Coverage Tracker

news-search

newsjack-detector

Runtime Mode

• Full Mode: Use this in Claude Code, Codex, OpenClaw, Hermes, or another capable agent harness with shell, filesystem, network, and local CLI access. Full Mode can read tracker config, check SQLite seen-state, record decisions, and suppress repeat alerts.
• Limited Mode: Use this in Claude.ai chat, ChatGPT chat, Claude Cowork, or any restricted runtime without shell/filesystem/CLI access. Do not attempt

  curl

  ,

  npm

  , or on-demand CLI installation. Run a one-off manual coverage check from pasted/searchable evidence and disclose that no tracker config, SQLite state, or repeat suppression was used.

newsjack

1. Run

   newsjack --version

   . If it prints a version, you're in Full Mode — use plain

   newsjack ...

   for every command.
2. If

   newsjack

   isn't on

   PATH

   , try the bundled location

   ~/.newsjack/bin/newsjack --version

   . If that prints a version, use that full path in place of

   newsjack

   everywhere below.
3. Only if both fail (and you genuinely have no shell) are you in Limited Mode.

Workflow

1. Ask for the keyword, what it means, lookback window, and any exclusions if they are not already present.
2. Use pasted links first. If search tools are available, search the keyword plus a recency bound and keep dated, attributed article evidence when available.
3. Dedupe obvious repeats by URL/title/outlet/date.
4. Classify each item with the verdicts below.
5. Return a short inline report with new likely coverage, filtered counts, and a Limited Mode caveat that repeat suppression was unavailable.

1. Find the tracker.
   • If the user gave a slug, run

     newsjack coverage status <slug>

     .
   • If working in a source checkout, prefer

     bin/newsjack

     .
   • If no slug is given, ask which tracker to run unless local context makes it obvious.
   • Read the returned

     config_path

     .
2. Search each keyword.
   • Read the current date from the system (e.g. run

     date

     ); do not recall it from memory. Compute

     since_date

     as that date minus

     lookback_days

     from the config, defaulting to

     2

     .
   • For each keyword, call

     news-search

     with exactly:
     text

     "keyword" after:YYYY-MM-DD

   • If the keyword has aliases, search each alias the same way, but keep the original keyword entry attached.
   • Keep dated, attributed article fields from

     news-search

     :

     title

     ,

     url

     ,

     outlet

     ,

     author

     ,

     published_at

     , and snippet/summary when available.
3. Dedupe and check stored decisions before using the LLM.
   • Dedupe exact canonical URLs first, then obvious same-article duplicates by title/outlet/date.
   • Create a minimal candidate JSON file only because the CLI helper consumes a file. Put it in a temporary location, or in a timestamped run folder if your harness normally keeps run artifacts:
     json

     {
       "items": [
         {
           "keyword": "profound",
           "title": "Article title",
           "url": "https://...",
           "outlet": "Outlet",
           "author": "Author or null",
           "published_at": "2026-06-05T12:00:00Z",
           "snippet": "Search snippet or summary"
         }
       ]
     }

   • Run:
     bash

     newsjack coverage check <slug> --input candidates.json

   • Do not reclassify

     known_items

     unless the user explicitly asks for a fresh review. Use their

     prior_decision

     to count filtered/known results and suppress repeat alerts.
   • Classify only

     unknown_items

     .
4. LLM classify unknown items.
   • Use the keyword's

     means

     field as the authority for entity matching.
   • Reject generic-word usage and wrong entities, especially for ambiguous keywords like

     profound

     .
   • Do not alert from title/snippet keyword presence alone. When the snippet leaves the verdict unclear, read the article before deciding.
   Use these verdicts:

   • real_feature

     : the article is substantially about the intended entity/product/person. Alert.

   • substantive_mention

     : meaningful paragraph-level mention, but not a feature. Save, normally no alert.

   • passing_mention

     : brief mention only. Save, no alert.

   • wrong_entity

     : the keyword refers to something else. Save, no alert.

   • junk

     : SEO, scraper, duplicate landing page, job post, docs/help page, or non-news. Save, no alert.

   • uncertain

     : insufficient evidence. Save, no alert.
5. Record only newly classified unknown items. If there are no

   unknown_items

   , skip

   coverage record

   and report from the

   coverage check

   result.
   If you classified new items, write the minimum

   decisions.json

   needed by the CLI:
   json

   {
     "items": [
       {
         "keyword": "profound",
         "title": "Article title",
         "url": "https://...",
         "outlet": "Outlet",
         "author": "Author or null",
         "published_at": "2026-06-05T12:00:00Z",
         "verdict": "real_feature",
         "confidence": "high",
         "alert": true,
         "rationale": "Why this is about the intended keyword."
       }
     ]
   }

   Include every newly classified unknown item, not only alerts. Saving rejects lets future runs skip them through

   coverage check

   .
6. Persist decisions and suppress repeat alerts.
   bash

   newsjack coverage record <slug> --input decisions.json

   Add

   --run-dir RUN_DIR

   only when you already created a run folder for harness provenance. Read the command's JSON stdout directly. Do not write

   record.json

   unless the user or harness explicitly wants artifacts. Only articles in

   new_alerts

   are newly alertable; previously alerted URLs must not be re-alerted.
7. Deliver the result to the user. SQLite is the durable record. Do not write a separate report file; compose a short, readable message straight to the user from

   coverage check

   and, when run,

   coverage record

   :
   • If

     new_alerts

     is non-empty, lead with the new real coverage items.
   • If there are no new alerts, say there is no new confirmed coverage.
   • Include a short run summary: keywords searched, since date, candidate count, skipped-known count, newly judged count, new alert count.
   • Include a quiet "Filtered" line with counts by verdict, including prior decisions from known items, not a dump of every junk item.
   • Use clickable links.
   This skill is meant to run unattended on a schedule, so the message must stand alone — the user should not have to open any file to understand the run.

Output Discipline

• Do not invent publication dates, outlets, or authors. If

  news-search

  cannot recover a date, classify cautiously.
• Do not use story-origin or freshness gates; this is not a newsjack opportunity scan.
• Do not call

  angle-generator

  ,

  journalist-fit-check

  , or

  meanest-editor

  .
• Do not install native cron. Recurrence belongs to the agent harness.