Cover letter

Build a CoverLetterBrief, then invoke writer for final letter prose. Do not write the full letter in this skill—writer owns send-ready copy.

Workflow

1. Collect inputs

Application data uses the split layout defined in references/tracker-schema.md — read it before any read or write.

Job description — required. If not already in context, ask the user to provide it.

Tailored resume — check {user_dir}/CareerNavigator/artifacts-index.json for a resume artifact for this company and role. If one exists, use it as the primary source for experience framing. If none exists:

"I don't see a tailored resume for this role yet. Want me to tailor one first, or build the brief from your ExperienceLibrary directly?"

Profile — read {user_dir}/CareerNavigator/profile.md for differentiators, tone preferences, and any standing instructions.

Contact context — contacts are no longer inside applications[]. In tracker.json, find the summary row for this company and role, take its contacts_file, and load {user_dir}/CareerNavigator/ + that path (contacts/<company-slug>.json); a row with contact_count: 0 or no contacts_file has no contacts on file, so skip the read. Filter the file's contacts[] to entries whose application equals the row's application label ("<company> — <role>"), and dedupe by name before presenting. If a contact is present, note it for the brief (do not draft named flattery unless accurate).

2. Research the company

Before briefing, identify 1–2 specific, verifiable things about the company relevant to fit:

• Recent product launches, initiatives, or strategic direction
• Team/culture signals from the JD
• Notes about this company — in the summary row's detail_file (applications/<application_id>.json → notes[]), or in profile. Skip the detail read when the row's notes_count is 0.

Do not use generic praise. If no specific signals, say so in the brief—writer will omit flattery.

2.5 Voice preflight (before the brief)

Read {user_dir}/CareerNavigator/voice-profile.md.

• If there is no user-pasted block under ## User writing samples or ## User writing samples (launch) (substantive excerpts), ask before building the CoverLetterBrief:

"Before I draft your cover letter: paste 2–5 recent LinkedIn posts or other short professional writing so writer can match your voice. I may already have launch voice harvest hints (résumés/CVs/cover letters scanned during /career-navigator:launch)—LinkedIn still sharpens tone. Reply skip for a neutral tone (low voice match) if you’re fine with harvest-only signal."

• If the user pastes samples, append a dated ## User writing samples section to voice-profile.md (trimmed excerpts + one-line source note).
• If the user says skip, continue and pass voice_match: low intent into the brief for writer.

If either ## User writing samples or ## User writing samples (launch) already has substantive pasted excerpts, skip this ask.

3. Build CoverLetterBrief (no full letter here)

Assemble a structured brief for writer:

## CoverLetterBrief
- **company**: …
- **role**: …
- **opening_hook_facts**: bullet list (why this role+company—facts only)
- **core_case_bullets**: 4–8 bullets mapping EL achievements to JD competencies (each bullet: fact + metric if any)
- **close_intent**: one line (conversation, not desperation)
- **tone**: confident, direct; honest-over-encouraging
- **banned**: padding, unverified claims, generic “innovative leader” phrasing
- **mirrored_jd_terms**: list keywords to include naturally (ATS)
- **length_target**: 3–4 short paragraphs, <400 words
- **optional_contact_reference**: name/role only if in tracker and user confirmed

4. Invoke writer

• Use the exact agent name writer with mode cover-letter. Pass the full CoverLetterBrief and paths to voice-profile.md / profile.md. Retry once on failure.

5. Present and confirm

Show the letter from writer in full. Ask:

"Does this look right? I can ask writer to adjust tone, swap examples, or shorten."

6. Save the artifact

After confirmation, save the letter (the writer output).

Filenames (avoid host / MCP validation errors): use ASCII-safe names only—hyphens -, no em dashes or smart quotes. Sanitize company and role: remove \ / : * ? " < > | and newlines; collapse whitespace; limit basename length (~100 chars).
Example: Anthropic-PM-Claude-Code-Cover-Letter-2026-03-24.md

• Filename format: {SanitizedCompany}-{SanitizedRole}-Cover-Letter-{YYYY-MM-DD}.md
• Path: {user_dir}/ (same path style the host expects—usually relative to the attached job-search folder)
• Write the markdown file in its own tool call; update artifacts-index.json in a separate call with valid JSON (escape " inside strings).

If the file tool fails (e.g. MCP -32602 / invalid args): do not create a file whose name is the error message. Output the full letter in a fenced markdown code block and tell the user to save manually; still update artifacts-index.json only if the file was saved successfully.

• Write to {user_dir}/CareerNavigator/artifacts-index.json:

{
  "id": "{uuid}",
  "type": "cover_letter",
  "filename": "{filename}",
  "path": "{user_dir}/{filename}",
  "target_company": "{company}",
  "target_role": "{role}",
  "date_created": "{today}",
  "source": "generated",
  "linked_resume": "{filename of tailored resume if used, else null}",
  "notes": "Assembled via CoverLetterBrief + writer"
}

If other artifact files (PDF/DOCX) exist in {user_dir}, run the artifact-saved workflow once after saving.

Confirm:

"Saved as {filename}."

7. Suggest next step

If the user has not yet logged an application for this role:

"Ready to track this application? Say 'yes' or /career-navigator:track-application."