When: Any campaign, launch, content piece, event, enablement asset, or marketing project that needs a structured brief before execution begins.
Not for: Full GTM strategy and tier assignment → use go-to-market-strategy. Stakeholder alignment for a launch → use stakeholder-maps. Post-launch diagnosis → use retro. OKR setting → use pmm-okrs. Sourcing or verifying the Goals evidence itself (not just citing it) → use proof-points.
Example prompts:
- "Help me write a brief for our Q3 demand gen campaign"
- "I'm planning a webinar — where do I start?"
- "We need to brief the design team on the launch assets"
- "I have a brain dump on this campaign — help me structure it"
- "Is this brief strong enough to act on?"

Inputs

Args: Project name or brain dump. Free format — one sentence or a full paragraph.
Defaults: If nothing provided, auto-detect mode (Conversational or Brain-dump) from the first message before asking any questions.
Context keys:
- /foundation/brain.md — optional. Load ICP, Positioning, Voice & Tone, Proof Points silently if present. Pre-populate Audience and Creative sections.

Connectors (Optional)

Connector	What it adds
`~~knowledge base`	Source material for the brief
`~~cloud storage`	Existing decks and plans
`~~calendar`	Project dates
`~~team chat`	Stakeholder threads
`~~email`	Stakeholder email threads

No connectors? Paste the material and I'll work from that. The output has the same shape. Pulled facts are drafts: each is tagged with category, tool and date, and nothing is written until you confirm.

Pre-flight

Gap capture (see the gap capture rule in SKILL-SPEC.md): if a brain field this skill needs is empty or stale and the answer would change the output, ask one question: the question, one line on why it matters, "answer or skip". Answer: use it for this run and offer it as a brain update. Skip: continue with a labelled assumption and append a skipped block to /foundation/gaps.md (format in product-marketing-context/references/gaps-format.md). At most one gap question per run. This is the only write to /foundation/gaps.md; the skill still writes nothing else to the brain unless its own contract says so.
Personal context (see the personal context rule in SKILL-SPEC.md): if /foundation/me.md exists, read it for format and detail only (length, detail, shape, how blunt to be). Never take a company fact from it; the current request wins. Do not ask for it if it is missing.
Load /foundation/brain.md silently if present. Extract: ICP (for Audience), Positioning (for Creative POV), Voice & Tone (for Creative requirements), Proof Points (for Goals evidence).
If the Proof Points entries relevant to this brief's Goals section are still [NEEDS PROOF] or [NEEDS APPROVAL], or Section 6 is empty: don't block the brief (proof points are supporting evidence here, not a hard gate like DRI or quality score), but flag once in the Goals adversarial callout — "This metric's evidence isn't sourced yet. Run proof-points to confirm it before this brief goes external."
If brain missing: proceed without surfacing it — brief works standalone.
Auto-detect mode from the user's first message:
- 1–2 sentences, vague description → Conversational mode
- Paragraph or more of context pasted → Brain-dump mode
- If unclear → default to Conversational.

Steps

Step 1: Detect Mode and Load Context

Detect Conversational vs Brain-dump from first message. In Brain-dump mode: extract what's present, map to GACCS sections, identify gaps before asking anything. Do not re-ask what's already there.

Step 2: Run Interrogation

Adapt depth to user experience level. Do not move to the next section until the current one is specific, grounded, and survives the adversarial check.

G — Goals: Primary business goal (not a deliverable). Measurable success metric with target and timeframe. Non-goals named explicitly.

A — Audience: Specific role, company type, or moment in journey — not a category. What they currently think, feel, or do that this work needs to change.

C — Creative: Unique POV in one sentence. Format and requirements clear. What already exists and why this is meaningfully different.

C — Channels: Primary channel named (the bet). Amplification channels listed. Mileage plan — how the asset gets repurposed or extended.

S — Stakeholders: One DRI named. Reviewers distinguished from contributors. Informed parties listed separately.

After each section is answered, insert an adversarial callout — 2–3 targeted challenges specific to what was just written. Inline, not grouped at the end.

Step 3: Run Quality Gate

Score each section before generating the brief:

Section	Strong ✅	Weak ❌
Goals	Specific outcome + OKR link + non-goals	Vague direction, no metric
Audience	Named segment + belief/behaviour to shift	Category-level description
Creative	Unique POV in one sentence + format clear	Generic topic, no POV
Channels	Primary channel + mileage plan	Channel list with no strategy
Stakeholders	One DRI + roles distinguished	"The team" or no DRI

4–5 strong → generate the brief
2–3 strong → name what's missing, redirect, don't generate
0–1 strong → stop, ask why this project exists before going further

Never soften a redirect.

Step 4: Generate Brief

Only after quality gate passes. Use the output template in Outputs.

Step 5: Learning Close

End every completed session by appending one entry to /context/skill-sessions.md, in the format defined in product-marketing-context/.claude-plugin/skill-sessions-format.md (Type A — execution session):

type: execution
skill: gaccs-brief
session_date: [YYYY-MM-DD]
pattern: [one falsifiable statement about what happened this session, or "none"]
source: [surprised / wrong / missing / N/A]

Write this row directly — do not ask the user for permission. This is an observational log entry, separate from the brief itself — if the user wants the brief saved anywhere, ask where separately; this skill doesn't write the brief to any file on its own. If nothing notable happened this session, still write the row with pattern: none.

Outputs

Files written: /context/skill-sessions.md — one appended row per session, per Step 5.
Chat output format: Brief in the template below. Every response ends with ✅ Next Step — one specific action, no exceptions.
External side effects: None beyond the session log above.

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
GACCS BRIEF — [Project / Campaign / Asset Name]
Type: [Campaign / Launch / Event / Content / Enablement / Other]
Status: [Draft / In Review / Approved]  Date: [Created]  DRI: [Name — Role]
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

🎯 GOALS
Primary business goal: [Strategic objective — pipeline, retention, awareness]
How you'll measure success: [Metric + target + timeframe + attribution]
Non-goals: [What we're explicitly NOT doing]

⚠️ Challenge → [Specific challenge to goal] → [Is there a faster path?]

👥 AUDIENCE
Primary audience: [Specific role / persona / segment]
Company profile: [Size, stage, industry]
What they currently think / feel / do: [Belief or behaviour to address]

⚠️ Challenge → [Challenge to specificity] → [Is this for them or for us?]

💡 CREATIVE
Unique POV: [One sentence — the sharpest angle]
How it's different: [What exists and why this is better]
Format: [Asset type]  Requirements: [Design, data, demo needed]

⚠️ Challenge → [POV stress-test] → [Does format fit channel?]

📣 CHANNELS
Primary channel (the bet): [One channel, 80% of impact]
Amplification: [Channel 2] / [Channel 3]
Mileage plan: [How it gets repurposed]

⚠️ Challenge → [Does primary channel reach this audience?] → [Real mileage or list?]

🤝 STAKEHOLDERS
DRI: [Name — Role]
Reviewers: [Name — Role — what they review for]
Contributors: [Name — Role — what they contribute]
Informed: [Name — Role]

⚠️ Challenge → [One DRI or split?] → [Who's missing?]

📋 BRIEF QUALITY SCORE: [X/5 — ✅ APPROVED / ⚠️ REVISE / ❌ REDIRECT]
Goals: [✅/⚠️]  Audience: [✅/⚠️]  Creative: [✅/⚠️]  Channels: [✅/⚠️]  Stakeholders: [✅/⚠️]

✅ NEXT STEP: [One specific, non-negotiable action]
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Verification

Mode detected before any question asked.
Brain context loaded silently if present — never asked for again.
Adversarial callouts appear inline after each section, not grouped at end.
Quality gate scored before brief generated — no premature output.
Every response ends with ✅ Next Step.
No section filled with assumptions — gaps surfaced explicitly.
Brief not generated unless 4+ sections are strong.
DRI named before brief is produced.
Session logged to /context/skill-sessions.md (Step 5).

Do Not Use For

go-to-market-strategy — for launch tier assignment and full GTM strategy brief. gaccs-brief scopes the campaign; go-to-market-strategy scopes the launch program.
stakeholder-maps — for full political stakeholder mapping with Sprint Cards. The Stakeholders section here is a brief-level ownership list, not a political map.
pmm-okrs — if the Goals section reveals OKRs haven't been set yet, route there first. Don't set OKRs inside a brief session.
retro — for post-launch diagnosis. Build the brief before; run the retro after.
proof-points — for sourcing, verifying, or auditing the claims and metrics themselves. gaccs-brief cites Section 6 as supporting evidence for Goals; proof-points is what builds and gates Section 6 in the first place.

Operating Rules

Interrogate before documenting. Never generate a brief without completing intake.
Mode detection is mandatory. Never ask Conversational questions in Brain-dump mode.
Adversarial callouts are inline. After each section, not at the end.
Quality gate before output. 4/5 strong sections required. Not negotiable.
No DRI, no brief. A brief with no DRI belongs to no one.
No distribution plan, no creative. Ask if it's worth making before proceeding.
Never fill gaps with assumptions. Surface the gap — it's the most valuable output.
Every response ends with ✅ Next Step. No exceptions.
Redirects are never softened. Clarity now saves hours of misaligned work.

Quality Gate

Runs before the brief is generated (Step 3), and again as a final check before delivery. Surface failures — do not deliver incomplete output.

Check	Standard	Pass =
Mode detected	Conversational or Brain-dump, before any question asked	Yes
Section scoring complete	All 5 GACCS sections scored Strong/Weak	Yes
4+ sections strong	Brief generated only if the Step 3 threshold is met	Yes
DRI named	Stakeholders section names one DRI, not "the team"	Yes
Adversarial callouts inline	2–3 challenges per section, placed after that section	Yes
Next Step present	Every response ends with ✅ Next Step	Yes
Learning Close ran	`/context/skill-sessions.md` has a new row for this session	Yes

gaccs-brief

gaccs-brief

Trigger