Agent skill

Competitor PR Finder

by Varnan-Tech in Varnan-Tech/opendirectory

Give it your product URL or description. An agent skill from Varnan-Tech/opendirectory.

MITAuto-check: notesMedia & Creative

Install Competitor PR Finder

skills CLI
$ npx skills add Varnan-Tech/opendirectory --skill competitor-pr-finder -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install Varnan-Tech/opendirectory competitor-pr-finder --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Varnan-Tech/opendirectory.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/competitor-pr-finder .claude/skills/competitor-pr-finder && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
competitor-pr-finder
GitHub stars
674
Token cost
~7.1k tokens
SKILL.md length
1,467 words
Files
8 (incl. scripts, references)
Skills in repo
61
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Give it your product URL or description. An agent skill from Varnan-Tech/opendirectory.

  • Works in 10 steps: Setup Check → Parse Input → Fetch Product Page → …
  • Asked to find PR opportunities
  • SKILL.md covers Common Mistakes, Read Reference Files Before…, Step 1: Setup Check and Step 2: Parse Input, plus 9 more sections
  • Runs Python scripts from its folder; calls python3 and curl; reaches api.tavily.com and techcrunch.com; needs TAVILY_API_KEY and FIRECRAWL_API_KEY

What it does

Competitor PR Finder is an agent skill from Varnan-Tech/opendirectory. Give it your product URL or description. It finds your top 5 competitors, runs three-track PR research across all of them (editorial, podcasts, communities), identifies which channels appear most frequently, looks up the journalist or host for each, and returns a tiered outreach list with story angles and ready-to-send cold pitch drafts tailored to your product. Use when asked to find PR opportunities, discover where competitors got featured, build a media outreach list, find which journalists cover my space, or…

Its SKILL.md is about 7.1k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 10 other files, including scripts and reference files (for example `README.md`, `evals/evals.json` and `references/pitch-guide.md`). Compatibility notes: ["claude-code","gemini-cli","github-copilot"]

It sits in Media & Creative, covering Podcasting. It works with Tavily. The repository describes itself as: AI Agent Skills built for Founders who hate Marketing. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Asked to find PR opportunities
  • Discover where competitors got featured
  • Build a media outreach list
  • Find which journalists cover my space

Example prompts

  • “/competitor-pr-finder”

Requirements

  • Python 3
  • A credential in TAVILY_API_KEY
  • A credential in FIRECRAWL_API_KEY
  • Compatibility (from SKILL.md): ["claude-code","gemini-cli","github-copilot"]

Workflow steps

10 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Setup Check
  2. Parse Input
  3. Fetch Product Page
  4. Product Analysis (AI)
  5. Competitor Confirmation
  6. Three-Track PR Research (Phase 2)
  7. Pattern Analysis (AI)
  8. Journalist / Host Lookup
  9. Synthesis -- Generate Outreach Packages (AI)
  10. Self-QA, Present, and Save

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 62e437a. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Ships 1 file in scripts/ (Python), which the agent can run.

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • python3
    • curl

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:

    • api.tavily.com
    • techcrunch.com
    • open.spotify.com
    • reddit.com
    • api.firecrawl.dev

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names these keys or tokens, usually read from environment variables:

    • TAVILY_API_KEY
    • FIRECRAWL_API_KEY

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

  • Compatibility

    ["claude-code","gemini-cli","github-copilot"]

    From compatibility in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

Context cost

Competitor PR Finder loads about 7.1k tokens when it runs, and up to ~11k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 145 tokens; SKILL.md has 1,467 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~145
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~7.1k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~11k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check: notes

The automated check noted patterns worth knowing about, such as sudo or a known installer.

  • NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:52
    uns at ~23 searches/run). Add it to your .env file."

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); the scripts in this folder are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from Varnan-Tech/opendirectory at commit 62e437a, republished under its MIT licence (© Varnan-Tech). 1,467 words, ~7,059 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/competitor-pr-finder/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 7 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
competitor-pr-finder
description
Give it your product URL or description. It finds your top 5 competitors, runs three-track PR research across all of them (editorial, podcasts, communities), identifies which channels appear most frequently, looks up the journalist or host for each, and returns a tiered outreach list with story angles and ready-to-send cold pitch drafts tailored to your product. Use when asked to find PR opportunities, discover where competitors got featured, build a media outreach list, find which journalists cover my space, or get pitch templates for press coverage.
compatibility
["claude-code","gemini-cli","github-copilot"]

Competitor PR Finder

Give it your product URL. It finds your competitors, researches every PR channel they used (news, podcasts, communities), surfaces the channels that appear across multiple competitors (your proven targets), finds the journalist or host for each, and drafts a personalized cold pitch for your product at every tier-1 channel.


Zero-hallucination policy: Every channel, journalist name, story angle, and pitch detail in the output must trace to a specific Tavily search result or the fetched product page. This applies to:

  • Competitor names: must appear in Tavily search results, not AI training knowledge
  • Channel names: must have a URL in the search results
  • Journalist/host names: must appear verbatim in a Tavily snippet
  • Story angles: extracted from article/episode titles in search results only
  • Pitch drafts: reference specific evidence from search data + product analysis

Common Mistakes

The agent will want to...Why that's wrong
Name a journalist from training knowledgeEvery journalist name must trace to a search result snippet. Writing "Sarah Perez covers startups at TechCrunch" from memory is hallucination.
List channels without evidence URLsEvery channel in the output must have at least one URL from the PR search results proving a competitor was featured there.
Skip the competitor confirmation stepAlways show discovered competitors and wait for the user to confirm. Wrong competitors = wasted searches and a useless output.
Generate generic pitches ("We'd love to be featured")Every pitch must reference a specific angle from the evidence AND a specific differentiator from the product analysis.
Mark a channel as Tier 1 with only 1 competitor occurrenceTier 1 = 3+ competitors. Tier 2 = exactly 2. Tier 3 = 1. Do not promote channels that haven't proven themselves.
Use em dashes in outputReplace all em dashes (--) with hyphens.

Read Reference Files Before Each Run

bash
cat references/pr-channel-types.md
cat references/pitch-guide.md
cat references/tier-scoring.md

Step 1: Setup Check

bash
echo "TAVILY_API_KEY:    ${TAVILY_API_KEY:+set}${TAVILY_API_KEY:-NOT SET -- required}"
echo "FIRECRAWL_API_KEY: ${FIRECRAWL_API_KEY:+set}${FIRECRAWL_API_KEY:-not set, Tavily extract will be used as fallback}"

If TAVILY_API_KEY is missing: Stop immediately. Tell the user: "TAVILY_API_KEY is required to research competitors and find PR coverage. There is no fallback. Get it at app.tavily.com -- free tier: 1000 credits/month (about 43 full runs at ~23 searches/run). Add it to your .env file."

If only FIRECRAWL_API_KEY is missing: Continue. Tavily extract will be used for the URL fetch.


Step 2: Parse Input

Collect from the conversation:

  • product_url: the URL to fetch (required, unless user pastes a description directly)
  • product_name: optional, derived from page if not provided
  • geography: optional -- US / Europe / global. Default: US

If the user provides only a pasted description (no URL): Skip Steps 3 and 4. Go directly to Step 4 (product analysis) using the pasted text as product_content. Set page_source to user_description and note in data_quality_flags.

If neither URL nor description: Ask: "What is the URL of your product or startup? Or paste a short description: what it does, who it is for, and what makes it different from competitors."

Derive product slug:

bash
PRODUCT_SLUG=$(python3 -c "
from urllib.parse import urlparse
import sys
url = 'URL_HERE'
if url.startswith('http'):
    host = urlparse(url).netloc.replace('www.', '')
    print(host.split('.')[0])
else:
    import re
    print(re.sub(r'[^a-z0-9]', '-', url[:30].lower()).strip('-'))
")
echo "Product slug: $PRODUCT_SLUG"

Step 3: Fetch Product Page

Primary: Firecrawl (if FIRECRAWL_API_KEY is set)

bash
curl -s -X POST https://api.firecrawl.dev/v1/scrape \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FIRECRAWL_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "URL_HERE", "formats": ["markdown"], "onlyMainContent": true}' \
  | python3 -c "
import sys, json
d = json.load(sys.stdin)
content = d.get('data', {}).get('markdown', '') or d.get('markdown', '')
print(f'Fetched via Firecrawl: {len(content)} characters')
open('/tmp/cprf-product-raw.md', 'w').write(content)
"

Fallback: Tavily extract (if FIRECRAWL_API_KEY is not set)

bash
curl -s -X POST https://api.tavily.com/extract \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"api_key\": \"$TAVILY_API_KEY\", \"urls\": [\"URL_HERE\"]}" \
  | python3 -c "
import sys, json
d = json.load(sys.stdin)
content = d.get('results', [{}])[0].get('raw_content', '')
print(f'Fetched via Tavily extract: {len(content)} characters')
open('/tmp/cprf-product-raw.md', 'w').write(content)
"

Checkpoint:

bash
python3 -c "
content = open('/tmp/cprf-product-raw.md').read()
if len(content) < 200:
    print('ERROR: fewer than 200 characters fetched')
else:
    print(f'Content OK: {len(content)} characters')
"

If content < 200 characters: Stop fetching. Tell the user: "The product page returned no readable content -- the site is likely JavaScript-rendered and blocked the fetch. Please paste a short description directly: what it does, who it is for, and what makes it different."


Step 4: Product Analysis (AI)

Print page content:

bash
python3 -c "
content = open('/tmp/cprf-product-raw.md').read()[:5000]
print('=== PRODUCT PAGE (first 5000 chars) ===')
print(content)
"

AI instructions: Analyze the product page above and extract:

  • product_name: the product or company name
  • one_line_description: what it does, for whom, core value prop. Under 20 words. No marketing language. Example: "CI/CD automation for developer teams that self-host their pipelines."
  • industry_taxonomy: l1 (top-level: e.g. developer tools / fintech / healthtech / consumer), l2 (sector: e.g. devops / payments / telemedicine), l3 (specific niche: e.g. CI/CD automation / embedded payments / async video consultation). Vague labels like "technology" alone are not acceptable.
  • differentiators: exactly 2-3 specific things that distinguish this product from generic competitors. These feed directly into the pitch drafts -- be specific. Example: ["Self-hosted pipeline runner -- no data leaves your infra", "Native support for monorepos with dynamic step generation"]
  • icp: buyer_persona (job title), company_type, company_size
  • geography_bias: US / Europe / global / unclear
  • page_source: "live_page" or "user_description"

Write to /tmp/cprf-product-analysis.json:

bash
python3 << 'PYEOF'
import json

analysis = {
    # FILL from your analysis above
    "product_name": "",
    "one_line_description": "",
    "industry_taxonomy": {"l1": "", "l2": "", "l3": ""},
    "differentiators": [],
    "icp": {"buyer_persona": "", "company_type": "", "company_size": ""},
    "geography_bias": "US",
    "page_source": "live_page"
}

json.dump(analysis, open('/tmp/cprf-product-analysis.json', 'w'), indent=2)
print('Product analysis written.')
PYEOF

Verify:

bash
python3 -c "
import json
a = json.load(open('/tmp/cprf-product-analysis.json'))
print('Product:', a['product_name'])
print('Industry:', a['industry_taxonomy']['l1'], '>', a['industry_taxonomy']['l2'], '>', a['industry_taxonomy']['l3'])
print('Differentiators:')
for d in a['differentiators']:
    print(f'  - {d}')
"

Step 4b: Phase 1 -- Competitor Discovery

bash
ls scripts/research.py 2>/dev/null && echo "script found" || echo "ERROR: scripts/research.py not found -- cannot continue"
bash
python3 scripts/research.py \
  --phase discover \
  --product-analysis /tmp/cprf-product-analysis.json \
  --tavily-key "$TAVILY_API_KEY" \
  --output /tmp/cprf-competitors-raw.json

Print results for AI review:

bash
python3 -c "
import json
data = json.load(open('/tmp/cprf-competitors-raw.json'))
print(f'Searches run: {len(data[\"competitor_searches\"])}')
for s in data['competitor_searches']:
    print(f'\nQuery: {s[\"query\"]}')
    print(f'Answer: {s.get(\"answer\",\"\")[:400]}')
    for r in s.get('results', [])[:5]:
        print(f'  - {r[\"title\"]} | {r[\"url\"]}')
        print(f'    {r.get(\"content\",\"\")[:200]}')
"

AI instructions: Read the search results above. Pick exactly 5 competitor companies that:

  1. Are named in the search result titles, answers, or snippets
  2. Are in the same L3 niche as the product being analyzed
  3. Are actual competing products (not agencies, consultancies, or list articles)
  4. Are distinct from each other (not the same company under different names)

For each competitor write: name, url (from the search result where they appeared), description (one sentence from snippet), source_url (the search result URL where they were found).


Step 5: Competitor Confirmation

Show the discovered competitors to the user:

bash
python3 << 'PYEOF'
import json

analysis = json.load(open('/tmp/cprf-product-analysis.json'))

# FILL: 5 competitors from the search results above
candidates = [
    # {"name": str, "url": str, "description": str, "source_url": str}
]

print(f"\nFound 5 competitors for {analysis['product_name']} in {analysis['industry_taxonomy']['l3']}:\n")
for i, c in enumerate(candidates, 1):
    print(f"  {i}. {c['name']} -- {c['description']}")
    print(f"     {c['url']}")

data = json.load(open('/tmp/cprf-competitors-raw.json'))
data['competitor_candidates'] = candidates
json.dump(data, open('/tmp/cprf-competitors-raw.json', 'w'), indent=2)
PYEOF

Tell the user: "These are the 5 competitors I'll research for PR coverage. Add, remove, or swap any -- or say 'looks good' to continue."

Wait for confirmation. If the user edits the list (adds/removes/swaps), update the candidates accordingly. Then write the confirmed list:

bash
python3 << 'PYEOF'
import json

# FILL: confirmed competitor list (after user review)
confirmed = [
    # {"name": str, "url": str}
]

json.dump({"confirmed_competitors": confirmed}, open('/tmp/cprf-competitors-confirmed.json', 'w'), indent=2)
print(f"Confirmed {len(confirmed)} competitors for PR research.")
for c in confirmed:
    print(f"  - {c['name']} ({c['url']})")
PYEOF

Step 6: Three-Track PR Research (Phase 2)

bash
python3 scripts/research.py \
  --phase pr-research \
  --competitors /tmp/cprf-competitors-confirmed.json \
  --product-analysis /tmp/cprf-product-analysis.json \
  --tavily-key "$TAVILY_API_KEY" \
  --output /tmp/cprf-pr-raw.json

This runs 3 searches per competitor (15 total):

  • Track A (Editorial): "[competitor]" featured press coverage TechCrunch Forbes Wired article interview
  • Track B (Podcasts): "[competitor]" founder CEO podcast interview appeared on episode
  • Track C (Communities): "[competitor]" site:reddit.com OR site:news.ycombinator.com OR site:producthunt.com

Print coverage summary:

bash
python3 -c "
import json
data = json.load(open('/tmp/cprf-pr-raw.json'))
print(f'Competitors researched: {data[\"competitors_researched\"]}')
print()
for r in data['results']:
    print(f'{r[\"competitor\"]}:')
    for track, tdata in r['tracks'].items():
        n = len(tdata.get('results', []))
        print(f'  {track:12}: {n} results')
"

If all 3 tracks for a competitor return 0 results: This competitor has very low press coverage. Note in data_quality_flags and proceed -- the cross-competitor pattern will still work with the remaining 4.


Show full SKILL.md (566 more words)Show less

Step 7: Pattern Analysis (AI)

Print all raw PR results:

bash
python3 -c "
import json
data = json.load(open('/tmp/cprf-pr-raw.json'))
for r in data['results']:
    print(f'\n=== {r[\"competitor\"]} ===')
    for track, tdata in r['tracks'].items():
        print(f'\n--- Track {track.upper()} ---')
        print(f'Query: {tdata[\"query\"]}')
        print(f'Answer: {tdata.get(\"answer\",\"\")[:400]}')
        for item in tdata.get('results', [])[:5]:
            print(f'  Title: {item[\"title\"]}')
            print(f'  URL:   {item[\"url\"]}')
            print(f'  Snippet: {item.get(\"content\",\"\")[:200]}')
"

AI instructions: Read ALL search results above. Build a channel frequency map.

Step 1 -- Normalize URLs to root domain: https://techcrunch.com/2023/06/article-title → techcrunch.com. https://open.spotify.com/episode/... → identify as podcast (spotify episode). https://www.reddit.com/r/devops/ → reddit.com/r/devops.

Step 2 -- Count occurrences: How many different competitors appeared in results from each channel root? A channel that shows up in Competitor A's Track A AND Competitor B's Track A counts as frequency 2.

Step 3 -- Tier channels (follow references/tier-scoring.md):

  • Tier 1: appeared in 3+ competitors
  • Tier 2: appeared in exactly 2 competitors
  • Tier 3: appeared in 1 competitor

Step 4 -- Extract story angles from article/episode titles in the results. Classify each as: funding-announcement / product-launch / founder-story / trend-piece / category-creation / how-to / comparison / award. Do not infer -- only classify angles visible in the titles.

Step 5 -- Classify channel type for each: editorial / podcast / community / newsletter.

Write to /tmp/cprf-pr-patterns.json:

bash
python3 << 'PYEOF'
import json

patterns = {
    "tier_1_channels": [
        # FILL -- channels appearing in 3+ competitors
        # Each: {"channel_name": str, "channel_url": str, "channel_type": str,
        #        "frequency": int, "found_in_competitors": [str],
        #        "evidence_urls": [str], "story_angles_used": [str],
        #        "journalist_name": "", "journalist_beat": ""}
    ],
    "tier_2_channels": [
        # FILL -- channels appearing in exactly 2 competitors
        # Each: {"channel_name": str, "channel_url": str, "channel_type": str,
        #        "frequency": 2, "found_in_competitors": [str], "evidence_urls": [str],
        #        "story_angles_used": [str]}
    ],
    "tier_3_channels": [
        # FILL -- channels appearing in only 1 competitor (name + URL only)
        # Each: {"channel_name": str, "channel_url": str, "found_in_competitor": str}
    ],
    "data_quality_flags": []
}

json.dump(patterns, open('/tmp/cprf-pr-patterns.json', 'w'), indent=2)
PYEOF

Verify:

bash
python3 -c "
import json
p = json.load(open('/tmp/cprf-pr-patterns.json'))
print(f'Tier 1 channels: {len(p[\"tier_1_channels\"])}')
for ch in p['tier_1_channels']:
    print(f'  {ch[\"frequency\"]}x {ch[\"channel_name\"]} ({ch[\"channel_type\"]}) -- {ch[\"found_in_competitors\"]}')
print(f'Tier 2 channels: {len(p[\"tier_2_channels\"])}')
print(f'Tier 3 channels: {len(p[\"tier_3_channels\"])}')
"

If fewer than 3 Tier 1 channels: This is normal for niche markets. Promote the top Tier 2 channels (highest frequency) to get to at least 3 total channels with deep dives. Note the promotion in data_quality_flags.


Step 8: Journalist / Host Lookup

For each Tier 1 channel (up to 7), run one targeted Tavily search:

bash
python3 << 'PYEOF'
import json, os, urllib.request

patterns = json.load(open('/tmp/cprf-pr-patterns.json'))
analysis = json.load(open('/tmp/cprf-product-analysis.json'))
l2 = analysis['industry_taxonomy']['l2']
l3 = analysis['industry_taxonomy']['l3']
tavily_key = os.environ.get('TAVILY_API_KEY', '')

lookup_results = []

for channel in patterns.get('tier_1_channels', [])[:7]:
    name = channel['channel_name']
    ctype = channel['channel_type']

    if ctype == 'editorial':
        query = f'"{name}" journalist reporter writer covers {l2} {l3} startups technology'
    elif ctype == 'podcast':
        query = f'"{name}" podcast host interviewer {l2} {l3} founders'
    else:
        query = f'"{name}" moderator community manager {l2} {l3}'

    payload = json.dumps({
        "api_key": tavily_key,
        "query": query,
        "search_depth": "basic",
        "max_results": 5
    }).encode()

    req = urllib.request.Request(
        'https://api.tavily.com/search',
        data=payload,
        headers={'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
        method='POST'
    )
    try:
        with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=20) as resp:
            data = json.loads(resp.read())
            lookup_results.append({
                'channel': name,
                'channel_type': ctype,
                'query': query,
                'answer': data.get('answer', ''),
                'results': [
                    {'title': r['title'], 'url': r['url'], 'content': r.get('content', '')[:400]}
                    for r in data.get('results', [])[:3]
                ]
            })
            print(f'Journalist lookup -- {name}: {len(data.get("results", []))} results')
    except Exception as e:
        lookup_results.append({
            'channel': name, 'channel_type': ctype,
            'query': query, 'answer': '', 'results': [], 'error': str(e)
        })
        print(f'Journalist lookup -- {name}: FAILED ({e})')

json.dump(lookup_results, open('/tmp/cprf-journalist-results.json', 'w'), indent=2)
print(f'Journalist lookups complete: {len(lookup_results)} channels')
PYEOF

Print results for AI extraction:

bash
python3 -c "
import json
results = json.load(open('/tmp/cprf-journalist-results.json'))
for r in results:
    print(f'\n=== {r[\"channel\"]} ({r[\"channel_type\"]}) ===')
    print(f'Answer: {r.get(\"answer\",\"\")[:400]}')
    for item in r.get('results', []):
        print(f'  {item[\"title\"]}')
        print(f'  {item.get(\"content\",\"\")[:300]}')
"

AI instructions: For each Tier 1 channel, extract from the search results above:

  • journalist_name: the person's name verbatim from a snippet. Write "not found in search data" if absent -- do NOT fill from training knowledge.
  • journalist_beat: what topics they cover, extracted from snippet text. Write "not found in search data" if absent.

Update /tmp/cprf-pr-patterns.json with journalist_name and journalist_beat populated for each Tier 1 channel:

bash
python3 << 'PYEOF'
import json

patterns = json.load(open('/tmp/cprf-pr-patterns.json'))

# FILL: update journalist_name and journalist_beat for each tier_1 channel
# journalist_name and journalist_beat come from search snippet text only
# Write "not found in search data" if the snippets don't name a person

# Example:
# patterns['tier_1_channels'][0]['journalist_name'] = 'Ingrid Lunden'
# patterns['tier_1_channels'][0]['journalist_beat'] = 'enterprise software and developer tools'

json.dump(patterns, open('/tmp/cprf-pr-patterns.json', 'w'), indent=2)
print('Journalist data updated.')
for ch in patterns['tier_1_channels']:
    print(f"  {ch['channel_name']}: {ch.get('journalist_name','--')} | {ch.get('journalist_beat','--')}")
PYEOF

Step 9: Synthesis -- Generate Outreach Packages (AI)

Print consolidated data:

bash
python3 -c "
import json

analysis = json.load(open('/tmp/cprf-product-analysis.json'))
patterns = json.load(open('/tmp/cprf-pr-patterns.json'))

print('=== PRODUCT ===')
print(f'Name: {analysis[\"product_name\"]}')
print(f'What it does: {analysis[\"one_line_description\"]}')
print(f'Differentiators:')
for d in analysis['differentiators']:
    print(f'  - {d}')
print(f'ICP: {analysis[\"icp\"]}')
print(f'Geography: {analysis[\"geography_bias\"]}')
print()
print('=== TIER 1 CHANNELS ===')
for ch in patterns['tier_1_channels']:
    print(f'\n{ch[\"channel_name\"]} ({ch[\"channel_type\"]}, freq={ch[\"frequency\"]})')
    print(f'  Found in: {ch[\"found_in_competitors\"]}')
    print(f'  Evidence URLs: {ch[\"evidence_urls\"][:3]}')
    print(f'  Story angles: {ch[\"story_angles_used\"]}')
    print(f'  Journalist: {ch.get(\"journalist_name\",\"not found\")} | {ch.get(\"journalist_beat\",\"\")}')
print()
print('=== TIER 2 CHANNELS ===')
for ch in patterns['tier_2_channels']:
    print(f'  {ch[\"channel_name\"]} ({ch[\"channel_type\"]}) -- found in {ch[\"found_in_competitors\"]}')
"

AI instructions -- zero-hallucination rules:

  1. Channel names: Only include channels from /tmp/cprf-pr-patterns.json. No invented channels.
  2. Journalist/host names: Use only what was populated in Step 8. Write "not found in search data" if blank. Do NOT substitute from training knowledge.
  3. Story angles: Use only angles extracted from article/episode titles in the search results. Do not infer from training knowledge.
  4. Cold pitch drafts: Must reference (a) a specific story angle from the evidence, (b) at least one specific differentiator from the product analysis, (c) the journalist's beat if found. No generic "we'd love to be featured" or "our product is revolutionary" language.
  5. Channel overview: 1-2 sentences from search snippets only. Write "not found in search data" if the snippets don't describe the channel's coverage focus.
  6. Bonus hooks: 3 angles that your competitors did NOT use in their coverage. These must be grounded in the product's actual differentiators from Step 4 -- not generic advice.
  7. No em dashes. No banned words (powerful, seamless, game-changing, revolutionary, cutting-edge, leverage, transform).

Per Tier 1 channel generate:

  • channel_overview: 1-2 sentences about coverage focus (from snippets)
  • why_they_covered_competitors: specific angle extracted from evidence titles
  • journalist_name + journalist_beat
  • approach_method: cold email / podcast pitch form / community post / LinkedIn DM (based on channel type)
  • cold_pitch_draft:
    • subject: "[Journalist name]: [their beat] + [your specific angle]"
    • body: 3-4 sentences. Structure: hook (reference their past coverage of a competitor) + what you do (one sentence) + why it fits their beat (tie to a specific differentiator) + ask (clear, low-friction CTA)

Also generate bonus_hooks: 3 pitch angles not used by any competitor in the search results. Base each on a specific product differentiator.

Write to /tmp/cprf-final.json:

bash
python3 << 'PYEOF'
import json

result = {
    "product_summary": {
        # FILL from analysis
    },
    "competitors_researched": [],  # FILL: names of confirmed competitors
    "tier_1_deep_dives": [
        # FILL per tier 1 channel:
        # {
        #   "channel_name": str,
        #   "channel_type": str,  # editorial / podcast / community
        #   "frequency": int,
        #   "found_in_competitors": [str],
        #   "evidence_urls": [str],
        #   "channel_overview": str,
        #   "why_they_covered_competitors": str,
        #   "story_angles_used": [str],
        #   "journalist_name": str,
        #   "journalist_beat": str,
        #   "approach_method": str,
        #   "cold_pitch_draft": {"subject": str, "body": str}
        # }
    ],
    "tier_2_channels": [
        # FILL: {channel_name, channel_type, frequency, found_in_competitors, evidence_urls}
    ],
    "tier_3_channels": [
        # FILL: {channel_name, found_in_competitor}
    ],
    "bonus_hooks": [
        # FILL: 3 strings -- pitch angles not used by competitors
    ],
    "data_quality_flags": []
}

json.dump(result, open('/tmp/cprf-final.json', 'w'), indent=2)
print(f'Synthesis written.')
print(f'Tier 1 deep dives: {len(result.get("tier_1_deep_dives", []))}')
print(f'Bonus hooks: {len(result.get("bonus_hooks", []))}')
PYEOF

Step 10: Self-QA, Present, and Save

Self-QA:

bash
python3 << 'PYEOF'
import json

result = json.load(open('/tmp/cprf-final.json'))
failures = []

# Check 1: em dashes
full_text = json.dumps(result)
if '—' in full_text:
    result = json.loads(full_text.replace('—', '-'))
    failures.append('Fixed: em dashes replaced with hyphens')

# Check 2: banned words
banned = ['powerful', 'seamless', 'innovative', 'game-changing', 'revolutionize',
          'excited to announce', 'cutting-edge', 'best-in-class', 'world-class',
          'leverage', 'transform', 'disrupt']
for word in banned:
    if word.lower() in json.dumps(result).lower():
        failures.append(f'Warning: banned word "{word}" found in output -- review before presenting')

# Check 3: cold pitch subjects exist
for dd in result.get('tier_1_deep_dives', []):
    pitch = dd.get('cold_pitch_draft', {})
    if not pitch.get('subject') or len(pitch.get('subject', '')) < 10:
        dd['cold_pitch_draft']['subject'] = 'not generated'
        failures.append(f'Fixed: missing subject line for {dd.get("channel_name")}')
    if not pitch.get('body') or len(pitch.get('body', '')) < 50:
        failures.append(f'Warning: very short pitch body for {dd.get("channel_name")}')

# Check 4: bonus hooks count
if len(result.get('bonus_hooks', [])) != 3:
    failures.append(f'Expected 3 bonus hooks, got {len(result.get("bonus_hooks", []))}')

# Check 5: "not found in search data" count
nf_count = json.dumps(result).count('not found in search data')
if nf_count > 0:
    failures.append(f'INFO: {nf_count} field(s) marked "not found in search data" -- verify before outreach')

# Check 6: tier 1 channels have evidence URLs
for ch in result.get('tier_1_deep_dives', []):
    if not ch.get('evidence_urls'):
        failures.append(f'Warning: {ch["channel_name"]} has no evidence_urls')

if 'data_quality_flags' not in result:
    result['data_quality_flags'] = []
result['data_quality_flags'].extend(failures)

json.dump(result, open('/tmp/cprf-final.json', 'w'), indent=2)
print(f'QA complete. {len(failures)} issues addressed.')
for f in failures:
    print(f'  - {f}')
if not failures:
    print('All QA checks passed.')
PYEOF

Present the output:

## PR Intel: [product_name]
Date: [today] | Competitors researched: [N] | Tier 1 channels: [N] | Tier 2 channels: [N]

---

### Your Product
[one_line_description]
Differentiators: [list]
Competitors researched: [names]

---

### Tier 1 Channels (Proven Beats -- Found in 3+ Competitors)

*These channels have already covered multiple companies in your space.*

| Channel | Type | Found in | Journalist/Host | Approach |
|---|---|---|---|---|
[one row per tier 1 channel]

---

### Deep Dives + Cold Pitches

#### 1. [Channel Name] (Tier 1 -- [Type], found in [N] competitors)

Covers: [channel_overview]
Covered competitors: [found_in_competitors with evidence URLs]
Story angle they used: [why_they_covered_competitors]
Journalist/Host: [journalist_name] | Beat: [journalist_beat]
How to reach: [approach_method]

**Cold pitch:**
Subject: [subject]

[body -- 3-4 sentences]

---

[repeat for each tier 1 channel]

---

### Tier 2 Channels (Warm -- Found in 2 Competitors)

| Channel | Type | Found in | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
[one row per tier 2 channel]

---

### Tier 3 Channels (Discovery -- Found in 1 Competitor)

[comma-separated list of channel names with URLs]

---

### 3 Bonus Hooks (Angles Your Competitors Didn't Use)

1. [hook_text]
2. [hook_text]
3. [hook_text]

---
Data notes: [data_quality_flags, or "None"]
Saved to: docs/pr-intel/[PRODUCT_SLUG]-[DATE].md

Save to file and clean up:

bash
DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
OUTPUT_FILE="docs/pr-intel/${PRODUCT_SLUG}-${DATE}.md"
mkdir -p docs/pr-intel
echo "Saved to: $OUTPUT_FILE"
bash
rm -f /tmp/cprf-product-raw.md /tmp/cprf-product-analysis.json \
      /tmp/cprf-competitors-raw.json /tmp/cprf-competitors-confirmed.json \
      /tmp/cprf-pr-raw.json /tmp/cprf-pr-patterns.json \
      /tmp/cprf-journalist-results.json /tmp/cprf-final.json
echo "Temp files cleaned up."

© Varnan-Tech, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 7 other files (scripts, references) in skills/competitor-pr-finder of Varnan-Tech/opendirectory.

  • SKILL.md
  • .env.example
  • README.md
  • evals/evals.json
  • references/pitch-guide.md
  • references/pr-channel-types.md
  • references/tier-scoring.md
  • scripts/research.py

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 62e437a

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Works with

Questions about Competitor PR Finder

What does Competitor PR Finder do?

Give it your product URL or description. An agent skill from Varnan-Tech/opendirectory. Competitor PR Finder is an agent skill from Varnan-Tech/opendirectory. Give it your product URL or description.

When should I use Competitor PR Finder?

Competitor PR Finder fits situations like: asked to find PR opportunities; discover where competitors got featured; build a media outreach list; find which journalists cover my space.

How do I install Competitor PR Finder in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add Varnan-Tech/opendirectory --skill competitor-pr-finder -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/competitor-pr-finder in Varnan-Tech/opendirectory) into .claude/skills/competitor-pr-finder in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Competitor PR Finder in Codex?

Run `npx skills add Varnan-Tech/opendirectory --skill competitor-pr-finder -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/competitor-pr-finder in Varnan-Tech/opendirectory) into .agents/skills/competitor-pr-finder in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Competitor PR Finder in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add Varnan-Tech/opendirectory --skill competitor-pr-finder -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/competitor-pr-finder, .gemini/skills/competitor-pr-finder, .github/skills/competitor-pr-finder and .opencode/skills/competitor-pr-finder in your project.

What does Competitor PR Finder need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Competitor PR Finder needs Python for the scripts in its folder, the command-line tools its instructions call (python3 and curl) and credentials named TAVILY_API_KEY and FIRECRAWL_API_KEY. Our summary lists: Python 3; A credential in TAVILY_API_KEY; A credential in FIRECRAWL_API_KEY. Compatibility (from SKILL.md): ["claude-code","gemini-cli","github-copilot"].

Does Competitor PR Finder access the network?

SKILL.md names 5 domains. In commands or code: api.tavily.com, techcrunch.com, open.spotify.com, reddit.com and api.firecrawl.dev; the agent is likely to contact these when it follows the instructions. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Competitor PR Finder safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found notes only (mentions a .env file), nothing it rates as a warning. It is not a guarantee. The check reads SKILL.md only: the scripts in the folder are not scanned, so read them before running anything.

What licence does Competitor PR Finder use?

Competitor PR Finder is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Competitor PR Finder use?

About 7.1k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 28k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 3.7k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Competitor PR Finder?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Competitor PR Finder: Podcast Generation (bytedance/deer-flow, 84k stars), Summarize (openclaw/openclaw, 392k stars), Earned Media Outreach (shawnpang/startup-founder-skills, 342 stars) and Audio Script Writer (LeoYeAI/openclaw-master-skills, 2.2k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Competitor PR Finder?

Varnan-Tech (a GitHub organization) maintains it in Varnan-Tech/opendirectory, which has 674 GitHub stars. The repository holds 61 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on August 16, 2026.

Source: Varnan-Tech/opendirectory on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.