# local-reel-lab

`local-reel-lab` is the local-first operating layer for an Instagram-first showcase of Cedar Park, Leander, and nearby North Austin businesses, amenities, attractions, and everyday places worth appreciating.

It helps one operator turn a genuine local interest into a repeatable practice: identify a subject, obtain permission where needed, keep the editorial context, receive a finished reel from Stagehand, publish it manually, and learn from the result. It is both a practice ground and public proof for future local-business video services.

## Boundary with Stagehand

Stagehand is the reusable production engine. It owns reusable templates, HyperFrames renders, customer production configuration, approvals/rights requirements needed for delivery, and final delivery packages.

This repository owns the showcase account's strategy and operating record: outreach and consent history, editorial calendar, source-asset references, account-specific captions and publishing checklist, published URLs, and outcome notes. A post record links to a Stagehand delivery package; it does not copy rendering logic or production data.

Neither repository automates Instagram posting or browser/mobile interactions. A human manually publishes an approved reel in Instagram or an officially supported tool.

## Operating model

1. Add a public-facing business or place to `records/businesses.csv`.
2. Record the idea and intended timing in `records/editorial-calendar.csv`.
3. Seek permission and record the status. Keep private contact details outside git.
4. Use Stagehand to produce and approve the delivery package.
5. Create a post record from `templates/post-record.md`, including source-asset and Stagehand-package references.
6. Complete `checklists/manual-publishing.md`, manually publish, and record the live URL.
7. Copy relevant Insights and qualitative responses into the post record; use them in the next editorial decision.

## Repository map

- `STRATEGY.md` — project direction and boundaries.
- `records/businesses.csv` — public-safe prospect and permission tracker.
- `records/editorial-calendar.csv` — lightweight content queue and schedule.
- `records/README.md` — field meanings and shared status vocabulary.
- `records/posts/` — one Markdown record per post.
- `templates/post-record.md` — canonical per-post record shape.
- `checklists/manual-publishing.md` — reusable preflight and recording checklist.
- `observations.md` — durable, testable improvement backlog.

## Local-only data

Do not commit private contact information, raw media, credentials, account-session data, exported Insights, or downloaded Stagehand packages. The `.gitignore` excludes the expected local-only folders. Keep the repository records to public-facing identifiers and references, not copies of sensitive material.

## First reel

See [the exact first-reel workflow](#first-reel-workflow) below. Start by copying the post template to `records/posts/YYYY-MM-DD--subject-slug.md` once an idea is selected.

## First-reel workflow

1. Pick one Cedar Park, Leander, or nearby North Austin subject you have visited and can authentically recommend. Add its public business/place details to `records/businesses.csv`.
2. Add an idea to `records/editorial-calendar.csv` with status `researching` and a target date only if useful.
3. Contact the business through a public channel or in person. Explain the complimentary, permission-based showcase concept; change the record to `requested`, then `granted` only after explicit consent.
4. Capture or collect only authorized source assets. Store raw files outside git, then record local paths or approved external URLs in the new post record.
5. Request the reusable production work from Stagehand. When it delivers a final package, record its stable package reference and approval state in the post record; do not copy the package into this repo.
6. Write the account-specific caption, disclosures/credits, and alt text in the post record. Confirm business approval for the intended account use.
7. Follow `checklists/manual-publishing.md` in the Instagram app or an official supported tool. Publish manually only after the required approvals are recorded.
8. Paste the live post URL into the post record, mark the calendar row `published`, and later record impressions, engagement, shares/saves, and outcome notes from Insights and community/business feedback.

## Verification

This repository currently has no executable application. Verify changes by checking that templates remain internally consistent, CSV headers match their documented statuses, links resolve, and no private or raw files are staged. Any future automation must include a reproducible verification command or documented manual test before it is considered complete.