Workspace: all context paths below (identity, audience, strategy, voice, brand, raw, output, index, log, workspace preferences and context scripts) resolve from context/ in the kit root. Read both the root AGENTS.md and context/AGENTS.md.
YouTube title and outlier packaging
Turn a video idea into packaging: measured outlier references, 2 title variants for a split test and concrete thumbnail concepts. The author owns the final pick. This skill prepares the brief; it does not upload or invent proof.
Read identity/proof.md before any public number, audience/ideal-follower.md for who the title must stop, and the brief from content-waterfall when there is one. Pair with youtube-thumbnail-outlier-research for thumbnails and youtube-thumbnail for the render.
Rules
- Deliverable claims only. A number in a title is packaging until the author can show it in the video. Never invent metrics or present another creator's results as the author's.
- No forced comparison. Do not package "A vs B vs C" unless the video is a comparison.
- Packaging first. Draft titles before the outline; the outline must then deliver the promise.
Find outliers
Use what is available, in this order:
- The vidIQ plugin, if installed: its outlier and trend views across channels.
- The YouTube Data API or manual research: search the niche for the last 3 to 6 months.
- Channels the author's audience already watches.
An outlier is a video doing far better than its own channel's normal. The fair comparison is current views against the median of the same channel's videos of similar age and length (at least 5 of them). A ratio without peers is not evidence. These ratios compare current views; they are not views per hour, click-through rate or proof that the title caused the result.
Filter by hand: drop live streams, videos under 4 minutes and off-audience topics; check the description for sponsorship; open the real thumbnail and note the text, face or UI and the 1 dominant promise. Keep the URLs. Shortlist 5 to 10 references.
Cross-niche validation
Before a structure goes into an A/B pair, prove it outside the niche: youtube-video-research (gate 2) searches 4 to 6 donor niches and keeps a structure only with 3x outliers from 3 or more channels in 2 or more niches, and only if the author's niche has not worn it out.
Title structures
Borrow the shape, never the exact wording.
| Structure | Pattern | When it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Experiment | "I Let X Run My Y" / "Can X Actually...?" | A visible test with a verdict |
| Cheat code | "... So Easy It Feels Illegal" | A strong outcome the video really shows |
| Countable payload | "10 Agents That..." / "(30+ Examples)" | A roster on screen |
| Volume and time | Volume of work tied to a timebox | Speed is the story |
| Metric arrow | "Build → Sell?" / before and after | 1 visual consequence |
| Exact number | A specific figure beats a round one | Only with on-video proof |
| Reversal | "AI Can Find 10'000 Leads. Why Is Nobody Buying?" | Problem framing for new viewers |
Avoid "The X nobody talks about" and career titles when the buyer is a founder.
Draft the A/B pair
- Name the video's real outcome in 1 line.
- Pick 2 different structures, not 2 synonyms of the same hook.
- Put a risky or numeric claim in parentheses or the second clause so it can be swapped.
- Mark each claim: proven, on video only or packaging hypothesis.
- Deliver Variant A and Variant B, each with a 1-line reason.
Thumbnail concepts
From the references, note text placement, face or screen, numeral size, colour and what the eye hits first at 320 x 180. Write 4 to 6 concepts as: text / visual / colour / what not to do. 1 dominant promise per thumbnail, 2 to 5 words on it. Hand the chosen concepts to youtube-thumbnail.
Deliver
The shortlist of references with URLs, the A/B titles with claim status, the thumbnail concepts and anything the author must confirm before publishing.
