# Build a guide with an agent

A guide is a set of spots the creator has been to, grouped into chapters, with the practical facts buyers need (how to get there, hours, fees, places to stay and eat) and the creator's own photos. The agent gives the creator's material structure. It never replaces their experience: every coordinate, fact and photo comes from the creator or from a source the agent names.

## Before the first call

Ask the creator for five minutes: which region, which spots, where their map links and tracks live, which photos exist and who took them, the price, the language. Load the rules with [get_authoring_guide](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/get_authoring_guide.md) (or install the [SKILL.md](https://sceniq.earth/developers/skill.md)) and call [whoami](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/whoami.md) to see the key's scopes and limits.

## The steps

1. **Pick or make the guide.** [list_guides](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/list_guides.md); edit a matching draft, or [create_guide](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/create_guide.md) when the creator wants a new one.
2. **Define the properties first.** [create_property](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/create_property.md) for what every spot should carry (Best time, Difficulty, Facilities, Elevation). Read them back with [list_properties](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/list_properties.md): spots store option ids, never labels.
3. **Add the spots.** [create_spot](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/create_spot.md) makes a complete spot in one call. For many spots, or a build you will run again, use [upsert_spots](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/upsert_spots.md) with your own `ref`: re-running never duplicates. Leave lat and lon empty rather than guessing.
4. **Add the facts the creator has.** Arrival, hours, fees, status notices, links, extra pins, rules on site. [Planning facts](https://developers.sceniq.earth/workflows/planning-facts.md) explains each shape.
5. **Group the spots.** [create_chapter](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/create_chapter.md) and [set_chapter_members](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/set_chapter_members.md): a chapter carries prose (a region, a day), a collection is a plain set (top picks).
6. **Add routes and places** where the creator has them: [create_route](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/create_route.md) with the line from their GPX, [create_facility](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/create_facility.md) for stays, transport, tours, food and parking.
7. **Photos.** Ask for the files and who took each one; upload them over REST. [Photos](https://developers.sceniq.earth/workflows/photos.md) has the details.
8. **Region, price, settings.** [set_guide_region](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/set_guide_region.md), [set_guide_price](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/set_guide_price.md) with the number the creator gave, [update_guide](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/update_guide.md) for the headline, tags and country.
9. **The sales page draft.** [get_sales_page](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/get_sales_page.md), then [save_sales_page_draft](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/save_sales_page_draft.md). Testimonials only from real quotes the creator gives; never promise updates.
10. **Check the links.** [check_links](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/check_links.md), a minute later [get_link_report](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/get_link_report.md). See [Links and link health](https://developers.sceniq.earth/workflows/links.md).
11. **Run readiness and hand back.** [get_guide_readiness](https://developers.sceniq.earth/reference/get_guide_readiness.md): fix what you can, list the rest, send the creator the `reviewUrl`. See [Readiness](https://developers.sceniq.earth/workflows/readiness.md).

## Handing back

Tell the creator in plain words what you created or changed (counts), what you could not fill and why, the links you could not verify, the facts with a review date, and your review notes. Then the clicks that are theirs: putting the guide on sale and publishing the sales page happen in the studio. Never describe the guide as written by AI in buyer-facing copy; the creator's name is on it.

> A spot without coordinates, a fact without a source, a photo without a credit: each one is flagged by readiness and fixed by the creator. Empty is honest; invented is a liability for a paid guide.