Article Queue – View and Manage Article Topics

This skill displays the article topic queue and offers to generate an article from any queued topic.

Invocation

/article-queue
/article-queue -l

Flags:

• -g – Use global queue (default): ~/.claude/article-queue.md
• -l – Use local/project queue: .claude/article-queue.md

Queue Storage

Two queue locations are supported:

• Global (default): ~/.claude/article-queue.md – shared across all projects
• Local: .claude/article-queue.md – project-specific queue

Queue File Format:

# Article Queue

Topics queued for article generation.

## Topics

- [ ] How kubernetes networking works
- [ ] The history of Unix file permissions
- [x] WebSocket vs Server-Sent Events comparison (generated)

Items marked with [x] have already been generated.

Execution Workflow

Step 1: Determine Queue Location

1. Check for -l flag → use local queue (.claude/article-queue.md)
2. Check for -g flag or no flag → use global queue (~/.claude/article-queue.md)

Step 2: Read Queue File

1. Use Read tool to check if the queue file exists (expand ~ to actual home path for global)
2. If it doesn’t exist, inform the user the queue is empty and suggest using /article-add

Step 3: Parse Queue Contents

Extract all topics from the file:

• - [ ] items are pending (not yet generated)
• - [x] items are completed (already generated)

Step 4: Display Queue

Present the queue to the user in a clear format:

📋 **Article Queue**

**Pending topics:**
1. How kubernetes networking works
2. The history of Unix file permissions
3. Understanding TCP congestion control

**Previously generated:**
- WebSocket vs Server-Sent Events comparison

Use `/article <topic>` to generate any article, or select one below.

Step 5: Offer Selection (if pending topics exist)

If there are pending topics, use AskUserQuestion to let the user pick one:

• Header: “Generate”
• Question: “Would you like to generate an article for one of these topics?”
• Options (dynamically built from pending topics, max 4):
  • First pending topic (Recommended)
  • Second pending topic (if exists)
  • Third pending topic (if exists)
  • “Not now” – Just viewing the queue

If there are more than 3 pending topics, show the first 3 and include “Not now” as the 4th option. The user can always invoke /article directly for other topics.

Step 6: Handle Selection

If user selects a topic:

1. Mark the topic as in-progress in the queue (optional visual feedback)
2. Invoke the /article skill workflow for that topic
3. After article generation completes, update the queue:
   • Change - [ ] topic to - [x] topic (generated)

If user selects “Not now”:

• Thank them and remind they can use /article-add to add more topics or /article <topic> anytime

Example Interactions

Empty Queue

User: /article-queue

Claude: Your global article queue is empty.

Use `/article-add <topic>` to add topics you'd like to write articles about later.

User: /article-queue -l

Claude: Your local article queue is empty.

Use `/article-add -l <topic>` to add project-specific topics.

Queue with Topics

User: /article-queue

Claude: 📋 **Article Queue**

**Pending topics:**
1. How kubernetes networking works
2. The history of Unix file permissions
3. Understanding TCP congestion control

Use `/article <topic>` to generate any article, or select one below.

[AskUserQuestion: Would you like to generate an article for one of these topics?]
- How kubernetes networking works (Recommended)
- The history of Unix file permissions
- Understanding TCP congestion control
- Not now

User: [Selects "How kubernetes networking works"]

Claude: [Proceeds with /article workflow for "How kubernetes networking works"]
        [After completion, marks topic as generated in queue]

Queue Management

Clearing Completed Items

If the user asks to clear completed items, edit the queue file to remove all - [x] lines.

Removing a Pending Item

If the user asks to remove a specific pending item, edit the queue file to remove that line.

Error Handling

• If queue file doesn’t exist: Report empty queue, suggest /article-add
• If queue file is malformed: Attempt to parse what’s there, report any issues
• If all topics are already generated: Report this and suggest adding new topics

Related Skills

• /article – Generate an HTML article on a topic
• /article-add – Add a new topic to the queue