How to use the Newsletter Generation agent skill

What is an agent skill and what does this one do?

An agent skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file that an agent loads when a request matches the skill's description. The file tells the agent how to approach a task, step by step. This skill is licensed under MIT and is part of the bytedance/deer-flow project.

When the skill is active, the agent follows a structured process: it plans the format and audience, searches the web for recent news on your topic, reads key articles, and drafts a newsletter with headlines, short summaries, original commentary and source links. The output is Markdown, intended for email or web publishing, and the skill can keep a consistent style across a recurring series.

• Supported formats in the source: daily digest, weekly roundup, deep-dive and industry briefing.
• Default format is a weekly roundup, default length is medium (about a 10-minute read), and the default section count is 4-6.
• Audience options are technical, executive, general or niche community.

Install the newsletter-generation skill

Download the skill ZIP from this page and unzip it. You can install it for yourself or for a single project. For a personal install, unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/. For a project install, unzip it into the .claude/skills/ folder inside your project.

If you use the Claude apps, you can instead upload the skill under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

• Personal install: ~/.claude/skills/
• Project install: .claude/skills/ inside your project folder
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the skill

Check the requirements before you start

The skill depends on two capabilities from the agent itself. It does not bring its own search engine or scripts. Without web search, the agent cannot research recent news, so the skill will not produce a current newsletter.

• A web search capability in the agent (required).
• A web fetch capability to read full articles (required for deep extraction of key stories).
• Runs scripts: no. Uses network: yes.

Trigger the skill with natural requests

You do not need a special command. Ask for the thing you want in plain language. The skill's description lists the kinds of request it responds to, so include words like newsletter, digest, roundup, briefing or curated summary, and name the topic.

Give the agent the details that change the output: topic, format, audience, tone and length. Anything you leave out falls back to the defaults listed above.

• "Create a newsletter about open-source robotics."
• "Write a weekly digest on climate tech for investors."
• "Generate a tech roundup for developers, medium length."
• "Curate news about battery startups for this week's briefing."

Review the draft before you publish

The skill asks the agent to find sources and link to them, but the draft is only as good as the search results behind it. Search results can be outdated or inaccurate, so check every fact, number and link yourself before sending. The skill is built to prefer recent content, typically from the last 7-30 days, but recency is a priority, not a guarantee.

Copying third-party articles into a newsletter without permission can raise copyright issues. Use the source links to attribute, and summarise in your own words rather than reproducing text.

• Verify numbers against the original source.
• Open every link and confirm it matches the claim.
• Check that quotes are accurate and attributed.
• Rewrite summaries in your own voice and credit the source.

Safety notes: scripts and network access

This skill does not run scripts. It does use the network, because its research step relies on web search and web fetch. Only the agent's configured search and fetch capabilities are needed; the skill itself does not describe any other external calls.

Treat the output as a draft for human review rather than a finished publication. The skill is not a source of verified primary research, legal, medical or financial advice. It summarises web sources and adds commentary.

• Scripts: none.
• Network: yes, through web search and web fetch.
• Not suitable for unreviewed publication or for advice in regulated areas.

Tips for better newsletters

Specific topics produce tighter newsletters than broad ones. Tell the agent how often the newsletter goes out and who reads it, because the skill is designed to keep a consistent style across a recurring series. Ask for a named newsletter header if you want the same branding each issue.

If you want a different shape, name the structure you need. The source lists section plans for each format, so asking for a deep-dive or industry briefing will change the layout.

• Name the audience and tone explicitly.
• For recurring issues, reuse the same topic wording and request so the style stays consistent.
• Ask for a shorter length if you need a quick daily digest.
• Ask for fewer sections if your email template is simple.