A skill that makes Claude write short-form video scripts for Instagram Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts the way a seasoned social video producer does. It turns your notes into an eight-line brief, picks a format, and writes three opening hooks, each with the first frame, the first line said and the first words on screen, all landing inside two seconds. It then lays the video out second by second within a word budget, writes every beat as a row with the shot, the words said, the on-screen text and the sound, and finishes with the post caption, the cover, a shot list, subtitles and a plan to test the three hooks against each other.
Inside are five reference files. One holds twelve hook patterns in three families and the five tests every hook must pass. One holds beat templates from 8 to 90 seconds, word budgets at 2.5 words a second, and rules for on-screen text and subtitles, including the safe area in pixels and a 4.5:1 contrast floor. One holds the platform figures, such as Meta's safe zones, the five-hashtag limits, music rules for business accounts, FTC disclosure and AI labels, each with its source and the date it was checked. The others hold a 100-point scorecard with the maths for calling a hook test, and a worked example for a fictional ceramics studio. Claude never invents a claim, a price or a review; it asks.
Claude cannot watch video, so for a reference video or a finished cut it works from the words and a handful of screenshots. It does not film or generate footage either; it writes the script and the plan for your phone, your editor or a video tool. Switch on code execution so it can count words and seconds exactly and make the subtitle file, the shot list spreadsheet and a safe-zone overlay. Bring real facts, photos of the product and two past videos that did well. Read the script aloud with a timer before filming, and post the three hooks as tests rather than guessing which one wins.
Claude skill · version 1.0
Reels script
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In the download · 9 files
- SKILL.mdThe method Claude follows: brief, hooks, beats, script, shoot and edit, then test and review, one stage at a time.
- README.mdHow to install it in claude.ai or Claude Code, how to start, and the licence.
- references/hooks.mdTwelve hook patterns in three families, the five tests every hook must pass, how to choose three hooks that test something, weak openers, covers, and a card for studying a reference video.
- references/structure-and-timing.mdThirteen formats, default lengths by goal, beat templates from 8 to 90 seconds, word budgets, pacing rules, on-screen text and subtitle rules with pixel bands and contrast, a script-to-SRT snippet, calls to action and the post caption.
- references/platform-specs.mdSafe zones, lengths, hashtag limits, cover crops, music rules for business accounts, watermarks, Trial Reels and other test metrics, FTC disclosure, AI labels, WCAG 2.2 and subtitle limits, each with its source, checked on 18 October 2026.
- references/review-and-testing.mdThe truth gate, a 100-point scorecard, a checklist for a cut, common failures and fixes, how to test hooks on each platform with the maths for calling a winner, and a test log.
Install it and begin
01Install it in Claude CodeTerminal mkdir -p ~/.claude/skillsunzip ~/Downloads/reels-script.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/# Start it with /reels-script. If this is your first skill, type /reload-skills once.On claude.ai there is nothing to unzip: upload the zip as it is. Every step is on Install and use a Claude skill.
02Your first message to ClaudeText Use the reels script skill. I want a video of about [LENGTH, FOR EXAMPLE 30 SECONDS] for [PLATFORM FIRST] about [PRODUCT OR TOPIC]. The goal is to [SELL, TEACH, REACH OR BUILD TRUST] with [WHO WATCHES]. I can film [WHO OR WHAT CAN BE ON CAMERA]. Start with the brief.Attach photos of the product and, if you have them, your brand fonts and colours and two past videos that did well, as screenshots with their words typed out.
Try this
Three hooks, one body
Pick one thing you can film this week and run the skill to the finished script. Film the body once and the three openings separately, post them as three tests two days apart at the same hour, and call the winner with the rule in the skill.
Time: About an hour to script and film, then a week to test. You need: A product or process you can film on a phone, Photos of it, and any real prices or dates the video should mention, two of your past videos, as screenshots with their words.
Look for
- Three hooks that open on different frames, not one line reworded three ways.
- A word count on every spoken line, with the total fitting the seconds.
- No words in the bottom 35% of the frame, and no text laid over other text.
- Placeholders and questions where a claim or price was missing, instead of numbers Claude made up.
- A winner called on the three-second hold with at least a five-point gap, or an honest tie.
What to do it with
- ClaudeFree tier, paid above it
A language model that writes, edits, reads long documents and runs tools, including agents that work inside a codebase.
Bad at It is agreeable by default, so it will improve a bad idea instead of telling you it is bad. Ask it to argue against you and the quality of the answer changes.
- Claude CodeSubscription
An agent that reads a whole repository, edits files, runs the tests and explains what it changed.
Bad at It is fast enough to make a large mistake quickly. Work on a branch, read the diff, and never let it push. Watch the starting mode: on Pro, Max and Team plans it opens in auto mode, which Anthropic's own list says may read a .env file and send the key in it to the API that key belongs to. Switch it off.
Why it matters
Ask a chat for a Reel script and you get a paragraph of voiceover with a greeting at the top and a logo at the end. Nothing is timed, the words on screen sit under the buttons, and the opening promises something the video never shows. This skill makes Claude open on a moving frame, fit the words to the seconds, keep text in the safe area, and write three different hooks you can test instead of arguing about.
- Type
- technique
- Period
- ongoing