Short-Form Research — Orchestrator

Pipeline skill — produces the per-platform best-practice catalog that brief-shortform consumes per asset.

Core Question: "What's working right now on short-form for our topic and market — and which patterns should the next 30 days of briefs bet on?"

[Read references/playbook.md [PLAYBOOK] for why this skill exists, methodology, principles, and when NOT to use.]

Critical Gates — Read First

Non-negotiable constraints before dispatching any agent:

1. No fabricated data. Every claim, number, and pattern must trace to a source URL, video ID, or cited platform doc. Orphan claims fail critic rubric #1.
2. Single market per artifact. Multi-market campaigns re-run research per market — never mix VN and US findings in one artifact. Cultural patterns are not averageable.
3. Hard cap on platforms. Default 3 (TikTok + Reels + Shorts). X video and LinkedIn video are explicit opt-in via --all or --platforms. Maximum ever is 5. Cost discipline.
4. Sample-size honesty. Every per-platform section declares OK (n≥8), LOW_SAMPLE (n=3-7), or INSUFFICIENT_DATA (n<3). LOW_SAMPLE flags carry through to brief skill warnings. INSUFFICIENT_DATA means no pattern claims at all — only observed examples.
5. Two freshness windows. Trend signals refresh every 14d, warn at 30d. Platform mechanics refresh every 90d, warn at 180d. Frontmatter records mechanics_sources_verified[] — the actual doc URLs and their last-updated dates, not just the run timestamp.