Chapter 04 · Ideas and planning
Bring your own topic
How the Generate article form works: its fields, pre-filled suggestions, the Use topic shortcut from the Site Report, readiness per focus, credits, and what happens after Generate.
Updated Sep 19, 2026 · 5 min read
On this page
The idea feed is one way in. The other is typing what you want to write about. Both paths end in the same Generate article form, and both produce an article only when you press Generate.
Where the form opens
- Generate now in the Home header, once setup is complete. Before that the button reads Finish setup.
- Enter your own topic in the workbench when the collection is empty or still preparing.
- The generate button at the top of Articles, and the Generate now link on an empty calendar.
- Use topic on a content opportunity in the Site Report overview. This pre-fills the topic and its main subject from the report.
- Use idea on a tile, in the details dialog, or in Saved ideas. This pre-fills the idea with its research attached.
Opened without an idea, the form asks Serpio for a starting point and shows Finding an article idea for your brand…. A badge tells you where the suggestion came from: From public research, From your knowledge, Recommended by Serpio, From your brand keywords or Starter topic. Suggest again draws another. If nothing is ready, the form says No relevant suggestions are ready yet. Add knowledge or enter a topic. and waits for you.
The fields
- CONTENT NICHE
- Which of your confirmed focuses the article belongs to, listed as Primary · and Secondary ·. Changing it requests a new suggestion. The readiness line beneath it is covered below.
- TOPIC
- Free text, one line or two. Editing a suggested topic drops the link to that idea's stored research, and Serpio runs fresh research for your words instead.
- Editorial direction · optional
- Four extra prompts: What should readers learn or do?, Your angle, Outline · one section per line and Call to action. The outline accepts up to twelve sections of up to 500 characters each.
- TONE and STYLE
- Informative, Friendly, Authoritative, Casual or Empathetic; and Blog, Editorial, Technical, Concise or Conversational. Suggestions preset these from your brand voice and focus.
- TARGET LENGTH
- 600, 900, 1,200, 1,500 or 1,800 words.
There is no keyword field. Keywords come from the focus you select and, for feed ideas, from the idea's research. Pressing Enter submits; Shift+Enter adds a line.
Readiness per focus
Under CONTENT NICHE the form reports the state of the shared topic research behind the selected focus. A green 8 ideas ready means research is available. Amber messages mean it is not, yet:
- Review and confirm this content focus before preparing ideas. The main button changes to Confirm content focus and the form will not submit. Confirming is the only fix. See Reviewing your content focus.
- The idea pool is preparing. You can enter a topic now for fresh research. The research is being collected or reactivated. The form checks again every few seconds.
- Idea preparation needs another try. You can still enter a topic for fresh research. The last attempt produced nothing usable.
Credits and the monthly limit
Credits are counted per UTC month and shared across every site on your account. Only a completed article counts. A failed or paused generation does not. The Writing credits card on Home shows 12 of 30 articles used, or articles · unlimited plan.
When the limit is reached, submitting from Articles opens the You've hit your monthly limit dialog. It shows your plan and usage, offers View plans or Not now, and states Limit resets on the first of next month. From Home or the Site Report the same message appears inside the form instead. Your saved ideas stay available to plan either way. Details are in Plans and credits.
After you press Generate
- 1
Queueing
The button reads Queueing…. Serpio validates the topic, focus and quota, then queues the job.
- 2
Progress in Articles
A toast confirms the article is queued and Articles opens with a progress card headed Generating your article. Stages read Queued, Connecting to the writing service, Loading your brand, Building the brief, Retrieving reference docs, Picking internal links, Researching supporting evidence, Writing the article, Refining the article, Checking article quality, Validating internal links and Saving draft.
- 3
Draft ready
The card changes to Draft ready with an Open article button. The draft waits for your review unless you have turned on auto-publish.
- 4
If it stops
Generation paused shows the reason, an Error details disclosure with a reference, and Retry generation. Temporary service problems retry on their own up to three times, shown as Retrying automatically with Next attempt around a time.
What happens next inside the draft is covered in Generating an article.
Common questions
Can I generate two articles from the same topic?
Yes. Serpio does not block repeats. Used feed ideas carry a marker such as Used once so you know it is a repeat.
Does my own topic get research too?
Yes. A typed topic goes through the same research and evidence steps as a feed idea. It just starts without pre-gathered sources.
Why is the Generate button disabled?
Either the topic is empty, a suggestion is still loading, or the selected focus is unconfirmed. In the last case the button itself reads Confirm content focus.
Related guides
Generating an article
The three ways to start a draft, what each progress stage means, how automatic retries and the interrupted state work, and where the finished article opens.
Read guidePlans and writing credits
The four Serpio plans side by side, how monthly writing credits are counted and shared across sites, where to see usage, and what happens when you run out.
Read guideHow the idea feed works
The idea workbench keeps a weekly collection of ten article ideas in your workspace. Here is where they come from, how refreshes work, and how one becomes an article.
Read guide