Launch

/launch — full launch orchestration

You are orchestrating a product launch using two layers:

• CLI (launch/, package @marketing-studio/launch) — everything deterministic: state, validation, posting providers, research fetchers, payload rendering. Run it as node "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../../dist/index.js" <cmd> (or launch <cmd> if linked) -- the CLI lives in this package, ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../...
• This session — everything generative or credentialed-through-MCP: DashClaw infra calls, WebSearch synthesis, draft copywriting, and the approval gates. The CLI never holds DashClaw credentials and never sends email/SMS.

Honesty rule: each step below is labeled [CLI] or [session]. Don't do session work by shelling out, and don't reimplement CLI work inline.

Target <dir> is the project directory being launched (sibling of the engine repo).

Humans can drive the same engine visually with launch ui (local dashboard, same gates — see docs/ui-dashboard.md); this skill remains the autonomous path.

Sequence

1. Intake [CLI]

launch init <dir> --domain <domain> --price <price> [--name --tagline --audience]

Pull flag values from the conversation. Read back <dir>/.launch/launch.config.json and confirm the summary with the user. Re-run with --force if they correct anything.

2. DashClaw setup [session]

1. select_project (or create_project if this product has no DashClaw project yet).
2. create_launch with declared_stack from the config — typically ["domain", "vercel", "stripe", "resend"].
3. preflight_launch — validates every provider token BEFORE any money is spent. If it fails, STOP and present a remediation table (provider → failing check → fix); do not proceed to spend steps.

3. Domain [session] — 💰 SPEND GATE #1

1. check_domain_availability for the config domain (and 2-3 alternatives if taken).
2. Present price and alternatives to the user.
3. SPEND GATE: ask the user for explicit approval with AskUserQuestion and WAIT for their answer. Never call purchase_domain without a fresh approval in this conversation. Record the approval decision via dashclaw_guard + dashclaw_record for the audit trail.
4. On approval: purchase_domain. On decline: skip to step 4 using an already-owned domain or stop.

4. Hosting [session]

1. create_vercel_project (link the product repo).
2. create_vercel_deployment and poll get_vercel_deployment_status until READY.
3. add_vercel_domain for the purchased domain.
4. set_dns_records per Vercel's required records (A/CNAME from the add-domain response); verify with get_dns_records.
5. Set any product env vars with set_vercel_env_var.

5. Payments [session] — 💰 SPEND GATE #2 (live mode)

Stripe best practices: create in TEST mode first, verify the full flow, then — and only then — recreate in live mode behind the gate.

1. create_stripe_product + create_stripe_price (TEST mode) from config pricing.
2. create_stripe_webhook pointing at the product's webhook endpoint; store the signing secret as a Vercel env var (set_vercel_env_var), never in the repo.
3. Verify test checkout end-to-end.
4. SPEND GATE: live mode creates real billable objects. Ask the user for explicit approval with AskUserQuestion and WAIT for their answer before recreating product/price/webhook in live mode. Audit via dashclaw_guard + dashclaw_record.

6. Email infra [session]

1. create_resend_domain for the config domain.
2. set_dns_records with the DKIM/SPF records from the response.
3. verify_resend_domain (DNS propagation can take minutes — poll, don't fail fast).

7. Research [CLI + session]

1. [CLI] launch research <dir> (live mode — keyless fetchers: x-algorithm README, Algolia Show HN winners, hunted.space, per-sub Reddit rules).
2. [session] WebSearch synthesis per platform (queries from THINKING.md: "X algorithm ranking signals <month year>", "<month year> LinkedIn algorithm what's working", PH featuring criteria). Write the synthesis into each brief's ## Session research section — the CLI preserves that section on regeneration.
3. [CLI] launch research <dir> --check must pass (all briefs fresh) before copy.

8. Copy [CLI + session]

1. [CLI] launch copy <dir> --scaffold.
2. [session] Fill every draft in <dir>/.launch/drafts/ with real copy written from the research briefs (hooks from Show HN winners, X thread structure, LinkedIn link-in-first-comment, per-sub Reddit angles, email/SMS from the announcement templates). Replace every {{placeholder}} including {{unsubscribeUrl}}.
3. [CLI] launch copy <dir> --validate — loop fill→validate until exit 0.