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name: site-launch-checklist description: Pre-launch checklist for shipping a new website. Orchestrates analytics setup (GA4, PostHog, Google Search Console, Ahrefs), legal compliance, security headers and audit, SEO and GEO with keyword research validated against Google Trends (robots.txt, sitemaps, llms.txt, AI policy, schema markup, hreflang), copywriting consistency via a TONE.md and a humanizer pass in the matching language, OpenGraph and social previews, full favicon set with manifest, quality gates (Lighthouse, Core Web Vitals, WCAG accessibility, mobile testing), and setup of a weekly SEO agent. Also covers launch readiness (SLC gate), directory submission strategy (13 tiers, destination pages, PH 3-week prep), review generation (10-in-30 G2/Capterra protocol), and post-launch momentum. Use this skill whenever the user mentions launching a site/app, deploying a domain to production, pre-launch audit, shipping a marketing/docs/SaaS site or lead magnet, or says "checklist for the site", "ready to ship", "before I go live", "audit before launch", "ready for prod", or asks for a site review. license: MIT compatibility: Designed for Claude Code, Codex or similar harness. Requires internet access for directory submissions, G2/Capterra reviews, and AI citation checks. user-invocable: true metadata: author: samber version: "2.0.0" openclaw: emoji: "📊" homepage: https://github.com/samber/cc-skills install: - kind: npm package: skills bins: [skills] - kind: brew formula: jq bins: [jq] requires: bins: - curl - npm - npx - jq allowed-tools: Read Edit Write Glob Grep Agent AskUserQuestion

Questions: Ask the user through the environment's question tool — never as plain-text prose. One question at a time, 2–4 tappable options, wait for the answer. If the environment has no question tool, ask in prose with the same options, one at a time.

Site Launch Checklist

Pre-launch audit and setup workflow for shipping a new website. Opinionated for Cloudflare DNS + Vercel hosting + PostHog + Legal context.

Interaction style (READ FIRST)

This skill is intentionally interactive. Ask aggressively instead of assuming. The user will tap, not type.

Always ask these questions at the start of a run (one at a time, in this order):

1. Site type: doc-site | marketing/lead-gen | SaaS-app | training/paid-course | personal-portfolio
2. Migration: greenfield-new-domain | migration-need-301-redirects | replacing-existing-on-same-domain
3. Multilingual: single-locale | en | fr+en | other-multi
4. PostHog setup: hogpost.samber.dev | set-up-new-proxy | skip-PostHog
5. AI scraper policy: use-default-for-site-type | customize-per-bot | block-all
6. Browser tool available: claude-chrome-extension | playwright | neither-skip-browser-checks

Ask again at every decision point throughout the phases, including:

• Whether to install Sentry / BetterStack / Crisp (depends on site type, ask explicitly)
• www vs apex canonical preference (most sites: apex; ask anyway)
• Which AI bots to allow if user chose customize-per-bot
• CSP tightness level: strict-default-src-none | balanced-allow-self | permissive-for-marketing
• Whether to skip a phase entirely (e.g., skip Phase 3 if non-FR site)

Never proceed past a decision point without explicit user input. Verbose checklists without checkpoints are not the goal.

Never install any MCP server or skill without explicit user confirmation. Always ask via the question tool before running npx skills add, claude mcp add, or any equivalent install command — even when the skill selection workflow proposes a curated subset.

How to use this skill

1. Run the start-of-session questions above.
2. Walk the user through phases 1-10 in order. For each phase: a. List items, ask if any should be skipped. b. For each remaining item, run the verification command (see "Verification tools" below). c. Report pass/fail. On fail, ask the user if they want to fix now or queue for later.
3. End with a status report grouped by phase, with blockers, recommended fixes, and optional improvements clearly separated.

Companion skills

Six skill packs are useful for site launches. Never install full multi-skill packs. The actual subset to install is decided at invocation time based on the site type the user confirms.

Pack inventory

| Pack | What it covers | Typically useful for | | --- | --- | --- | | AgriciDaniel/claude-seo | SEO + GEO + schema + hreflang + sitemaps audits, parallel sub-agents | All site types | | addyosmani/web-quality-skills | Lighthouse, Core Web Vitals, accessibility, performance, best practices | All site types | | trailofbits/skills | Security audit (OWASP, headers, dependencies) | All site types | | aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills | 20 SEO+GEO skills, CORE-EEAT + CITE frameworks, /seo: slash commands | Content-heavy sites, competitive niches | | coreyhaines31/marketingskills | ~30 marketing skills (CRO, copywriting, ads, popups, email, paywalls, etc.) | marketing/lead-gen, SaaS-app, training/paid-course | | jonathimer/devmarketing-skills | 33 developer-marketing skills (persona, docs-as-marketing, technical tutorials, etc.) | doc-site, SaaS-app for developers |

Skill selection workflow (run at session start)

After the user confirms site type, for each pack relevant to that site type:

1. List available sub-skills: npx skills add owner/repo --list
2. Propose a curated subset based on site type and the phases this skill will execute. Match each phase's needs to specific sub-skills the listing returns.
3. Confirm with the user. Use multi-select when the proposed list has more than 3 items, single-select (install-as-proposed | let-me-modify | skip-this-pack) otherwise.
4. Bulk install the agreed subset: npx skills add owner/repo --skill A B C

Rules:

• Sub-skill names live in the pack, not in this SKILL.md. Always query --list for the current state. Pack contents change.
• Never run npx skills add owner/repo without --skill (that installs everything).
• Site type → packs mapping (which packs to enumerate, sub-skills still selected per workflow):
  • doc-site: claude-seo, web-quality-skills, trailofbits, seo-geo-claude-skills, devmarketing-skills
  • marketing/lead-gen: claude-seo, web-quality-skills, trailofbits, seo-geo-claude-skills, marketingskills
  • SaaS-app: all six
  • training/paid-course: claude-seo, web-quality-skills, trailofbits, marketingskills
  • personal-portfolio: claude-seo, web-quality-skills, trailofbits, seo-geo-claude-skills (lightweight subset)
• If the user later requests a phase that needs a sub-skill not yet installed, run the workflow again for that single sub-skill rather than re-installing the whole subset.

This avoids importing 80+ skills the user does not need, avoids going stale on sub-skill names, and avoids overfitting to a single pack version.

When delegating during a phase, do not duplicate work this skill orchestrates. Call the specialist with a narrow scope (e.g., "run only the security headers sub-audit on URL X").

Phase 0: Launch Readiness Gate

Run this BEFORE any other phase. Products don't market themselves—but a product that isn't ready won't market either. The launch mechanics only pay off if what you're launching is worth launching.

Two failure modes kill launches from opposite ends:

• Stealth Mode — launching too late. "Procrastination in a fancy suit." You keep polishing in private, waiting for the product to be perfect. It never ships, and nobody learns you exist.
• "Just One More Feature" — never launching. Every proposed launch date gets pushed for one more thing. The scope creeps forever; the launch never comes.

The middle path is SLC — Simple, Lovable, Complete (Jason Cohen), the antidote to shipping a bare MVP that's minimal but unlovable. Don't launch a stub nobody wants; don't wait for a bloated everything-app. A launchable v1 is:

• Simple — it does one thing. Not many things poorly. One clear job, done well.
• Lovable — people want to use it, not just tolerate it. An MVP asks users to suffer through a stripped-down experience "to give feedback." SLC gives them something they'd choose. If nobody would be sad to lose it, it isn't lovable yet.
• Complete — it's a whole experience for that one thing, not a stub with obvious holes. Complete at its chosen scope, not a teaser of a bigger promise.

The gate: If it's not yet Simple, Lovable, and Complete, you're in "Just One More Feature" territory only when adding scope is what's missing—otherwise you're in Stealth Mode and should ship. Cut scope until one thing is lovable and complete, then launch that. SLC gives you a real launch now instead of a perfect launch never.

Quick check before running the phases:

• [ ] Does it do one clearly-defined thing? (Simple)
• [ ] Would a target user choose to use it, not just endure it? (Lovable)
• [ ] Is that one thing a whole experience, with no glaring stubs? (Complete)
• [ ] Are you polishing past this bar? → Stop. You're in Stealth Mode. Ship.
• [ ] Are you still adding new things to the scope? → Stop. You're in "Just One More Feature." Cut back to SLC.

Directory submission readiness (from directory-submissions skill): Ask these 9 questions. If any are "no", they're not ready — help them build the missing piece first.

1. Is the product publicly accessible (no password wall)?
2. Is there a pricing page (even "free while in beta")?
3. Are privacy policy + terms live?
4. Logo assets in PNG + SVG + square + favicon?
5. 5–8 real screenshots + 60–90s demo video?
6. Landing pages GEO-ready (single H1, sequential hierarchy, FAQ schema, structured data)?
7. At least 3 alternative pages and 3 use-case pages live and indexed?
8. Template gallery or lead magnet asset (if applicable to category)?
9. At least 20 beta/early users who could leave a review on G2?

A "no" on any of 1–7 is a hard block. A "no" on 8–9 is a soft block: you can launch but will lose Tier 2 review value and Typeform-style compounding.

ORB Channel Strategy (from launch skill): Structure your launch marketing across three channel types. Everything should ultimately lead back to owned channels.

Owned Channels

You own the channel (though not the audience). Direct access without algorithms or platform rules.

• Email list, Blog, Podcast, Branded community (Slack, Discord), Website/product
• Start with 1-2 based on audience: Industry lacks quality content → Blog; People want direct updates → Email; Engagement matters → Community

Rented Channels

Platforms that provide visibility but you don't control. Algorithms shift, rules change, pay-to-play increases.

• Social media (Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Instagram), App stores, YouTube, Reddit
• How to use correctly: Pick 1-2 platforms where your audience is active; Use them to drive traffic to owned channels; Don't rely on them as your only strategy

Borrowed Channels

Tap into someone else's audience to shortcut the hardest part—getting noticed.

• Guest content (blog posts, podcast interviews, newsletter features)
• Collaborations (webinars, co-marketing, social takeovers)
• Speaking engagements (conferences, panels, virtual summits)
• Influencer partnerships
• Be proactive: List industry leaders your audience follows → Pitch win-win collaborations → Use tools like SparkToro or Listen Notes to find audience overlap

Pass the gate, then run the phases below.

Copywriting voice and humanizer pass

Every site has visible marketing copy (hero, features, CTAs, meta descriptions, OG descriptions, blog posts, 404 page text). Two layers of polish are mandatory before launch:

1. Define TONE.md once per site

Ask the user: "Does this site already have a TONE.md?" (`yes-