# Trend Sources (template)

The **source list** a research-engine pass polls for trend/topic candidates. This file
ships **generic, niche-agnostic defaults** (source *categories*, not one person's beat).
Override it with your own list — the niche specifics (your vendors, your regulators, your
country's outlets) belong in the override, never here.

## How the override works

Copy this template into your per-user data dir and edit the copy:

```bash
mkdir -p "${LINKEDIN_STUDIO_DATA:-$HOME/.claude/linkedin-studio}/trends"
cp config/trends-sources.template.md \
   "${LINKEDIN_STUDIO_DATA:-$HOME/.claude/linkedin-studio}/trends/sources.md"
```

A pass reads `${LINKEDIN_STUDIO_DATA:-$HOME/.claude/linkedin-studio}/trends/sources.md`
if it exists, and falls back to these shipped defaults otherwise. The override lives in the
data dir (next to the trend store `trends/trends.json`), so it **survives plugin
upgrades and reinstalls**. `LINKEDIN_STUDIO_DATA` overrides the root.

Format below is read by a person and an agent both: a markdown list, one source per line,
grouped by tier. Keep `Name — URL — note` so a poll can cite the URL.

---

## Tier 1 — Primary / breaking (poll daily, react within 24–48h)

*First-party announcements and authoritative decisions in your field.*

- [Major vendor blog] — [url] — releases & announcements
- [Major vendor blog] — [url] — releases & announcements
- [Regulator / governing body] — [url] — decisions & guidance

## Tier 2 — Analysis & research (poll 2–3×/week, post within a week)

*Where a development gets interpreted, not just reported.*

- [Respected analysis publication] — [url]
- [Analyst house report stream] — [url] — adoption / market reports
- [Research index] — [url] — preprints / papers in your area

## Tier 3 — Community signals (poll weekly, post if a pattern emerges)

*Where practitioners surface what actually matters before the press does.*

- [Practitioner forum / aggregator] — [url]
- [Topic-specific community] — [url]
- [Platform-native trending] — [url]

## Tier 4 — Niche & seasonal (poll monthly, plan ahead)

*Slower-moving sources with predictable cadence.*

- [Key conference series] — [url] — announcement / agenda cycles
- [Earnings / report calendar] — [url] — scheduled releases
- Seasonal themes: [Q1 …] · [Q2 …] · [Q3 …] · [Q4 …]

## Tier 5 — Demand signals (where the questions live) — the demand-sweep polls these

*Tier 1–4 are SUPPLY sources — they tell you what was announced. Tier 5 is the inverse: where
your audience already **asks**. The `demand-spotter` agent («innenfra og ut») polls these to turn a
topic into the reader's own question, its pain point, and an honest saturation verdict. Ground truth
first (HN + GitHub APIs are exact); forums are approximate; some channels need an API (see the notes).*

- [Practitioner forums / communities] — [url] — where people ask (Reddit, HN, product forums, Discord/Slack where reachable). *Reddit blocks direct fetch → counts are approximate; HN via the Algolia API is exact.*
- [GitHub issues on the spec/tool repos] — [url] — undervalued gold: real questions from the people building, with names + comment counts as signal strength (GitHub API = ground truth)
- [Procurement data] — [url] — the hardest demand indicator there is: someone has a budget and wrote the need down (e.g. a national tender portal / TED-equivalent for your market)
- [Regulator / supervisory guidance] — [url] — what your reader is *required* to take a position on (non-optional demand)
- [Comment fields on your channels] — [url] — *NB: YouTube/video comments are JS-rendered → need an API key; the largest blind spot. Specify the fetch method or mark the channel explicitly un-swept — an honest null is a finding.*

---

## Your niche additions

Add the sources specific to your field below — these are the ones the generic defaults
above cannot know. (Example shape for a Norwegian public-sector / AI niche: national
digitalisation agency, data-protection authority, the relevant ministries, the local
tech press — replace with yours.)

- [Your source] — [url] — [why it matters to your audience]
- [Your source] — [url] — [why it matters to your audience]

---

*Tip: the [8 universal angles](../references/content-angles.md) and the scoring rubric
in [trend-scoring-modes.md](../references/trend-scoring-modes.md) decide what to DO with a
candidate once a poll surfaces it. This file only decides WHERE to look.*
