Create and Edit a Content Brief

Overview

A brief is the planning contract for a calendar item. It captures who you are writing for, why the piece matters, which channel and format apply, and the planned publish date. CntX generates briefs automatically from your content strategy, campaign plans, or signals; you can also create and edit them manually on the unified calendar.

Editing a brief does not produce full article copy—that happens after brief approval via Generate draft or batch generation. A well-edited brief keeps AI drafts on-strategy and reduces rework in the content editor.

When to use

• A generated brief is close but needs a sharper title, different persona, or clearer angle.
• You want to add a one-off topic on a specific date (Manual layer).
• A campaign or opportunity brief needs workspace-specific tuning before approval.
• You are correcting funnel stage, channel, or content type before approving generation.

Before you start

• Open Calendar and select the planning(s) that contain the item you want to edit.
• Know your target brief status: `Draft` and `Needs review` are editable planning states; `Approved` locks the brief for generation (you can still change it, but regeneration rules may apply).
• For manual items, pick the content strategy that should own the slot—generation and reporting stay tied to that strategy.

Steps

Edit an existing brief

1. Open Calendar and locate the item in Week, Month, or Briefs view. Use layer filters if the calendar is busy.
2. Click the item to open its detail panel or navigate to the full brief view.
3. Review core fields:

– Title and working headline – Channel and content type – ICP / Persona and funnel stage – Pillar or campaign theme alignment – Planned date – Objective, angle, key messages, and SEO hints when present

1. Adjust any field that would change what the writer (human or AI) should produce. Save your changes.
2. Set brief status appropriately:

– Leave as Draft if still exploring. – Move to Needs review when ready for a approver. – Move to Approved only when the brief is final enough to generate content.

Create a manual brief

1. On Calendar, use Add item (or equivalent create action on your focused strategy).
2. Choose channel, content type, planned date, and title.
3. Fill persona, pillar, and objective fields so generation has enough context.
4. Save—the item appears on the Manual layer.
5. Continue editing until the brief is ready for review or approval.

Edit from Quick review

1. Open Quick review from the calendar To do now panel.
2. Step through briefs marked Needs review.
3. Edit inline or open the full brief, then Approve, Edit and next, or skip.

Expected result

• The calendar item reflects your updated title, date, audience, and strategic alignment.
• Brief status matches where the item sits in your review workflow.
• Approved briefs show Generate draft or Approve and generate as the logical next action.
• Manual items sit alongside strategy, campaign, and opportunity items without breaking the unified view.

Tips

• Edit before approving — Changing an approved brief may skip automatic regeneration if CntX detects the brief unchanged since the last run; force regeneration from the item if you need a fresh draft.
• Campaign briefs — Prefer editing in the workspace that owns the slot. Cross-workspace campaign parents are read-only aggregates for generation.
• Opportunity briefs — Signal-driven drafts often need a tighter title and persona; keep the source insight in mind but rewrite for your editorial standards.
• Date changes — Rescheduling updates the calendar slot; see guidance on moving items if you shift many dates at once.
• Brief ≠ content — SEO keywords, intro, and body copy live on the content item after generation, not on the brief.

Next step

Approve a Brief and Generate Content when the brief is ready for production.