Start with the free seo-content-brief skill in AgriciDaniel’s claude-seo plugin, or inhouseseo’s content-brief from superseo-skills. Add a data MCP (DataForSEO, Ahrefs or Surfer) when you need search volumes, and pay for a pack only if you want an opinionated workflow out of the box.
Claude Code skills can now do most of the grunt work a brief needs: reading the top ten results, pulling People Also Ask questions, mapping entities, setting word targets and formatting the hand-off. This guide covers the skills worth installing, what each one does, what it costs, how to install it, and how it compares to Surfer, Frase and Clearscope. A copy-paste brief template is near the end.
Every star count, push date and price below was checked on the live page or the GitHub API on 1 November 2026.
What is a Claude Code skill for content briefs?
Short answer: it is a folder with a SKILL.md file that tells Claude Code how to build an SEO brief. When you type something like “write a brief for [keyword]”, Claude loads the skill, runs the steps it describes (search, read competitors, extract questions, outline) and writes the brief to a file in your project.
Skills live in one of two places:
~/.claude/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.mdfor skills you want in every project.claude/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.mdinside a repo, so the whole team shares them
They also ship inside plugins. You add a plugin marketplace with /plugin marketplace add owner/repo, then install with /plugin install. The other common route is the open skills CLI: npx skills add owner/repo. If you are new to this, what Claude Code skills are and how to install Claude Code skills cover the basics.
Why a skill instead of a prompt?
A prompt is something you retype. A skill is a written process that runs the same way every time. For briefs, that consistency matters more than raw quality, because a team of four writers needs briefs that look alike. A good brief skill also bundles reference files (intent rules, page-type templates, excluded domains) that a single chat prompt can’t hold.
What a skill can’t do on its own
On its own, a skill only has Claude’s built-in web search and fetch. That gets you SERP titles, competitor pages and a decent read of PAA-style questions. It does not get you search volume, keyword difficulty or click data. For those you connect an MCP server (DataForSEO, Ahrefs, Semrush, Google Search Console) and the skill calls it. This split, process in the skill and data in the MCP, is the most useful thing to understand before you pick anything.
Takeaway: the skill is the method, the MCP server is the data. You usually want both.
The 8 best Claude Code skills for content briefs
Short answer: for most people, start with the free seo-content-brief skill inside AgriciDaniel’s claude-seo plugin or inhouseseo’s content-brief skill. Add a data MCP when you need volumes. Pay for a pack only if you want someone else’s opinionated workflow out of the box.
Here is each option, in rough order of how much they focus on briefs specifically.
1. claude-seo: seo-content-brief (free)
- Source: github.com/AgriciDaniel/claude-seo, skill file at
skills/seo-content-brief/SKILL.md - Stats: about 25,400 stars, last push 1 November 2026
- Price: free, MIT licence on the skill
- What it does: builds competitive briefs with per-section word counts, competitor gap scoring, keyword placement guidance and page-type templates. It has two modes. “New page” builds a brief from scratch. “Improve” fetches an existing URL, keeps what is strong and lists thin or missing sections, so you don’t get told to rewrite a page that only needs two new H2s.
- Install:
/plugin marketplace add AgriciDaniel/claude-seothen/plugin install claude-seo@agricidaniel-claude-seo - Good fit: SEO leads who also want audits, schema and technical checks from the same plugin. See Claude Code skills for SEO audits.
2. superseo-skills: content-brief (free)
- Source: github.com/inhouseseo/superseo-skills
- Stats: about 377 stars, last push 3 September 2026
- Price: free, Apache-2.0
- What it does: searches Google, reads the top ten results, classifies intent and writes a writer-ready brief with an outline, schema suggestions and a gap analysis. It turns PAA questions into headings, flags featured snippet chances and suggests word counts from what ranks. Its reference folder is the most brief-specific of any free option: files on intent matching, SERP-driven writing, information gain, structured data snippets and a “human input” framework that tells the writer where their own experience has to go.
- Install:
npx -y skills add inhouseseo/superseo-skills --skill content-brief --agent claude-code - Good fit: writers and editors who care about information gain more than keyword counts.
3. claude-blog: blog-brief and blog-outline (free)
- Source: github.com/AgriciDaniel/claude-blog
- Stats: about 2,600 stars, last push 30 October 2026
- Price: free
- What it does: a blog-focused plugin with separate
blog-briefandblog-outlineskills plus a researcher agent. Splitting brief and outline is handy when an editor wants to approve the angle before anyone spends time on headings. - Install: add the repo as a plugin marketplace with
/plugin marketplace add AgriciDaniel/claude-blog, then install from/plugin. Check the README for the current plugin name. - Good fit: solo bloggers who brief and write themselves. Pairs with Claude Code skills for content writers.
4. SEO Machine: research commands (free)
- Source: github.com/TheCraigHewitt/seomachine
- Stats: about 7,600 stars, last push 23 October 2026
- Price: free
- What it does: a full Claude Code workspace for content teams. For briefs, the relevant pieces are its slash commands in
.claude/commands/, includingresearch,research-serp,research-gapsandresearch-topics. It is less a single brief skill and more a pipeline where the brief is one stage. - Install: clone the repo and open it in Claude Code, so the commands load from its
.claudefolder. - Good fit: teams that want research, writing and publishing in one repo.
5. marketingskills: content-strategy (free)
- Source: github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills
- Stats: about 57,800 stars, last push 31 October 2026
- Price: free
- What it does: this is the most starred marketing skill library, but it has no dedicated brief skill. Its
content-strategyandcustomer-researchskills sit upstream of the brief: picking topics and pulling the customer language a brief should quote. Use it to decide what to brief, then hand off to one of the skills above. - Install:
npx skills add coreyhaines31/marketingskills - Good fit: marketers planning a content calendar. See Claude Code skills for marketers.
6. SEOJuice skills: brief (free)
- Source: github.com/calm-north/seojuice-skills
- Stats: about 21 stars, last push 27 February 2026
- Price: free skill
- What it does: builds editor-ready briefs with SERP analysis, intent mapping, an H2/H3 outline and SEO targets, invoked as
/seojuice-skills:brief. Small and not updated since February, so treat it as a reference to read rather than a dependency. - Install: add the repo as a plugin marketplace with
/plugin marketplace add calm-north/seojuice-skills.
7. The Ultimate Claude SEO and AEO Skills Pack (paid, $39)
- Source: Contra listing by Samuel Uebersax
- Price: $39 on Contra at the time of checking (the page shows $79 struck through). No countdown or “spots left” language on the page.
- What it does: 12 skill files in Markdown, 2 Webflow bonus skills, a setup guide and lifetime updates. The brief piece is an “SEO Content Brief Writer” that covers keyword mapping, semantic coverage and competitor gaps for writers or agencies.
- Install: download the files and drop each skill folder into
~/.claude/skills/. - Good fit: Webflow agencies who want a packaged set. You can’t read the source before buying, which is the main trade-off against the free repos.
8. Data layer: Frase, Surfer, Ahrefs and DataForSEO MCP servers (paid)
These aren’t brief skills. They’re the data sources a brief skill calls.
- Frase MCP: included on every Frase plan, priced on frase.io/pricing at $39, $103 and $239 a month billed yearly, with 5,000, 20,000 and 50,000 API, MCP and CLI requests a month.
- Surfer MCP: listed on the AI Search Analytics ($82/mo), Pro ($182/mo) and Peace of Mind ($299/mo) plans, billed yearly, on surfer.ai/pricing.
- Ahrefs MCP: available on the Lite, Standard, Advanced and Enterprise plans per ahrefs.com/mcp. That page doesn’t show prices; see Ahrefs’ pricing page.
- DataForSEO MCP: open-source server at github.com/dataforseo/mcp-server-typescript (about 258 stars, pushed 1 November 2026). The server is free; the API it calls is pay-as-you-go, with a $50 minimum top-up and a $1 trial credit (pricing).
For the keyword side of this, read Claude Code skills for keyword research.
Takeaway: two free skills (claude-seo and superseo-skills) cover most brief work. Money goes on data, not on the skill.
Free vs paid: comparison table
Short answer: free skills match paid packs on method. What you pay for is either curation (a packaged set) or data (volumes, difficulty, content scores).
| Option | Type | Price | Brief-specific? | Live SERP | Volumes/KD | Install |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
claude-seo seo-content-brief | Skill (plugin) | Free | Yes | Web search | Via MCP | /plugin install |
superseo-skills content-brief | Skill | Free | Yes | Web search | No | npx skills add |
claude-blog blog-brief | Skill (plugin) | Free | Yes | Web search | No | /plugin |
| SEO Machine | Commands | Free | Partly | Web search | Via integrations | Clone repo |
| marketingskills | Skill library | Free | No (upstream) | n/a | No | npx skills add |
SEOJuice brief | Skill (plugin) | Free | Yes | Web search | No | /plugin |
| Uebersax SEO and AEO Pack | Paid pack | $39 | Yes | Not stated | Not stated | Manual copy |
| Frase MCP | Data | From $39/mo (yearly) | Data only | Yes | Yes | MCP config |
| Surfer MCP | Data | From $82/mo (yearly) | Data only | Yes | Yes | MCP config |
| Ahrefs MCP | Data | Pricing not on MCP page | Data only | Yes | Yes | MCP config |
| DataForSEO MCP | Data | Server free, API pay-as-you-go | Data only | Yes | Yes | MCP config |
How a brief skill handles each part of the brief
Short answer: a good brief has six parts: SERP teardown, PAA questions, outline, entities, word targets and a writer hand-off. Here is how a skill builds each one, and where it tends to slip.
SERP teardown
The skill searches the keyword, reads the top results and records title, format, depth, H2 skeleton and what each page misses. The claude-seo skill ships an excluded-domains.md reference so Reddit threads, YouTube and marketplaces don’t skew the averages. That matters. If two of the top ten are forum threads, a naive “average word count” is useless.
What to check by hand: the dominant format. If the top three are listicles, your brief should ask for a better listicle. A skill will sometimes recommend a guide because guides “go deeper”. That is the fastest way not to rank.
People Also Ask questions
Plain web search does not return Google’s PAA box reliably. Skills either infer questions from competitor FAQs and forum threads or pull real PAA data through DataForSEO or another SERP API. Ask the skill to label which questions came from a real PAA box and which it inferred. If it can’t tell you, assume inferred.
Outlines
The outline is where skills save the most time. Ask for H2s that each answer one searcher question, an H3 every 150 to 200 words and a direct answer sentence under each H2. Superseo’s skill turns PAA questions into headings, which works well for informational queries. Both claude-seo and superseo-skills can map keywords to sections. For cluster-level planning, see Claude Code skills for topical maps.
Entities
Surfer, Frase and Clearscope built their names on term lists. A Claude skill does this by reading competitors and listing the people, tools, concepts and standards they all mention. It is less precise than an NLP scoring engine, since there’s no grade, but it explains why each entity belongs. Writers find that more useful than a list of 60 terms with target counts.
Word targets
Word count is a range drawn from what ranks, not a goal. Claude-seo goes furthest here with per-section word budgets, so a writer knows “pricing comparison: 300 to 400 words” instead of “write 2,800 words”. Tell the skill to drop outliers (forum threads, very long pillar pages) before it averages.
Handing the brief to writers
The brief has to make sense to someone who has never opened Claude Code. Ask for Markdown with a fixed section order, a “do not” list, required internal links, sources the writer must cite and a box marked “your experience goes here”. Superseo’s human input framework is built for this. Briefs that skip that box get articles that read as if nobody wrote them.
Takeaway: check format and PAA sources by hand. Let the skill handle the outline and section budgets.
Claude Code skills vs Surfer, Frase and Clearscope
Short answer: Surfer, Frase and Clearscope give you a hosted editor, a content score and term targets backed by their own data. Claude Code skills give you a process you can read, edit and version, running on your own machine, for the cost of your Claude plan plus any data API. Many teams will end up using both.
| Claude Code skill | Surfer | Frase | Clearscope | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price (checked 1 Nov 2026) | Free skill + Claude plan | $49/mo Discovery (yearly) | $39/mo Starter (yearly) | $129/mo Essentials |
| MCP access | n/a (it is the client) | AI Search Analytics, Pro, Peace of Mind plans | Every plan | Not mentioned on pricing page |
| Content score | No, unless you build one | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Editable method | Yes, plain Markdown | No | No | No |
| Output | Files in your repo | Web editor | Web editor | Web editor, docs add-ons |
| Writer needs an account | No | Usually | Usually | Usually |
| Best at | Custom, repeatable briefs at volume | Term targets and on-page scoring | Research plus briefs, agent-friendly | Clean grading for editorial teams |
When to keep the SaaS tool
Keep it if your writers rely on a live score while drafting, or if your client reports quote one. A skill won’t replace that loop without real work.
When a skill wins
A skill wins when you brief at volume, want the brief in Git next to the article, or need house rules (banned claims, voice, internal-link lists) baked into every brief. It also wins on cost if you were paying for seats only to make briefs.
The hybrid setup
Connect Frase or Surfer through MCP and let the skill call them. Claude runs your process; the SaaS supplies terms and scores. Frase includes MCP on every plan, which makes it the cheapest way to try this.
Full example brief template
Short answer: paste this into your skill’s references/ folder, or into the prompt, so every brief comes out in the same shape. Fields in square brackets are filled by the skill.
# Content brief: [Working title]
## 1. Snapshot
- Primary keyword: [keyword]
- Secondary keywords: [3-8 terms]
- Search intent: [informational | commercial | transactional | navigational]
- SERP-rewarded format: [listicle | guide | comparison | tool | definition]
- Funnel stage: [TOFU | MOFU | BOFU]
- Reader: [one persona, one sentence]
- Goal of the page: [rank for X, convert to Y]
- Word range: [low]-[high] (from top results, outliers removed)
- Due: [date] | Writer: [name] | Editor: [name]
## 2. SERP teardown (top 10, forums/video excluded)
| # | URL | Format | Approx. words | Angle | What it misses |
|---|-----|--------|---------------|-------|----------------|
| 1 | | | | | |
- Featured snippet: [type: paragraph | list | table | none] Target it? [y/n]
- SERP features present: [PAA, video, images, AI Overview, local pack]
## 3. Questions to answer
| Question | Source (PAA / Reddit / competitor FAQ / inferred) | Where it goes |
|----------|---------------------------------------------------|---------------|
## 4. Outline with section budgets
- H1: [keyword + value + year]
- Intro (80-120 words): hook, who this is for, what they get
- H2: [question 1] ([words]) - direct answer in first 2 sentences
- H3: [...]
- H2: [question 2] ([words]) - include [table | list | example]
- H2: FAQ ([n] questions, 40-80 words each)
- Conclusion + CTA ([words])
## 5. Entities and terms to cover
| Entity / term | Why it belongs | Section |
|---------------|----------------|---------|
## 6. Information gain (what only we can add)
- [original data, screenshots, process, expert quote]
- YOUR EXPERIENCE GOES HERE: [what the writer must add from their own work]
## 7. Links
- Internal (required): [/blog/slug -> "anchor"]
- External sources to cite: [primary sources, dated]
## 8. On-page
- Title tag (50-60 chars): [...]
- Meta description (140-160 chars): [...]
- Slug: [...]
- Schema: [Article | FAQPage | HowTo | ItemList]
## 9. Do not
- No invented stats, quotes or first-person tests
- Banned words: [house list]
- Do not mention: [competitors, claims legal won't approve]
## 10. Definition of done
- [ ] Every H2 opens with a direct answer
- [ ] All PAA questions answered
- [ ] Section budgets within 20%
- [ ] Internal links placed
- [ ] Sources linked and datedCommon mistakes when using skills for briefs
Short answer: most brief failures come from trusting the skill’s data more than its method. Here are the ones to watch.
- Treating inferred PAA as real. Without a SERP API, “People also ask” is a guess. Label it.
- Averaging word counts across mixed formats. A 9,000-word pillar and a 400-word forum thread don’t average into a target.
- Fighting the SERP format. If Google rewards lists, brief a list.
- Copying competitor H2s. The outline should cover what they miss, not mirror them. Ask for a “gaps” column.
- No experience slot. Briefs that don’t tell the writer where their own work goes produce generic articles.
- Installing five brief skills at once. Overlapping triggers (“content brief”, “outline for”) mean Claude may load the wrong one. Keep one brief skill active, or rename triggers. Building your own skill shows how.
- Skipping a review of paid packs. You can’t read a paid pack’s source before you buy it. Read every
SKILL.mdafter download, before running it on client work. - Forgetting refresh briefs. “Improve” mode in claude-seo exists for a reason. See Claude Code skills for content refresh.
How to set up a brief workflow this week
Short answer: install one free brief skill, add your template, connect one data source, and run it on three keywords you already know well, so you can judge the output.
- Install claude-seo or superseo-skills (commands above).
- Copy the template into the skill’s
references/folder, or a project.claude/skills/copy you control. - Add house rules: banned words, required internal links, voice notes.
- Optional: connect a data MCP (DataForSEO for pay-as-you-go, Frase if you already pay for it).
- Run briefs for three keywords where you already know what ranks. Compare against your old briefs.
- Hand one brief to a writer unchanged and ask what was unclear. Fix the template, not the brief.
- Add internal link targets from Claude Code skills for internal linking and schema guidance from Claude Code skills for schema markup.
If you want briefs that also target AI answers, add a GEO section to the template. Claude Code skills for GEO covers that.
FAQ
What is the best Claude Code skill for content briefs?
For most people, claude-seo’s seo-content-brief (per-section budgets, improve mode) or superseo-skills’ content-brief (strong intent and information-gain references). Both are free.
Can Claude Code replace Surfer or Frase?
For brief creation, mostly yes. For live content scoring while a writer drafts, not without extra work. Many teams connect Surfer or Frase through MCP and keep both.
Are Claude Code skills free?
Most brief skills on GitHub are free and open source. You still need a Claude plan, and data MCP servers like Ahrefs, Surfer and Frase need paid plans.
How do I install a content brief skill?
Use npx skills add owner/repo, or /plugin marketplace add owner/repo followed by /plugin install. You can also copy a SKILL.md folder into ~/.claude/skills/.
What should an SEO content brief include?
Primary and secondary keywords, intent, format, audience, a SERP teardown, questions to answer, an outline with word budgets, entities, internal and external links, title and meta, and a “do not” list.
How long should a content brief be?
Long enough to remove guesswork. Most land at one to three pages. The template above runs about two pages once filled.
Does a Claude skill get real People Also Ask data?
Not by default. Built-in web search doesn’t reliably return the PAA box. Connect a SERP API such as DataForSEO for real PAA, and ask the skill to label sources.
How do skills decide word count?
They read what ranks, remove outliers and give a range. Better skills, like claude-seo’s, break that into per-section budgets.
Can I use my own brief template with a skill?
Yes. Put it in the skill’s references/ folder and tell the SKILL.md to follow it. Skills are plain Markdown, so you can edit them.
Do I need an Ahrefs or Semrush subscription?
Only if you need volumes and difficulty in the brief. The SERP teardown, outline and questions work without one.
Is the Ahrefs MCP included on all plans?
Ahrefs lists MCP on its Lite, Standard, Advanced and Enterprise plans, with different row and API unit limits per plan.
Are paid Claude skill packs worth it?
Sometimes, if you want a curated set and the pack is cheap. The $39 Contra pack is reasonable for Webflow agencies. Free repos match most packs on method, and you can read them first.
Can multiple brief skills conflict?
Yes. Skills with overlapping trigger phrases can load when you didn’t mean them to. Keep one active or edit the descriptions.
Can writers use the brief without Claude Code?
Yes. The output is a Markdown file. Paste it into Google Docs, Notion or your CMS.
Should I write briefs differently for AI Overviews?
Add a direct answer under each H2, clear entities and dated sources. Those help both snippets and AI citations.
Is it safe to run community skills on client work?
Read the SKILL.md and any scripts first. Directories like claudemarketplaces.com and claudskills.com note that listed skills are community-built and not reviewed by Anthropic.
Sources and methodology
Star counts and last-push dates come from the GitHub API on 1 November 2026. Prices come from the live vendor pages on the same date: Frase pricing, Surfer pricing, Clearscope pricing, Ahrefs MCP and the Contra listing. Skill descriptions come from each repo’s SKILL.md and from listings on claudemarketplaces.com and claudskills.com. This post does not claim hands-on benchmark results. Prices change, so check before you buy.
Your next step
Pick one free skill, add the template, and brief three keywords you know cold. If the output beats your current briefs, connect a data source. If it doesn’t, change the template, since that’s the part you control. For the wider toolkit, start with Claude Code skills for SEO.
