SAIGES User Manual

Introduction

The Structured AI-Governed Editorial Suite (SAIGES) is a WordPress plugin for governed, human-led, AI-supported content drafting. Its job is to make AI-assisted creation intentional, reviewable, and auditable inside WordPress without turning the core plugin into a full content operations suite.

AI writing tools are fast. They are also unconstrained by default—they generate without context, without guardrails, and without a record of who approved what and why. SAIGES closes that gap. It wraps AI drafting inside a structured workflow: brief first, generate second, review third, approve before publish. Every step is captured, and every actor is accountable.

Core Principle

SAIGES is built on a single operating principle: human-led, AI-supported. AI generates, accelerates, and assists. Humans brief, review, and approve. The plugin enforces that order.

Who SAIGES Is For

SAIGES is designed for editorial teams, regulated organizations, and any WordPress operator who needs AI-assisted content creation to be governed rather than just fast. It is particularly suited to:

Editorial teams who need structured briefing before AI drafting, clear review stages, and a record of what was approved and why.
Compliance-aware organizations that must demonstrate AI content was human-reviewed and policy-aligned before publication.
SMB and regulated teams that want governance without enterprise-scale complexity. Interface modes allow smaller teams to hide workflow panels they do not need.
Content operations teams that want consistent voice, structure, and guardrail rules applied across all content types without enforcing them manually in a style guide.
Agency and multi-author environments that need approval workflows keeping senior editors in the loop before AI-assisted drafts reach the publish queue.

Product Boundary

SAIGES core governs content creation and approval. Distribution, repurposing, and advanced optimization live in companion add-ons. The clearest summary of the product is: governed creation first, distribution second.

Core Feature Summary

Feature	What It Does
Intent Brief Capture	Stores purpose, audience, success metrics, voice profile, and compliance constraints on each content item before any AI action is permitted.
Intent Completeness Gate	Prevents AI actions and publish attempts from proceeding until required brief fields are populated.
Multi-Format Template Engine	Supports Gutenberg patterns, Markdown prompt instructions, and schema-backed templates. A per-post selector and built-in template library ensure every draft starts from appropriate structure.
Voice Profile Rules	Defines tone expectations, audience framing, and off-limit phrasing. Applied consistently without requiring per-session rebriefing.
Draft Generation	Produces draft variations using WordPress-native AI capabilities first, with external provider fallback. Drafts are assembled from intent, template, content, and governance context.
Draft Package Builder	Assembles a provider-ready prompt and structured payload before any AI call is made. The package is displayed in the editor for review before submission.
Source and Citation Handling	Captures research sources alongside drafts. Surfaces them as guardrail context during generation to prevent AI outputs from detaching from approved evidence.
Guardrail Rule Checks	Evaluates word count, forbidden phrases, structural requirements, and source obligations at save time. Status indicators show editors what must be resolved before submission.
Governance Profiles	Basic, Standard, and Enterprise profiles apply appropriate workflow defaults for the team’s size, risk profile, and compliance requirements.
Approval Workflow	Requires human review before AI-assisted content can be published. Stages are governed by the active profile. Every action is logged.
Interface Modes	Focused, Standard, and Guided modes let teams choose a UI footprint matching their workflow complexity. Editor surface toggles hide panels that are not needed.
Audit Log	An append-only record of every workflow event, including intent saves, draft generations, guardrail triggers, review actions, and approval decisions.
Extension Hooks	Companion plugins can register custom transforms, guardrail rules, workflow stages, templates, and output handlers through documented filter and action hooks.

Overview

The Governed Drafting Workflow

SAIGES organizes content creation into a sequential, gated workflow. Steps cannot be skipped; governance controls determine which gates apply based on the active profile and post type settings.

Intent: An editor opens a supported post type and completes the intent brief. Purpose, audience, success metrics, voice notes, and compliance constraints are captured before anything else happens.
Template: A template is selected for the content type being produced. Templates define structural expectations and contribute to the draft package context.
Sources: Research sources are attached to the post. These are referenced during draft generation to keep outputs grounded in approved material.
Draft Package: SAIGES assembles a provider-ready payload from the brief, template, sources, voice profile, and governance context. The editor reviews the package before submitting for generation.
Generation: The draft is generated and returned to the editor as a draft variation. The editor refines, revises, or regenerates.
Guardrails: On save, guardrail rules evaluate the draft against word count targets, forbidden phrases, structural requirements, and source obligations. Issues are surfaced in the editor status panel.
Review: The editor submits the draft for human review. The assigned reviewer receives notification and assesses the draft against brief requirements.
Approval: An approver confirms the draft is ready for publication. Approval is logged with actor identity, timestamp, and the governance profile in effect at the time.
Publish: Content enters the standard WordPress publish flow. SAIGES enforces that approval is recorded before the publish gate clears.

Key Concepts

Term	Definition
Intent Brief	The structured brief attached to a content item. Captures purpose, audience, metrics, voice notes, and constraints. Required before AI actions are permitted.
Completeness Gate	A check that blocks AI actions or publish attempts until required brief fields are populated. Gate requirements are defined per governance profile.
Draft Package	The assembled, provider-ready payload built from brief, template, sources, and governance context. Displayed in the editor before submission.
Governance Profile	A named preset (Basic, Standard, or Enterprise) that applies workflow defaults: which gates are enforced, how many approval stages are required, and how strictly guardrails apply.
Guardrail	A rule evaluated at save time against the draft content. Rules can require minimum word count, prohibit specific phrases, enforce structural elements, or verify source attachment.
Voice Profile	A reusable set of tone expectations, audience framing notes, and off-limit phrasing. Applied to draft generation and optionally enforced as a guardrail rule.
Approval Stage	A required human review step before publication. The number of stages and who can fulfill them is governed by the active governance profile.
Audit Event	A logged, append-only record of a workflow action. Stores actor identity, post ID, event type, and relevant context. Cannot be altered from the admin.

Getting Started

1. Activate the Plugin

Install and activate SAIGES from the WordPress Plugins screen. On activation, SAIGES automatically:

Creates the audit log database table.
Registers the governance profile registry with default profiles.
Registers the template library.
Adds the SAIGES admin menu.

2. Configure Workflow Settings

Navigate to SAIGES → Settings → Workflow and configure:

Default Governance Profile: Choose Basic, Standard, or Enterprise. This applies to all supported post types unless overridden per post type.
Supported Post Types: Select which post types SAIGES manages. The intent brief, template selector, guardrail checks, and approval workflow only appear on enabled post types.
Intent Requirement: Whether the intent completeness gate is enforced at draft submission, at publish, or at both points.

3. Set Your Interface Mode

Navigate to SAIGES → Settings → Interface and select the default interface mode:

Focused: Shows only the intent brief and the draft package. Suited to solo editors or small teams with straightforward workflows.
Standard: Shows all core workflow panels. The default for most teams.
Guided: Adds contextual prompts and helper text throughout the workflow. Suited to onboarding new team members or teams adopting AI-assisted creation for the first time.

4. Create Your First Governed Draft

Open or create a post in a supported post type.
Complete the Intent Brief metabox. All required fields must be filled before SAIGES will permit draft generation.
Select a Template from the template selector panel.
Add any Research Sources in the sources panel.
Review the Draft Package panel to confirm the assembled payload.
Trigger draft generation. SAIGES submits the package to the configured AI provider and returns a draft variation.
Refine the draft, then save. Guardrail checks run on save.
Submit for review when the draft is ready.

Intent Briefs

The intent brief is the foundation of every governed draft. It captures the purpose, audience, and constraints for a piece of content before any AI action is permitted. SAIGES will not assemble a draft package or permit a generation request until the brief meets the completeness threshold set by the active governance profile.

Brief Fields Reference

Field	Description	Required
Purpose	What this content is intended to accomplish. Be specific: not “blog post” but “explain to mid-market operations leads why workflow documentation reduces AI risk.”	All profiles
Primary Audience	Who this content is written for. Informs tone, assumed knowledge level, and relevance criteria during generation.	All profiles
Success Metrics	How you will know this content achieved its goal. Can be qualitative (reader completes the workflow) or quantitative (conversion rate target).	Standard, Enterprise
Voice Profile	The voice profile to apply during generation. References a saved voice profile or accepts inline overrides.	Standard, Enterprise
Compliance Constraints	Any legal, regulatory, or policy constraints that must govern this content. For example: GDPR notices required, no medical claims, financial advice disclaimers.	Enterprise
Notes for Reviewer	Optional context for whoever reviews the generated draft. Not included in the AI prompt package.	Optional

Completeness Gate

SAIGES evaluates brief completeness against the required fields for the active governance profile:

Basic: Purpose and Primary Audience required.
Standard: All Standard-tier fields required.
Enterprise: All fields including Compliance Constraints required.

If the gate is not satisfied:

The draft package panel shows which fields are missing.
The generate action is disabled.
If the publish-time gate is active, WordPress will block the publish action.

Audit Events

Every time the intent brief is saved, SAIGES writes an intent_saved audit event with the actor identity, post ID, and a snapshot of the brief fields at the time of save.

Templates

Templates define the structural expectations for a draft. They are contributed to the draft package as context, telling the AI what format, sections, and constraints the output should conform to. Templates reduce generation inconsistency and make review faster because reviewers know what to expect.

Template Formats

Format	Description	Best For
Gutenberg Pattern	A block layout pattern registered with WordPress. Populates the editor with a structural skeleton for the editor to fill.	Structured pages, landing content, repeatable layouts
Markdown Instructions	A set of prompt instructions written in Markdown. Added to the draft package as generation guidance for the AI provider.	Long-form articles, technical content, specific format requirements
Schema-Backed Template	A structured template with defined fields and types. Ensures generated content maps to a predictable data shape for downstream processing.	Product pages, FAQ items, structured data outputs

Template Library

Navigate to SAIGES → Templates to manage the template library. Each template stores:

Name and description
Applicable post types
Format (Gutenberg, Markdown, or Schema)
Template body content
Version tag

Per-Post Template Selection

The template selector panel appears in the post editor for all supported post types. Templates are filtered to show only those marked as applicable for the current post type. Selecting a template adds it to the draft package and, for Gutenberg patterns, optionally applies the block layout to the editor.

Voice Profiles

Voice profiles define the tone, audience framing, and off-limit phrasing that should govern a piece of content. Selecting a voice profile in the intent brief adds its rules to the draft package, ensuring generation stays within brand and audience expectations without requiring editors to re-brief every session.

Voice Profile Fields

Field	Description
Profile Name	A descriptive label. Can be named for an audience, channel, or brand context (e.g. “Technical Buyers”, “Executive Summary”, “Partner-Facing”).
Tone Description	A plain-language description of the expected voice. Added verbatim to the draft package prompt context.
Audience Framing	Who the reader is and what they already know. Shapes assumed knowledge level and relevance filtering during generation.
Forbidden Phrases	Words or phrases that must not appear in generated content. Can be enforced as guardrail rules at save time.
Required Elements	Structural or tonal elements that must appear. For example: a plain-language summary paragraph, a call to action, a defined reading grade.

Guardrail Integration

When a voice profile is selected and the active governance profile is Standard or Enterprise, SAIGES can enforce voice profile rules as save-time guardrails. Forbidden phrases trigger a guardrail failure. Required elements trigger a warning if absent.

Sources & Citations

SAIGES captures research sources alongside each draft and surfaces them as context in the draft package. This prevents AI-generated content from drifting away from the evidence base your team has approved or the claims your organization has standing to make.

Adding Sources

The Sources panel appears in the post editor. Each source entry captures:

Title: A human-readable label for the source.
URL: A link to the source document, article, or data.
Notes: Specific claims, data points, or quotations from this source that the draft should reference.
Citation Type: How this source should be used: Background Context, Direct Reference, or Quotation.

Sources in the Draft Package

Attached sources are summarized in the draft package prompt context. The package instructs the AI to ground its output in the provided sources and flag any claims that cannot be traced to them.

Source Requirements as Guardrails

Governance profiles can require a minimum number of attached sources before draft generation is permitted. If the Enterprise profile is active and no sources are attached, the draft package builder will surface a warning and the generate action may be blocked.

Draft Generation

SAIGES produces draft variations using WordPress-native AI capabilities first, falling back to external provider configurations only when necessary. Before any generation call is made, SAIGES assembles a draft package from the brief, template, voice profile, sources, and governance context, and displays it in the editor for review.

The Draft Package

The draft package is a structured payload that contains:

The intent brief fields (purpose, audience, metrics, constraints)
The selected template instructions
The active voice profile rules
Summarized source material and citation notes
Governance constraints derived from the active profile
Any applicable guardrail rules for this post type

The assembled package is displayed in the Draft Package panel in the editor before submission. Editors should review it and confirm it is complete and accurate before triggering generation.

Generation Workflow

Editor completes the intent brief, selects a template, and attaches sources.
SAIGES assembles and displays the draft package.
Editor reviews the package and clicks Generate Draft.
SAIGES submits the package to the configured AI provider.
The draft variation is returned and populated in the editor.
Editor refines and saves. Guardrail checks run on save.
The generation event is written to the audit log with the package version and provider context.

Regeneration and Variations

Editors can request additional variations without clearing the existing draft. Each generation request is logged separately. The audit log records which variation was ultimately advanced to review.

Guardrails

Guardrail rules evaluate the draft content at save time against a configurable set of requirements. Rules can require minimum word counts, prohibit specific phrases, enforce structural elements, or verify that sources are attached. The editor status panel shows the current guardrail state and surfaces any failures or warnings with plain-language descriptions.

Rule Types

Rule Type	What It Checks	Failure Behaviour
Word Count	Draft meets the minimum or maximum word count defined for this post type.	Warning (below minimum) or Error (above maximum, if configured)
Forbidden Phrase	Draft does not contain phrases on the forbidden list from the active voice profile or site-wide rule set.	Error; lists the offending phrases
Structural Requirement	Draft contains a required heading, section, or block as specified in the template or governance profile.	Warning; names the missing element
Source Attachment	At least the required number of sources are attached to the post.	Warning (Standard) or Error (Enterprise)
Brief Completeness	All required intent brief fields are populated.	Error; blocks submission and publish

Guardrail Status Panel

The Workflow Overview panel in the editor shows the current guardrail state at a glance:

Pass: All active rules have been satisfied.
Warning: One or more advisory rules have been triggered. The draft can be submitted for review, but the reviewer will see the warnings.
Error: One or more blocking rules have been triggered. The draft cannot be submitted for review or published until errors are resolved.

Guardrail Events in the Audit Log

Every guardrail evaluation is recorded in the audit log. The record captures which rules were evaluated, which triggered, the severity of each trigger, and the post and actor context at the time of save.

Governance Profiles

Governance profiles are named presets that apply workflow defaults appropriate to the team’s size, compliance requirements, and risk tolerance. The active profile governs which brief fields are required, how strict guardrails are enforced, how many approval stages are required, and whether source attachment is mandatory.

Built-In Profiles

Profile	Brief Requirements	Guardrail Enforcement	Approval Stages	Source Requirement
Basic	Purpose and Primary Audience	Word count and forbidden phrases (warnings only)	One reviewer	None required
Standard	All Standard-tier fields	All rules as warnings; forbidden phrases as errors	One reviewer, one approver	At least one source recommended
Enterprise	All fields including Compliance Constraints	All rules enforced; blocking errors on any failure	Multi-stage review as configured	Minimum sources required; blocks generation if unmet

Setting the Active Profile

The default governance profile is set in SAIGES → Settings → Workflow. It applies to all supported post types. Per-post-type overrides are planned for a future release.

Profile Changes and Audit Events

Changes to the active governance profile are logged as profile_changed audit events. Because a profile change affects all subsequent workflow behaviour, the prior and new profile values are both captured in the event record.

Approval Workflow

SAIGES requires human review and approval before any AI-assisted content can be published. The approval workflow is gated by the active governance profile. All review and approval actions are logged with actor identity, timestamp, and the governance context in effect at the time.

Workflow States

State	Meaning
Draft	Content is being authored or refined. Guardrail checks run on save. The draft has not been submitted for review.
Pending Review	Editor has submitted the draft. A reviewer has been notified and must assess the content against brief requirements and quality standards.
Changes Requested	Reviewer has returned the draft to the editor with feedback. The editor must address the feedback and resubmit.
Pending Approval	Reviewer has cleared the draft. An approver must give final sign-off before the publish gate opens.
Approved	Final approval has been recorded. The WordPress publish gate is now open for this post.
Rejected	The draft has been rejected at review or approval. The editor must open a new draft cycle. The rejection reason is logged.

Reviewer and Approver Roles

SAIGES adds custom capabilities for workflow participation. By default:

Editors and above can review submitted drafts and request changes or clear to approval.
Administrators can approve cleared drafts and unblock the publish gate.
Authors can submit drafts for review but cannot review or approve their own content.

Approval Under Basic Profile

Under the Basic governance profile, a single reviewer action (approve or reject) fulfills the approval requirement. No separate approver step is required.

Publish-Time Enforcement

If publish-time enforcement is enabled in settings, SAIGES hooks into the WordPress pre-publish check and blocks the transition to publish status unless an approved workflow state is recorded for the post. This prevents approval from being bypassed through direct status changes in the admin.

Interface Modes

SAIGES introduces a significant amount of structure into the editor. Interface modes let teams reduce that surface to match the complexity of their actual workflow. Smaller teams or solo editors can hide panels they do not need. Larger or more regulated teams can enable the full guided experience.

Mode Overview

Mode	What’s Visible	Suited To
Focused	Intent brief and draft package panel only. All other panels hidden.	Solo editors, simple workflows, high-trust environments
Standard	All core panels: intent brief, template selector, sources, draft package, workflow overview.	Most teams; the recommended default
Guided	All Standard panels plus contextual prompts, helper text, and inline guidance throughout the workflow.	Teams onboarding to governed drafting; new users; training contexts

Editor Surface Toggles

Beyond the mode presets, individual panels can be toggled on or off in SAIGES → Settings → Interface:

Intent brief visibility
Workflow overview panel
Template selector
Sources panel
Draft package display

Toggle settings apply site-wide. Per-user interface preferences are planned for a future release.

Audit Log

SAIGES maintains an append-only audit log of every significant workflow event. The log cannot be altered or deleted from the WordPress admin. It provides the evidence base required for internal governance reviews, compliance audits, and post-incident analysis.

Logged Event Types

Event Type	Triggered By
`intent_saved`	Any save of the intent brief metabox. Records a snapshot of all brief fields at the time of save.
`package_assembled`	Successful assembly of a draft package. Records the template version, voice profile, source count, and governance profile in effect.
`draft_generated`	Completion of an AI generation request. Records the provider, package version, and whether the result was accepted, regenerated, or discarded.
`guardrail_triggered`	Any guardrail rule that fires during a save. Records the rule type, severity, and the offending content excerpt (for phrase rules).
`review_submitted`	An editor submits a draft for review. Records the actor identity and the workflow state transition.
`review_action`	A reviewer clears, returns, or rejects a draft. Records the action, any feedback notes, and the resulting workflow state.
`approved`	An approver grants final sign-off. Records actor identity, the governance profile in effect, and the timestamp.
`profile_changed`	The active governance profile is changed in settings. Records the prior and new profile values.

Viewing the Audit Log

Navigate to SAIGES → Audit Log to view audit events. The log is filterable by event type, post ID, and actor. Events are displayed in reverse chronological order.

Log Record Fields

Each audit record stores:

Event type
Post ID and post title at time of event
Actor (WordPress user ID, display name)
IP address
UTC timestamp
Event context (JSON payload with relevant field snapshots)

Extension API

SAIGES exposes a set of WordPress filter and action hooks that companion plugins can use to extend the governed drafting workflow. Extension points are designed to keep the core plugin lean while making it composable for organizations with specific requirements.

Available Extension Points

Hook	Type	Purpose
`saiges_draft_package`	Filter	Modify the assembled draft package before it is sent to the AI provider. Companion plugins can inject additional context, strip fields, or restructure the payload.
`saiges_guardrail_rules`	Filter	Register additional guardrail rules. Each rule specifies a slug, a label, an evaluation callback, and a severity (warning or error).
`saiges_template_library`	Filter	Add templates to the library programmatically. Useful for plugins that ship their own template sets.
`saiges_workflow_stages`	Filter	Add custom stages to the approval workflow. Each stage specifies a slug, label, required capability, and position in the sequence.
`saiges_draft_generated`	Action	Fires after a draft generation completes. Provides the post ID, the package used, and the generated content. Use for downstream transforms, notifications, or secondary generation steps.
`saiges_approved`	Action	Fires when a post receives final approval. Provides the post ID and approver context. Use to trigger downstream distribution workflows in companion add-ons.

Extension Principles

Companion plugins must require SAIGES core. They should not attempt to replicate SAIGES’s data structures independently.
Extensions that add guardrail rules should use distinct slug prefixes to avoid conflicts with core rules.
Extensions that hook into saiges_approved for distribution workflows should confirm the post type before acting.

Companion Add-Ons

SAIGES is the platform. Companion add-ons extend it downstream. Add-ons require SAIGES core and do not work as standalone plugins. They are designed to keep the core plugin focused on governed creation while giving organizations a structured path to additional capability.

Add-On	Purpose	Status
Repurposing Pack	Turns one approved draft into email snippets, social posts, pull quotes, and derivative formats. Hooks into `saiges_approved` to offer repurposing options post-approval. Downstream transformation lives here, not in the core plugin.	Planned — first add-on
Brand Voice Pack	Expands voice guidance into richer editorial standards, phrase libraries, calibration tooling, and multi-brand profile management. Registers additional voice profile fields and guardrail rules via core extension hooks.	Planned — second add-on
AI Visibility Pack	Adds semantic structuring, schema patterns, and retrieval-aware formatting for organizations optimizing content for AI crawlers and discovery pipelines.	Planned — third add-on
Social and Newsletter Pack	Adds channel formatting, workflow routing, and publishing preparation for social and email channels. Distribution and scheduling capabilities live here to keep the core plugin free of channel complexity.	Planned — later

Add-on release schedules will be published alongside the SAIGES core release. If you have a specific use case for an add-on, reach out.

SAIGES User Manual v1.0