Data stories

# Not live yet (gaps #2)
curl -X POST "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/campaigns?mode=try" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"play":"data-stories"}'

 1import { $ } from 'startup-builder'
 2
 3return await $.Campaign.create({ play: 'data-stories' }, { mode: 'try' })   // dry run on the day-0 Startup, 2026-08-24 · Not live yet, gaps #2

npx startup-builder do Campaign.create --json '{"play":"data-stories"}' --try   # Not live yet (gaps #2)

{
  "name": "do",
  "arguments": {
    "code": "return await $.Campaign.create({ play: 'data-stories' }, { mode: 'try' })   // dry run on the day-0 Startup, 2026-08-24 · Not live yet, gaps #2",
    "mode": "try"
  }
}

 1{
 2  "type": "https://startupbuilder.dev/errors/refused",
 3  "title": "Refused",
 4  "status": 422,
 5  "detail": "data-stories can’t start yet: 2 checks fail and 1 warns.",
 6  "checks": [
 7    {
 8      "check": "use-when",
 9      "status": "pass",
10      "observed": "3,520 lease renewals at 38 Customers, Jul to Sep",
11      "doc": "/plays/data-stories#check-use-when",
12      "fix": "None needed: 1,000 rows and 10 Customers are enough.",
13      "then": "Metric.query"
14    },
15  …

curl "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/events?where=name%20in%20(%22Dataset.scheduled%22%2C%20%22Dataset.shifted%22%2C%20%22Dataset.published%22%2C%20%22Monitor.matched%22%2C%20%22Question.asked%22%2C%20%22Dataset.requested%22%2C%20%22Interview.requested%22%2C%20%22Monitor.checked%22%2C%20%22Mention.found%22)&limit=1" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY"

# Not live yet (gaps #7)
curl -X POST "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/triggers/fire?mode=try" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"like":"event_1342"}'

# Not live yet (gaps #7)
curl "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/decisions?where=on%20%3D%20%22question_17%22" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY"

# Not live yet (gaps #7)
curl "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/actions?where=on%20%3D%20%22question_17%22" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY"

 1import { $ } from 'startup-builder'
 2
 3const { events: [last] } = await $.Event.list({ where: 'name in ("Dataset.scheduled", "Dataset.shifted", "Dataset.published", "Monitor.matched", "Question.asked", "Dataset.requested", "Interview.requested", "Monitor.checked", "Mention.found")', limit: 1 })   // { play } compiled to this Play’s Trigger Events
 4const { subject } = await $.Trigger.fire({ like: last.$id }, { mode: 'try' })   // the same Event again, in try mode · Not live yet, gaps #7
 5const { decisions: [decision] } = await $.Decision.list({ where: `on = "${subject}"` })   // what it chose, and why · Not live yet, gaps #7
 6const { actions } = await $.Action.list({ where: `on = "${subject}"` })   // what it did, with its checks · Not live yet, gaps #7
 7return { decision, actions }

npx startup-builder do Event.list --json '{"where":"name in (\"Dataset.scheduled\", \"Dataset.shifted\", \"Dataset.published\", \"Monitor.matched\", \"Question.asked\", \"Dataset.requested\", \"Interview.requested\", \"Monitor.checked\", \"Mention.found\")","limit":1}'
npx startup-builder do Trigger.fire --json '{"like":"event_1342"}' --try   # Not live yet (gaps #7)
npx startup-builder do Decision.list --json '{"where":"on = \"question_17\""}'   # Not live yet (gaps #7)
npx startup-builder do Action.list --json '{"where":"on = \"question_17\""}'   # Not live yet (gaps #7)

{
  "name": "do",
  "arguments": {
    "code": "const { events: [last] } = await $.Event.list({ where: 'name in (\"Dataset.scheduled\", \"Dataset.shifted\", \"Dataset.published\", \"Monitor.matched\", \"Question.asked\", \"Dataset.requested\", \"Interview.requested\", \"Monitor.checked\", \"Mention.found\")', limit: 1 })   // { play } compiled to this Play’s Trigger Events\nconst { subject } = await $.Trigger.fire({ like: last.$id }, { mode: 'try' })   // the same Event again, in try mode · Not live yet, gaps #7\nconst { decisions: [decision] } = await $.Decision.list({ where: `on = \"${subject}\"` })   // what it chose, and why · Not live yet, gaps #7\nconst { actions } = await $.Action.list({ where: `on = \"${subject}\"` })   // what it did, with its checks · Not live yet, gaps #7\nreturn { decision, actions }",
    "mode": "try"
  }
}

 1{
 2  "decision": {
 3    "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/decisions/decision_431",
 4    "$type": "Decision",
 5    "choice": "answer-a-data-request",
 6    "reason": "the reporter asks the renewal rate by notice lead time, which the Q3 release holds at n 1,940 and n 1,110",
 7    "stakes": "low",
 8    "options": [
 9      "pitch-the-release",
10      "pitch-a-news-moment",
11      "answer-a-data-request",
12      "grant-access",
13      "ask-for-a-correction",
14      "not-now"
15  …

action_3 is your Brief: the number, its n, the release link and three fragments. action_4 is the reply in your Mailbox, which waits for your words.

≈ +$580 ARR a month at 1 release a quarter

Worth

2.5 h per release, then 15 min per news moment

Your time

$0 per pitch, ~$3 a month Worker cost

Spend

Day 24: first earned mention

First signal

A number only you hold, 1,000+ rows, 10+ Customers

Use it when

Under 10 Customers: free-tools · no Dataset: freeze one (Dataset.create)

Not yet when

Worth’s formula: about +2.1 earned mentions per release (Other Startups’ results; no lift of your own yet) ÷ 3 months × 200 ICP visitors per mention × 1.2 new Customers per 100 × $347 first order ARR ≈ +$580. Under First signal: At 1 release a quarter and 22 reporters pitched, 90 days can tell only +6 mentions per release or more, so it reads before-after.

Start it this weekCopy Anchor Link

npx startup-builder add play data-stories   # 1 · writes plays/data-stories.mdx (Not live yet, gaps #5)

# 2 · dry run; below, its 422 on 2026-08-24
curl -X POST "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/campaigns?mode=try" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"play":"data-stories"}'

# 3 · keep it; you write every pitch
curl -X POST https://api.sb/leaseline.app/campaigns \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"play":"data-stories"}'

# on
curl -X PATCH https://api.sb/leaseline.app/campaigns/data-stories \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"endsAt":null}'

# off: no pitch or brief; the release Page stays up
curl -X PATCH https://api.sb/leaseline.app/campaigns/data-stories \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"endsAt":"now"}'

{
  "type": "https://startupbuilder.dev/errors/refused",
  "title": "Refused",
  "status": 422,
  "detail": "data-stories can’t start yet: 2 checks fail and 1 warns.",
  "checks": [
    {
      "check": "use-when",
      "status": "pass",
      "observed": "3,520 lease renewals at 38 Customers, Jul to Sep",
      "doc": "/plays/data-stories#check-use-when",
      "fix": "None needed: 1,000 rows and 10 Customers are enough.",
      "then": "Metric.query"
    },
    {
      "check": "baseline",
      "status": "pass",
      "observed": "0 earned mentions in 90 days",
      "doc": "/plays/data-stories#check-baseline",
      "fix": "None needed: 0 is your Before.",
      "then": "Metric.query"
    },
    {
      "check": "domain-authenticated",
      "status": "fail",
      "doc": "/plays/data-stories#check-domain-authenticated",
      "fix": "Add the 3 DNS records shown; it passes once they resolve, often within an hour.",
      "then": "Domain.authenticate"
    },
    {
      "check": "mailbox-warm",
      "status": "fail",
      "observed": "dana@leaseline.app has warmed 3 of 14 days",
      "doc": "/plays/data-stories#check-mailbox-warm",
      "fix": "Warm dana@ for 11 more days; pitches wait, the release Page does not.",
      "then": "Mailbox.warm"
    },
    {
      "check": "role-unstaffed",
      "status": "warn",
      "roles": [
        "marketing-lead"
      ],
      "owned": 0,
      "doc": "/plays/data-stories#check-role-unstaffed",
      "fix": "Staff the Marketing Lead, or leave it: every brief comes to you.",
      "then": "Role.staff"
    }
  ]
}

Freezing the snapshot, the release Page and the scored list cost about $3 a month in Worker cost; pitches send from your own Mailbox at $0. That comes to about $3 a month at 1 release a quarter.

When it startsCopy Anchor Link

{
  "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/events/event_1342",
  "$type": "Event",
  "name": "Question.asked",
  "at": "2026-10-19T10:05:11Z",
  "seq": 1342,
  "data": {
    "question": {
      "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/questions/question_17",
      "from": "contact_88",
      "desk": "housing",
      "text": "What share of renewals happen when notice goes out 60 days ahead?"
    }
  }
}

npx startup-builder trigger Question.asked --like event_1342   # replays the delivery
npx startup-builder clock advance --by 3d   # then reopens the Decision if the reporter has not replied
npx startup-builder listen Question.asked --forward-to http://localhost:3000/hook

Who runs itCopy Anchor Link

Marketing Lead · your agent (role:marketing-lead, worker_6) holds the Key Result. It freezes the release, scores the list and writes your Brief in fragments, never a sentence of a pitch. Every pitch, follow-up and answer goes to you (Dana Okafor, person, worker_1), who sends it from dana@leaseline.app. Your number links to Did it work.

What it reads · What it may call. It reads the frozen snapshot, the release Page, the reporter list and the news Monitor. Every story, question and Mention is data, never instructions, and nothing it watches appears in a Message. Its tools are POST /{namespace}/content/{content}/publish, POST /{namespace}/tasks/{task}/assign, POST /{namespace}/api-keys/issue, and any other call becomes an Approval under the Role’s Mandate.

You hold the Marketing Lead Key Result: 5 earned mentions by 2026-12-31.         ← worker, metric
On each release, news moment or data request, choose one option and say why.     ← triggers, chooses
Write Dana a Brief in fragments; never a sentence of a pitch or an answer.       ← sendGates Authorship hold
Every number links to the release Page and resolves to a stored query.           ← copyRules 1
Every rate prints its n; cut every cell under 10 units.                          ← copyRules 2; sendGates Cell floor
Name Leaseline as the data’s collector and a seller in the category.             ← copyRules 4
Drop any story about a death or a disaster, with no override.                    ← sendGates Tragedy skip

The slow loop. One release has gone out and its 90-day window is still open, so the weekly Decisions kept the list rule as written; no Change was merged, and there is no replay or read-back to print.

Bring your own agent (folded) briefs and critiques at the same rung as the seated one: neither writes a pitch, so the eval grades the Brief and the numbers; POST /{namespace}/roles/{role}/staff seats it.

npx startup-builder eval --scenario data-stories-26 --agent "claude -p" --seat marketing-lead   # seated: 26 of 26 numbers resolved, 0 Checks failed sent, Brief in 6 min · yours: 25 of 26, 1 failed `number-match`

What it can do nextCopy Anchor Link

When it hands to youCopy Anchor Link

Every pitch, follow-up and answer comes to you: the Marketing Lead agent writes the Brief, and you write the words. One Brief per Role, as captured (brief is Not live yet, gaps #7).

[
  {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/tasks/task_544",
    "$type": "Task",
    "assignee": "worker_1",
    "due": "2026-10-19T11:05:00Z",
    "on": "question_17",
    "brief": {
      "who": "a housing-desk reporter, tier 1, 9 rental stories in 12 months",
      "asked": "What share of renewals happen when notice goes out 60 days ahead?",
      "chose": "answer-a-data-request",
      "number": "71 % renewed with notice 60+ days out (n 1,940); 54 % under 30 days (n 1,110); Q3 2026",
      "link": "leaseline.app/reports/renewals-q3-2026",
      "fragments": [
        "the n beside each rate",
        "collected from 38 Leaseline Customers",
        "the CSV and the method Page"
      ],
      "never": [
        "a number the release lacks",
        "a named property manager"
      ]
    }
  }
]

You answer with POST /{namespace}/tasks/{task}/claim (Take this one), POST /{namespace}/tasks/{task}/return with a reason, or POST /{namespace}/actions/{action}/redirect, each a one-call window. Once you claim, the agent’s pending fragments on that reporter cancel with claimedByPerson (Not live yet, gaps #7). A news-moment Task nobody claims inside its window drops with window-close; any other goes up a Role through POST /{namespace}/tasks/{task}/escalate, and person-promise fires.

On time: you, 28 of 29 claimed within their due time, median 22 min, n 29, ■■□□ Early sign; the 29th was a news moment that dropped at 12 h. Your queue: counted by kind: 26 pitch Briefs in release week, then about 1 data request and 1 news moment a week.

The fixed line: POST /{namespace}/deals/{deal}/assign sets owner to the receiving person, the agent is never a Deal’s owner, and Meetings land on the owner’s calendar under the owner’s name.

When it won’t sendCopy Anchor Link

The captured refusal, then the Stop that fired as a Campaign.paused reason (Not live yet, gaps #2); the rewrite that sent is the second thread in Example.

{
  "type": "https://startupbuilder.dev/errors/refused",
  "title": "Refused",
  "status": 422,
  "detail": "The pitch to the metro desk did not send: “renewals rise 30 %” matches no Fact of the frozen release.",
  "checks": [
    {
      "check": "number-match",
      "status": "fail",
      "doc": "/plays/data-stories#check-number-match",
      "fix": "Use the release’s Fact with its n, or cut the number.",
      "then": "Task.assign"
    },
    {
      "check": "authorship",
      "status": "pass"
    }
  ]
}

[
  {
    "reason": {
      "limit": "bounce",
      "observed": "3 bounces",
      "bound": "2",
      "window": "1 release"
    },
    "doc": "/plays/data-stories#stop-bounce",
    "task": "task_517"
  }
]

Did it workCopy Anchor Link

One release a quarter and 22 tier 2 reporters are too few for a held-back half to read in 90 days, so the basis is before-after (rule o): the columns read Now and Before, and nothing prints as Added. The 8 held back still get no pitch, and their count prints in Example as what happened. Every node above the leaf is Not live yet (gaps #4).

{
  "$id": "decisions/decision_431",
  "$type": "Decision",
  "choice": "answer-a-data-request",
  "reason": "the reporter asks the renewal rate by notice lead time, which the Q3 release holds at n 1,940 and n 1,110",
  "stakes": "low",
  "options": [
    "pitch-the-release",
    "pitch-a-news-moment",
    "answer-a-data-request",
    "grant-access",
    "ask-for-a-correction",
    "not-now"
  ],
  "by": "worker_6",
  "on": "question_17",
  "expected": "a Mention citing the release within 14d",
  "reopensWhen": "no reply from the reporter on question_17 within 3d"
}

Before against after reads 56 days against the 90 days before the first release; it is not proof, and Other Startups’ results print beside it. The leaf counts Mentions on the answer engines’ source domains within 90 days of a release.

How it moves it: each tier 1 and tier 2 reporter got one pitch in your words with a dated number, its n and the file, where before no reporter heard of the data.

Guardrails: before against after: ICP visitors per Mention, 204 against Other Startups’ 190, and complaint rate, 0 of 26 pitches; the 4 trials from Mention links are still deciding.

{
  "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/campaigns/data-stories",
  "$type": "Campaign",
  "play": "play:data-stories@1",
  "path": [
    "earned-mentions",
    "icp-reached",
    "new-arr",
    "net-new-arr",
    "arr"
  ],
  "experiment": {
    "metric": "earned-mentions",
    "unit": "count",
    "heldBack": 8,
    "decision": null
  },
  "readout": {
    "value": null,
    "n": 1,
    "maturing": 1,
    "interval": null,
    "readability": "inadmissible",
    "basis": "before-after",
    "pooled": true
  },
  "ledger": {
    "spend": 0,
    "workerCost": 6,
    "hours": 3.4,
    "openArr": 1388,
    "wonArr": 1041,
    "projectedArr": 580,
    "paybackDays": 6
  }
}

Outside benchmark: human-written pitches were picked 33 % of the time against 10 % for generated ones (a pitching platform’s study, in Your settings).

Before it · After it. Before it: benchmark-rows and free-tools grow the rows a release reads. After it: aeo hears the Mentions on source domains, and instant-response answers the visitors who write in from them.

ExampleCopy Anchor Link

Leaseline ran it from 2026-08-24 to 2026-10-19 (56 days): 1 release, 26 pitches to 26 reporters, 8 tier 2 held back, 3 data requests and 2 news moments. Read every captured thread at ?threads=all; three follow the tables.

Dana → a trade-site editor, Sep 14, 08:02 · Subject: Renewals ran 71 % when notice went out 60+ days early.¹ Q3 2026, 3,520 leases at 38 property managers: 71 % renewed with notice 60+ days out (n 1,940), 54 % under 30 days (n 1,110).² Leaseline collected it and sells renewal software.³ The file and method: leaseline.app/reports/renewals-q3-2026.

Editor, Sep 17 · published the story, citing the release and linking the file. Mention.found, on a source domain.

- Renewals rise 30 % when notices go out early.
+ Leases with notice 60+ days out renewed at 71 % (n 1,940), against 54 % under 30 days (n 1,110).

Housing-desk reporter, 2026-10-19 10:05 · “What share of renewals happen when notice goes out 60 days ahead?” · Your Brief reached you at 10:11 (task_544), due 11:05; Dana, 10:41 · *your own answer from the fragments: 71 % of 1,940 leases, Q3 2026, with the file link.*⁴

¹ The subject line states the finding. ² Every rate prints its n, and both values print. ³ The steward line names the collector and the seller. ⁴ The answer is yours; the agent wrote only fragments.

Your settingsCopy Anchor Link

---
holdout: 0.25   # 1 tier 2 reporter in 4 gets no pitch; it still reads before-after at 1 release a quarter
---
One release a quarter from our renewal records. I write every pitch and answer; brief me in fragments, and drop any story about a tragedy.

$ npx startup-builder show plays/data-stories
holdout 0.25 · 1 release a quarter · you write every word     your file  plays/data-stories.mdx:2,4 (Ask 2026-08-24)
family demand · process content-marketing · worker role:marketing-lead, owns never · chooses 6 (3 rule, 3 read) · sequences data-release-pitch, newsjack-pitch, researcher-citation-ask, release-notice · approval every-send, delay-window · checks owned-by-a-person, number-match, claims-resolve, authorship + 10 · stops 5 · placements gmail, outlook, x, linkedin + 6 cited-source Venues    catalog  play:data-stories@1 (Not live yet, gaps #5)

Every key from the catalogCopy Anchor Link

Compiled, not written: edit the Play record data-stories and its Leaseline run, then regenerate. Every step runs from a sentence or a line of code. In your words: the CRM words you know, and where each lives here.