Reads: the plan (roles, platforms, tiers, geography); brand_read organic (the brand's and competitors' recent posts) and competitors; social_inspiration_library / social_inspiration_search; the existing roster (declined / never-again / already shortlisted); ../work-with-creators/references/discovery.md; ../work-with-creators/references/data-sources.md.
Does:
- Free pass, all of it, before any paid read: creators tagged in or behind the brand's and rivals' recent organic posts (free in the brain; the founder's account for founder-led brands); rivals' partnership ads in the Meta Ad Library, read in the host browser; web search (" creator tiktok", "best creators ", roundups and agency lists, "#ad ", " partnership"); TikTok, Instagram and YouTube search, hashtag and profile pages in the host browser, read as a person would (no scripted paging); the brand's own tagged posts and brand-name mentions where the public page shows them (sentiment read); saved Inspiration outliers; creators the human named. An empty Inspiration library is normal — carry on.
- Paid discovery only inside an approved top-up, to widen a thin free result: keyword and user search at volume, tagged posts behind a login, commenters under category leaders, lookalikes.
- Long list: one line per creator — handle, platform, source, why surfaced. Open each profile before it goes on: the handle must match the name, niche and location the source gave (roundups often carry wrong handles).
- Quick screen on the public profile (active ≤14 days, on-niche, language/geography, tier inside the plan, not a minor, bio and top posts clean, not declined/never-again).
- Rank finalists by source strength (positive existing fans > proven in category > search) and screen notes; keep 10–25 for paid/UGC roles, 20–40 for a gift-only seeding wave in the free pass; mark each for full, light, UGC-rubric or B2B-branch vetting.
Writes: long list with screen results; finalist list with source, screen notes and vetting depth; in a top-up, the running sum of reported charges.
Rules: never rank on follower count. A creator found through one viral post goes forward only as "needs consistency check".