and indexed web search are different evidence surfaces. If feeds are unavailable, continue with indexed public results and label the missing feed coverage. If no live source access exists, current research is pending; supplied dated sources can support a clearly labelled limited brief.

Never scrape comments or replies on any platform. Read original post bodies and article text only. Aggregate engagement counts may be recorded when visible. Do not enable comment collection through an actor option.

Step 1. Gather the niche

Call AskUserQuestion:

[
  {
    "question": "What niche do you want to research?",
    "header": "Niche",
    "multiSelect": false,
    "options": [
      {"label": "I will type my niche", "description": "Type the exact niche phrase after this"},
      {"label": "Pull from about-me.md", "description": "Use the niche and audience already in my voice files"}
    ]
  }
]

If the user picks "Pull from about-me.md", read the file from the project root. If the file does not exist or does not name a clear niche, fall back to asking the user to type it.

Step 2. Browse like a human researcher

Use the available route for the following sources; skip inaccessible feeds with an explicit coverage note. Verify publish dates on every item. Exclude anything older than 7 days from today without exception.

2a. Reddit feed scanning

1. Navigate to https://www.reddit.com/ (home feed).
2. Scroll the feed. Load more posts.
3. Open niche-relevant posts. On each post, check the "posted X days ago" timestamp.
4. Discard posts older than 7 days.
5. Repeat with https://www.reddit.com/r/popular/.
6. Also search any niche-specific subreddits that come up while scrolling.