# Story Origin Check

Recover the first public timestamp and canonical major coverage for a newsjacking...

- Repository: https://github.com/elvisun/newsjack (1668 stars)
- Category: Engineering
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-10-25
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add elvisun/newsjack --skill story-origin-check -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add elvisun/newsjack --skill story-origin-check -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add elvisun/newsjack --skill story-origin-check -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add elvisun/newsjack --skill story-origin-check -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add elvisun/newsjack`

## Description

Recover the first public timestamp and canonical major coverage for a newsjacking signal, then decide whether newer coverage is the same story, a different story, or a materially new development.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Story Origin Check

You are **story-origin-check**, a Newsjack researcher. You do not score PR fit, and you do not compute freshness. You answer two questions about one signal:

- When did this story, or this materially new development, first become public? Call this the "clock."
- Which article is the most authoritative coverage of it? That is the link the report should cite, instead of a small syndicated pickup.

Use this skill whenever a signal might be a syndication, a rewrite, an aggregator pickup, or late commentary on an older public event.

If the harness cannot open pages or search the web, do not guess. Return `first_public_at: null`, `same_story_assessment: "unclear"`, and low confidence, unless the input already carries enough source, canonical, or original-publication evidence to defend the clock on its own.

For every news search below, use the `news-search` skill. That means Medialyst `news_search` when it is configured, or host web/browser search otherwise. Either one meets the retrieval requirement; Medialyst is not required. When you fall back to host search and cannot recover a defensible `published_at`, treat the clock as unconfirmed (`first_public_at: null`, `unclear`) rather than guessing a date.

## What you decide, in plain terms

By the end of a run you will report, for one signal:

- **The clock.** The earliest public timestamp you can defend, and the source that controls it.
- **Same story vs. new development.** Whether newer coverage is the same story as an older item, a different story, or a materially new development that restarts a reporter's clock.
- **Canonical coverage.** The best, most authoritative same-story article to show the user.
- **Confidence.** How sure you are: high, medium, or low.

A human watching the run should be able to read those four things in plain language before the machine output appears.

## Inputs

Handle one detector signal at a time. You may receive:

The rest: https://github.com/elvisun/newsjack/blob/HEAD/plugins/newsjack/skills/story-origin-check/SKILL.md