---
title: 'Five channels: one brief, one process, one submission shape each'
description: 'The five VarynForge channels, article, x, linkedin, reels and youtube: what each brief holds, how each piece is produced, what lint_draft receives and where the live URL is recorded.'
slug: five-channels
group: workflows
order: 15
keywords:
  [
    content channels,
    channel briefs,
    video script brief,
    x thread brief,
    linkedin carousel brief,
    lint_draft,
    register_derived_asset,
  ]
related: [drafting-and-verification, publishing-and-attestation, what-varynforge-is, mcp-tools]
updated: '2026-10-26'
---

One suggestion can become an article, an X thread, a LinkedIn carousel, a short video and a long video. Each of those is a channel. A suggestion holds one brief per channel, and each channel has its own production process, its own writer prompt and its own shape for the gate.

## What each channel's brief holds

- **`article`**: the SEO article outline, keywords and acceptance criteria.
- **`x`**: a thread skeleton, post by post.
- **`linkedin`**: a carousel, slide by slide, plus the caption.
- **`reels`**: hook, beats, shot list and on-screen text, for TikTok and Instagram.
- **`youtube`**: hook, retention beats, title and thumbnail angle, and a chapter outline.

For `reels` and `youtube` the brief is not the script. It is the plan your agent writes the script from.

## Process and submission, per channel

| Channel    | Process                         | What your agent submits to `lint_draft`                                        |
| ---------- | ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `article`  | Brief → Draft → Publish         | The full draft as markdown                                                     |
| `x`        | Brief → Thread → Publish        | The thread as plain text, one post per section, sections split by `---`        |
| `linkedin` | Brief → Post + slides → Publish | The caption first, then the slides as optional `---` sections                  |
| `reels`    | Brief → Script → Video          | The production script: hook, beats, shots, on-screen text, caption             |
| `youtube`  | Brief → Script → Video          | The production script: hook, retention beats, narration, chapters, description |

On `x` and `linkedin`, links stay out of the body. The link goes in a reply on X and in the first comment on LinkedIn.

`get_lint_rubric` returns the same submission spec for a channel, with the exact numeric limits, and `get_writer_system_prompt` returns the channel's writing method. [Drafting and verification](/docs/drafting-and-verification) covers both.

## Adding a channel to a suggestion

Every suggestion forges its `article` brief on its own when it is created. Your agent adds the other channels with `generate_article_brief` and a `channel`:

```json
{ "projectId": "…", "articleSuggestionId": "…", "channel": "reels" }
```

A new channel brief never touches the briefs already there and never moves the suggestion's status backward. When the suggestion already has an article brief, the channel brief derives from it, carrying over its key points, hook and stats, and it does not use one of the 10 daily brief slots on Free Forge. Asking again for a channel that already has a brief returns the existing one; `force: true` regenerates it.

## How destinations map to channels

Destinations are where you publish, and `list_destinations` reads them. Each destination type belongs to one channel, and the type id doubles as the `format` label your agent passes to `lint_draft`, so drafts and receipts group per destination.

| Destination type            | Channel    |
| --------------------------- | ---------- |
| `website`, `local_business` | `article`  |
| `x`                         | `x`        |
| `linkedin`                  | `linkedin` |
| `tiktok`, `instagram`       | `reels`    |
| `youtube_channel`           | `youtube`  |

With no destinations configured yet, your agent uses the channel name as the `format` label. It still passes `channel` explicitly, because a `format` the gate cannot recognise is graded against the long-form article brief.

## What the gate checks on video and slides

The gate reads text. For `reels` and `youtube` it validates the script, and no video linter exists yet. The receipt says so in a skipped check, so a passing script never reads as a checked video. For `linkedin` it validates the caption and the slide text; the slide art is rendered after the text passes, following the LinkedIn writer prompt.

## Recording the published piece

Your agent publishes through the CMS or platform it already drives, or you post the piece yourself. Then it records the live URL:

- An `article` goes to `mark_article_published`.
- A post, carousel or video goes to `register_derived_asset` with the URL, a `kind` such as `social_post`, `carousel_pdf` or `video`, and the `channel`.

For video, this is the step the script gate defers: once the video is live, its URL is registered here, never at lint time. A second post on the same channel registers again with its new URL, and every registration is kept. [Publishing and attestation](/docs/publishing-and-attestation) covers the whole step.