X Articles

# X Articles — Viral Long-Form for Twitter

**Beat the algorithm.** Create and publish X (Twitter) Articles with proven viral patterns.

AI-powered formatting, hook patterns, and browser automation. Handles Draft.js quirks, embed limitations, and image uploads.

## Quick Reference

### Content Formatting Rules (CRITICAL)

X Articles uses Draft.js editor with specific quirks:

1. **Line breaks = paragraph breaks** - Each newline creates a new paragraph block with spacing 2. **Join sentences on ONE LINE** - All sentences in the same paragraph must be on a single line 3. **Use plain text, not markdown** - X Articles uses rich text, not markdown 4. **No em dashes (—)** - Replace with colons or rewrite sentences

**Wrong:** ``` Sentence one. Sentence two. Sentence three. ```

**Right:** ``` Sentence one. Sentence two. Sentence three. ```

### Embed Limitation (IMPORTANT)

**Embedded posts ALWAYS render at the END of the content block, not inline.**

Workarounds: - Structure article to reference "see posts below" - Accept visual flow: text → text → embeds at bottom - Use `Insert > Posts` menu (don't paste URLs)

### Image Specs

| Type | Aspect Ratio | Recommended Size | |------|--------------|------------------| | Cover/Header | 5:2 | 1792x716 or similar | | Inline images | 16:9 or 4:3 | 1792x1024 (DALL-E HD) |

## Viral Article Structure

### The Template

``` HOOK (hit insecurity or opportunity)

WHAT IT IS (1-2 paragraphs with social proof)

WHY MOST PEOPLE WON'T DO IT (address objections)

THE [X]-MINUTE GUIDE - Step 1 (time estimate) - Step 2 (time estimate) - ...

YOUR FIRST [N] WINS (immediate value) - Win 1: copy-paste example - Win 2: copy-paste example

THE COST (value comparison)

WHAT TO DO AFTER (next steps)

THE WINDOW (urgency)

CTA (soft or hard) ```

### Hook Patterns That Work

**Insecurity/FOMO:** ``` everyone's talking about X... and you're sitting there wondering if you missed the window ```

**Big Opportunity:** ``` this is the biggest opportunity of our lifetime ```

**News Hook:** ``` X just open sourced the algo. Here's what it means for you: ```

**RIP Pattern:** ``` RIP [profession]. This AI tool will [action] in seconds. ```

**WTF Pattern:** ``` WTF!! This AI Agent [does amazing thing]. Here's how: ```

**Personal Story:** ``` When I was young, I was always drawn to people who... ```

### CTA Patterns

**Hard CTA (engagement bait):** ``` RT + follow + reply 'KEYWORD' and I'll send the cheat sheet ```

**Soft CTA:** ``` If you take this advice and build something, let me know! ```

**Simple:** ``` Feel free to leave a like and RT if this helped. ```

## Style Guide

### Damian Player Style (Tactical) - All lowercase (deliberate) - Urgent, tactical tone - 1500+ words - Heavy step-by-step detail - Hard CTA with lead magnet

### Alex Finn Style (Motivational) - Normal capitalization - Warm, motivational tone - 800-1200 words - Mix of WHY and HOW - Soft CTA + product links

### Dan Koe Style (Philosophical) - Long-form essay (2000+ words) - Personal storytelling opener - Named frameworks ("The Pyramid Principle") - Deep teaching, not just tactics - Newsletter CTA

## Common Mistakes to Avoid

- Short articles under 500 words - Facts without story/emotion - No clear sections or headers - No objection handling - No immediate wins section - No CTA - Generic AI-sounding language - Em dashes (—) everywhere - Excessive emojis - Pasting tweet URLs instead of using Insert menu

## Browser Automation (agent-browser)

### Prerequisites - clawd browser running on CDP port 18800 - Logged into X on the browser

### Navigate to Article Editor ```bash # Open new article agent-browser --cdp 18800 navigate "https://x.com/compose/article"

# Take snapshot to see current state agent-browser --cdp 18800 snapshot ```

### Paste Content ```bash # Put content in clipboard cat article.txt | pbcopy

# Click content area, select all, paste agent-browser --cdp 18800 click '[contenteditable="true"]' agent-browser --cdp 18800 press "Meta+a" agent-browser --cdp 18800 press "Meta+v" ```

### Upload Cover Image ```bash # Upload to file input agent-browser --cdp 18800 upload 'input[type="file"]' /path/to/cover.png

# Wait for Edit media dialog, click Apply agent-browser --cdp 18800 snapshot | grep -i apply agent-browser --cdp 18800 click @e5 # Apply button ref ```

### Publish ```bash # Find and click Publish button agent-browser --cdp 18800 snapshot | grep -i publish agent-browser --cdp 18800 click @e35 # Publish button ref

# Confirm in dialog agent-browser --cdp 18800 click @e5 # Confirm ```

### Cleanup (Important!) ```bash # Close tab after publishing agent-browser --cdp 18800 tab list agent-browser --cdp 18800 tab close 1 ```

### Troubleshooting: Stale Element Refs

If clicks fail due to stale refs, use JS evaluate: ```bash agent-browser --cdp 18800 evaluate "(function() { const btns = document.querySelectorAll('button'); for (let btn of btns) { if (btn.innerText.includes('Publish')) { btn.click(); return 'clicked'; } } return 'not found'; })()" ```

## Content Preparation Script

### Convert Markdown to X-Friendly Format

```bash # scripts/format-for-x.sh #!/bin/bash # Converts markdown to X Articles format

INPUT="$1" OUTPUT="${2:-${INPUT%.md}-x-ready.txt}"

cat "$INPUT" | \ # Remove markdown headers, keep text sed 's/^## /\n/g' | \ sed 's/^### /\n/g' | \ sed 's/^# /\n/g' | \ # Remove markdown bold/italic sed 's/\*\*//g' | \ sed 's/\*//g' | \ # Remove em dashes sed 's/ — /: /g' | \ sed 's/—/:/g' | \ # Join lines within paragraphs (keeps blank lines as separators) awk 'BEGIN{RS=""; FS="\n"; ORS="\n\n"} {gsub(/\n/, " "); print}' \ > "$OUTPUT"

echo "Created: $OUTPUT" ```

## Pre-Publish Checklist

- [ ] Hook grabs attention in first line - [ ] Objections addressed early - [ ] Step-by-step with time estimates - [ ] Immediate wins section included - [ ] CTA at the end - [ ] No em dashes (—) - [ ] Sentences joined on single lines - [ ] Cover image 5:2 aspect ratio - [ ] Embeds referenced as "see below" - [ ] Proofread for AI-sounding language

## Tweetable Quote Patterns

For promoting your article:

**Result + Cost:** ``` I gave an AI agent full access to my MacBook. It checks email, manages calendar, pushes code. Costs $20/month. A VA costs $2000. ```

**You Don't Need X:** ``` You don't need a Mac Mini. You don't need a server. I'm running my AI agent on an old MacBook Air from a drawer. ```

**Gap Warning:** ``` The gap between 'has AI agent' and 'doesn't' is about to get massive. I set mine up in 15 minutes. ```

**Urgency:** ``` Most people will bookmark this and never set it up. Don't be most people. The window is closing. ```

## Example Workflow

1. **Write article** in markdown with clear sections 2. **Run format script** to convert to X-friendly plain text 3. **Generate cover image** with DALL-E (1792x716 or 5:2 ratio) 4. **Open X article editor** via browser automation 5. **Paste content** and add section headers manually in editor 6. **Upload cover image** via file input 7. **Add inline images** at section breaks 8. **Insert embeds** (they'll appear at bottom) 9. **Preview and proofread** 10. **Publish** 11. **Post promotional tweet** with hook + article link

## Related Skills

- `bird` - X/Twitter CLI for posting tweets - `de-ai-ify` - Remove AI jargon from text - `ai-pdf-builder` - Generate PDFs (for lead magnets)

---

Built by [@NextXFrontier](https://x.com/NextXFrontier)