Automate with briefs
Set up the 5-step brief wizard and schedule automated article generation across multiple sites.
Automate with briefs
Marc runs 3 news sites and wants daily automated articles without lifting a finger. Briefs are the core automation unit in IANews -- each brief defines what to write about, where to find sources, how to write it, and when to generate. This tutorial follows Marc as he creates a brief that generates an "AI and Machine Learning Weekly Roundup" every Monday morning, then shows how automatic publication picks up and distributes the finished articles.
Prerequisites: You should have generated at least one article manually so you understand the output. If you manage multiple sites, make sure you have selected the correct site from the site switcher before creating the brief.
Navigate to the brief wizard
Click Briefs in the sidebar, then click "New Brief". This opens the 5-step wizard that guides Marc through the complete brief configuration.
Each brief is scoped to the currently active site. Marc selects "TechPulse" from the site switcher in the sidebar before proceeding. Articles generated by this brief will belong to TechPulse and use its style guide, API keys, and publishing targets.
Step 1 -- Theme
Marc defines the editorial scope:
- Title --
AI and Machine Learning Weekly Roundup - Category --
Technology(IANews prioritizes trends matching this category) - Target countries --
United States,United Kingdom,Germany(IANews focuses source discovery on these markets) - Description -- "Focus on practical AI applications, new model releases, and industry partnerships. Skip theoretical research papers unless they have immediate practical implications."
The theme determines which trends and sources IANews considers when generating articles for this brief. A well-written description acts as editorial direction for the AI.
Step 2 -- Sources
Marc configures where IANews looks for source material. There are three source types:
Add feed URLs for automatic source tracking. Marc adds:
https://techcrunch.com/feed/-- TechCrunchhttps://feeds.arstechnica.com/arstechnica/index-- Ars Technicahttps://feeds.feedburner.com/TheHackersNews-- The Hacker News (security)
New articles from these feeds are monitored continuously. When the brief fires, IANews checks these feeds first for fresh source material.
You do not need dozens of URLs. IANews searches across the web independently and has access to hundreds of vetted sources across categories. Source URLs here act as editorial priority overrides, not the only sources.
Step 3 -- Tone and structure
Marc defines how the generated articles should read:
- Tone --
journalistic(other options: neutral, analytical, casual, formal) - Target length --
medium(~1,000 words) - Structure -- He selects a template:
- Introduction (context and hook)
- Three key developments (one section per major story)
- Analysis (what these developments mean together)
- Conclusion (outlook and implications)
The AI follows this structure as a template during generation. If Marc's site has a style guide configured, it is applied automatically on top of these settings -- including preferred vocabulary, forbidden words, and structural rules.
These settings become the default for every article this brief generates. Marc can always override them when editing individual articles after generation.
Step 4 -- Scheduling
Marc enables automated generation:
- Toggle "Enable automation" to ON
- Set the cron expression to
0 8 * * 1(every Monday at 8:00 AM) - Set the timezone to
Europe/Paris - Set max articles per run to
5
Common cron expressions for editorial teams:
| Expression | Schedule | Use case |
|---|---|---|
0 8 * * * | Every day at 8:00 AM | Daily news digest |
0 8 * * 1-5 | Weekdays at 8:00 AM | Business-day coverage |
0 9 * * 1 | Every Monday at 9:00 AM | Weekly roundup |
0 8,14 * * * | Twice daily (8 AM, 2 PM) | Morning + afternoon editions |
0 6 1,15 * * | 1st and 15th at 6:00 AM | Bi-monthly deep dives |
0 7 * * 1,3,5 | Mon/Wed/Fri at 7:00 AM | Tri-weekly cadence |
Cron times use the timezone you specify. Double-check your setting -- 0 8 * * 1 at UTC is 3:00 AM Eastern or 9:00 AM in Paris. If no timezone is set, the default is UTC.
Step 5 -- Review and activate
The final step shows a summary of the brief configuration:
- Theme: AI and Machine Learning Weekly Roundup (Technology, US/UK/DE)
- Sources: 3 RSS feeds, 3 URL sources, auto-pick top 5 trends
- Style: Journalistic tone, medium length, 4-section structure
- Schedule: Every Monday at 8:00 AM Europe/Paris, up to 5 articles
- Next 3 executions: Mon Feb 24, Mon Mar 3, Mon Mar 10
Marc reviews everything, then clicks "Create Brief". The brief appears in his Briefs list with the automation toggle visible and set to ON (green).
How the auto-publisher picks up articles
When the cron schedule fires, here is what happens behind the scenes:
- The brief is triggered at the scheduled time
- IANews orchestrates the generation of up to 5 articles
- Each article goes through: source discovery, content analysis, AI generation, and citation insertion
- Generated articles are saved with a "Brief" badge linking them back to this brief
- The automatic publication system checks for newly generated articles and publishes them to the configured targets
If Marc's TechPulse site has a WordPress connection, IANews pushes each article to WordPress automatically -- complete with featured image, SEO metadata, and category mapping. No manual intervention required.
Automatic publication supports multiple targets: WordPress, Ghost, Medium, LinkedIn, Next.js, and Webhooks. Configure them in your site's publishing settings. Articles generated by briefs are published to all active targets for that site.
Monitor execution
After the first scheduled run, Marc checks the results:
- Brief detail page -- Shows execution history with timestamps, status (success/failed), and a link to each generated article
- Articles page -- Generated articles appear with a "Brief" badge showing which brief created them
- Adjust settings -- If topics or quality are not what he expected, Marc edits the brief. Changes take effect on the next scheduled run
- Pause automation -- Toggle the switch OFF to pause without deleting. Toggle back ON to resume
Planning your brief schedule
Before setting up multiple briefs across your sites, estimate your monthly usage:
| Brief schedule | Articles/month | Recommended plan |
|---|---|---|
| 1 article/week | ~4 | Free (10/month) |
| 1 article/weekday | ~22 | Pro (100/month) |
| 1 article/day | ~30 | Pro (100/month) |
| 3 articles/day | ~90 | Pro (100/month) |
| 5 articles/day | ~150 | Business (500/month) |
| 10 articles/day | ~300 | Business (500/month) |
Article quotas are shared across all sites on your account. If Marc runs 3 sites with daily briefs generating 2 articles each, that is ~180 articles/month -- requiring at least a Business plan (500/month).
What's next?
- Scheduling in depth -- Advanced cron patterns and timezone handling
- Configuring sources -- RSS feeds, Quality Library, and source prioritization
- Style and tone guide -- Fine-tune article voice per brief
- Multi-site setup -- Manage multiple sites with independent briefs
- Plans and usage -- Understand article quotas and plan limits