Reverse-engineer the hook formula from a viral LinkedIn post URL. Returns which of the 16 canonical 2026 formulas it uses (anaphora, R.I.P., year-pivot, time...
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Linkedin Post Writer
Try itDraft a LinkedIn post from 16 engagement-tested hook formulas, picked by your goal: comments, reposts, likes, or saves.
What it does
Generates a long-form LinkedIn post from scratch using one of 16 hook formulas (anaphora, R.I.P. obituary, year-pivot, curiosity-gap, contrarian, emotional cold-open, and more), selected by your engagement goal. Follows 2026 LinkedIn algorithm rules — hook within the first 210 chars, 900–1,300 char sweet spot, double line-breaks, 0–2 hashtags, no external links in body — then runs a humanizer pass to strip AI tells before showing an approval card. On approval, hands off to the publish wrapper (lib.publish), which routes through Publora or the configured channel.
When to use it
- Write a LinkedIn post from scratch on a topic + angle
- Pick a hook formula for a specific engagement goal (comments, reposts, likes, saves)
- Draft, humanize, and schedule a LinkedIn post in one flow
- Generate a post that respects 2026 LinkedIn algorithm rules
The skill document
LinkedIn Post Writer
Ship long-form LinkedIn posts using hook formulas that actually performed in 2025-2026 (verified engagement multipliers).
When to use
- User says "write me a LinkedIn post about X"
- User has a topic + a rough angle and needs a hook + structure
- User wants to pick from known-winning formats and fill in their voice
- User wants to audit + schedule in one flow
Formulas this skill can use
| Code | Formula | Reference eng | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | Platform Risk Anaphora | 4,240 | Category/platform posts, product-as-fix |
| F2 | R.I.P. Obituary | 3,822 | Era-ending claims, industry pivots |
| F3 | Year-over-Year Pivot | 494, 3.74x | Identity shifts, founder reflection |
| F4 | Time-Anchor Confession | 1,519+ | Vulnerability, voice reset, ICP re-targeting |
| F5 | Self-Proving Meta | 1,082 / 435 comments | Commitment-based posts, tests in public |
| F6 | Comment-Gate Lead Magnet | 717-3,008 | List building (use sparingly, capped reach) |
| F7 | Odd-Precision Money Ledger | 1,755, 9.4x | Founder build-log, cost breakdowns |
| F8 | Paid-vs-Free Reversal | 550, 19.64x | Free framework give-away |
| F9 | Curiosity-Gap Teaser | 306, 4.25x | Emergent behavior, behind-the-scenes |
| F10 | Contrarian + Historical Receipts | 3,083 | Sacred-cow takes, AI/tech cycles |
| F11 | Emotional Cold-Open | high-reach* | Real story with emotional stakes (likes) |
| F12 | Permission Slip | comment-heavy* | Encouragement, reassurance (comments) |
| F13 | Bait-and-Switch Reversal | high-reach* | Policy/process change that's an upgrade (likes) |
| F14 | Named Gratitude / Tribute | repost-heavy* | Thanking mentors / team / departing colleague (reposts) |
| F15 | Explain-to-Kids | save-heavy* | Demystifying jargon (saves) |
| F16 | Status-Strip Humility | like-heavy* | Senior voice wanting warmth not distance (likes) |
* F11-F16 reach is absolute 2026-corpus reach (often source-driven: a reshare or a famous author), NOT a baseline multiplier like the F1-F10 numbers. The two columns measure different things and are not comparable: F11's "256k" is raw reach, F8's "550, 19.64x" is a format multiplier. Do not rank formulas by putting these side by side. See ../../references/hook-formulas.md for each formula's real reference and caveats.
Full skeletons in ../../references/hook-formulas.md. F1-F10 are the long-form thought-leadership set; F11-F16 (validated against a 2026 corpus of above-average performers) skew shorter and emotional and each carries a primary engagement goal.
Pick by goal first
If the user knows what they want the post to earn, start here, then narrow by topic. Canonical mapping: ../../references/hook-formulas.md → Engagement-goal split.
| Goal | Reach for |
|---|---|
| Comments | F4, F10, F12, F9 |
| Reposts | F14, F2, F8 |
| Likes | F11, F13, F16 |
| Saves | F15, F7, F8 |
Steps
- Gather inputs. Topic, angle, draft ideas if the user has them, target audience (founders / operators / marketers), desired length (short 300-500 / medium 900-1300 / long 1500-1900 chars).
- Pick the formula. First ask (or infer) the goal: comments, reposts, likes, or saves. Use the "Pick by goal first" table to shortlist, then suggest 2-3 formulas that also fit the topic and let the user pick. Show the reference engagement number next to each.
- Draft the post. Fill the formula skeleton with user voice. Respect the 2026 algorithm rules:
- Hook in first 210 chars (before "… see more")
- 900-1,300 char sweet spot for text posts
- Double line-breaks between ideas, not single
- 0-2 hashtags, placed at end
- No external links in body (move to first comment)
- Humanizer pass. Strip em dashes, AI vocab, rule-of-three, generic openers. Add at least 1 specific number, 1 named entity, 1 first-person concrete detail per 100 words.
- Run audit. Optionally invoke
linkedin-humanizer --mode auditfor algorithm + voice checks before showing to user. - Approval card. Show: formula used, full draft, char count, suggested posting window (Tue/Wed/Thu 7:30-9:00 AM local), reaction targets from likely commenters.
- On approval. Call
lib.publish(kind="post", draft_text=, target_url="https://www.linkedin.com/post/new/", platforms=[{"platform":"linkedin","platformId":}], scheduled_time=, media_urls=). The wrapper handles Publora / manual / diy routing.
Hard rules (from user feedback)
Global voice rules: see root SKILL.md §Voice rules. Additional skill-specific rules:
- Never frame LinkedIn as inferior in a LinkedIn post (algo penalty).
- Don't name-drop the user's product in a way that reads as self-promo. One mention max, and only when it's the natural conclusion, not the pitch.
- Include at least one moment of real vulnerability or concrete stakes. Pure insight posts don't land in 2026.
- Vary sentence length aggressively. Mix 3-word sentences and 25-word sentences.
Anti-patterns (skill will refuse)
- All-caps first line ("THIS CHANGED EVERYTHING."). This holds even for F11 Emotional Cold-Open: carry the intensity with word choice, never caps.
- Em dashes anywhere
- "In today's fast-paced world" openers
- Rule-of-three lists without receipts
- "Game-changer", "deep dive", "leverage", "fundamentally"
- External links in the body
- Reused engagement-bait closers ("tag someone who needs this")
Resources
../../references/hook-formulas.md— all 16 formula skeletons with worked examples../../references/algorithm-heuristics.md— 2026 posting rules (timing, format, length)references/humanizer-checklist.md— the full scrub list
Related skills
linkedin-humanizer— aggressive AI-tell scrubber, plus--mode auditfor pre-publish reviewlinkedin-hook-extractor— reverse-engineer a hook from a viral post you admire
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