For YouTube
64 entries written with YouTube in mind. Entries marked "any platform" are not listed here; they are in the full library.
Video generation 10
Before you post a generated video: disclosure and rights checklist
Six checks for AI-generated clips before they go on TikTok, Reels, Shorts or a client's site: labels, likeness, music, logos, model terms and provenance.
Architectural walkthrough: an interior on a steadicam in natural light
A filled 7-part prompt for a real-estate or design walkthrough: one slow steadicam path through a room, windows as the only light, straight verticals, and the turns that make geometry drift.
Generate a 10-clip b-roll pack for a talking-head video
One agent prompt that reads your transcript and writes ten generation prompts for cutaways that show what is being said, each tagged with the sentence it covers.
Establishing shot: open a video with a place
A prompt for the wide opening shot that tells the viewer where they are, with the three things that make a generated landscape look filmed rather than rendered.
Fashion lookbook: a model walks in a studio at 24 fps
A filled 7-part prompt for a lookbook clip: seamless backdrop, one walk toward the camera, cinema frame rate so the fabric moves like fabric, and the faces, feet and prints that need extra care.
Music visualizer: abstract particles that pulse to a stated tempo, loopable
A filled 7-part prompt for an abstract background clip: particles that pulse at a stated BPM, a near-seamless loop, no text; the model cannot hear your track, so the beat is matched in the editor.
Nature documentary: long lens, slow motion, no narration
A filled 7-part prompt for a wildlife shot that looks filmed from a hide: 600mm compression, heat haze, one animal doing one slow thing, slow motion at a stated rate, and the anatomy traps.
Pixel art: an 8-bit game cutscene on a locked pixel grid
A filled 7-part prompt for a retro game cutscene: a stated sprite size, a palette of 16 colours, parallax layers, no sub-pixel smoothing, and why a still from an image model is the safer first frame.
Product hero shot: a 5-second generated clip for an ad or a listing
Prompt for a clean product shot with one motion and one light change, the kind that sits at the top of a listing or opens a 15-second ad.
Retro VHS: a 1990s home video shot on a camcorder
A filled 7-part prompt for the camcorder look: 4:3 inside the frame, tracking noise, colour bleed, auto-focus hunting and a zoom nobody meant, with the date stamp added in the editor.
Viral formats 12
Build in public: a 45-second behind-the-scenes cut around one decision
The founder diary format that earns trust because it shows the decision, not the launch: the prompt structures a week of real screen and desk footage around one choice and one measured result.
'I tried it for 7 days': a diary cut with one metric logged every day
The experiment-diary format that stays honest because one number is measured daily and shown on screen; the prompt plans the daily clip, the tally and a verdict that includes what did not work.
Countdown listicle: 5 items in 45 seconds, best one last, numbers on screen
The ranked list format, with the rule that makes it hold: each item gets shorter as the count drops and number one gets the longest shot. The prompt returns script, text plan and the caption list.
Myth vs fact: three beliefs checked in 35 seconds, each with a demonstration
The format where a common belief is stated, then tested on camera, then labelled. Works because the viewer picks a side in the first second; the prompt insists on a visible test per myth.
Screen-recording walkthrough: 45 seconds, one outcome, zoom on every click
The faceless screen walkthrough that stays watchable because every click is zoomed and labelled and the outcome is shown first. The prompt returns the click list, the zoom plan and the voice-over.
Comparison: two ways to do one thing, side by side, same task, same clock
The split-screen comparison that is fair enough to be believed: identical task, identical start, a visible timer, a verdict earned on screen. Prompt returns the script and the fairness checks.
Storytime with a twist: a 60-second told story with the turn at 40 seconds
The talking-to-camera story that holds because the opener promises a turn and the turn arrives late. The prompt plans the beats, the b-roll inserts and the one line of text per beat.
Street interview style: one question, 5 answers, 40 seconds, real or generated
The vox-pop format: one short question, five contrasting answers, the last one lands the point. The prompt writes the question, the answer spread and, if generated, the per-person shot prompts.
'Things I wish I knew': 5 lessons in 50 seconds, each with what it cost me
The advice format that gets saved because every lesson is attached to the mistake that taught it. The prompt orders the lessons by cost and plans one number on screen per lesson.
'3 mistakes' in 40 seconds: the educational format that converts
Three mistakes the viewer is making right now, each with the fix shown in a shot, ranked so the last one is the one they did not know about. Prompt returns the script, text plan and shot list.
Tutorial in 30 seconds: result first, then the steps at reading speed
The compressed how-to that gets saved: the finished thing in frame 1, then 3-5 numbered steps each shown and captioned. The prompt budgets the words so the steps fit at 165 wpm.
'Watch me use it': a 30-second product demo with no pitch and one real task
The demo that converts because it is a task, not a feature tour: one thing the viewer wants done, done on camera, in real time where possible. The prompt forbids adjectives and plans the text.
Hooks 10
Generate 20 hooks for a topic and rank them by a stated rubric
One prompt that produces 20 openers across the 8 archetypes, scores each on four named criteria, and returns the top 5 with the score shown, so the ranking can be argued with instead of trusted.
Bold claim hook: say the thing you can prove in the next 20 seconds
Template and rules for the claim hook: one declarative sentence that the viewer expects you to fail to back up, plus the rule that the proof must be in the video, not in the caption.
Contrarian hook: disagree with the standard advice, then earn it in 20 seconds
Template for the hook that reverses what the audience has been told, with the two rules that separate it from rage bait: quote the standard advice fairly, and name the case where it still holds.
Curiosity-gap hook: withhold one fact, promise it by a stated second
Template for the hook that opens a gap and names when it closes, with the rule that keeps it from being clickbait: the withheld fact is real, single, and delivered where you said it would be.
Number hook: a count the viewer can track, and the one item that justifies it
Template for the hook built on a number (3 mistakes, 5 tools, 7 days), with the rule that the number must be small enough to finish and the last item must be named as the reason to stay.
Question hook: the opener the viewer answers in their head before you do
Template and rules for the question hook, with the test that separates a question that holds (the viewer has an answer and wants it checked) from one that is skipped (nobody cares either way).
Result-first hook: show the finished thing in frame 1, say how long it took
Template for the hook that opens on the outcome, the one that works with sound off and for products whose output is the content; the first frame is the result, not you holding it.
Hook rewrite: a boring opener in, 5 stronger versions out, each with the reason
A prompt that diagnoses why an opener is weak (generic, unprovable, needs sound, buried number) and rewrites it five ways, each labelled with the archetype and the fault it fixed.
Hooks for a product with nothing to show: text and voice carry the first 3 s
For an API, a CLI, a service, a habit, anything without a screen worth filming: five hook shapes built on a typed line, a number and a voice, and what goes on screen instead of the product.
Re-hook at 3 s and at the midpoint: two lines that carry a viewer past the drop
Retention is lost twice, after the hook pays off and halfway through; this prompt writes the second promise for 3 s and the third for the midpoint, each as a line the viewer can check before the end.
Scripts & shot lists 4
Screen-recording demo script for an app: what to click, what to say, when
A prompt that writes a demo script where every spoken line is paired with one on-screen action, so the recording is done in one pass and the narration recorded over it afterwards.
Write the cut as a script, not a timeline: the JSON storyboard prompt
An agent prompt that writes the edit of real footage as a small JSON file: which sentences, which cover shots, what the cold open is. A complaint becomes a one-line edit, and the render repeats.
60-second founder update: the script prompt for a weekly build-in-public clip
A prompt that writes a 60-second talking-head update from your week's notes: the number first, one thing that broke, one thing shipped, one ask. About 150 words, no greeting.
YouTube explainer, 8 minutes: the outline prompt with timestamps
A prompt that produces a timed outline for an 8-minute explainer: a cold open, a promise, five sections with a visual each, the mistake, a recap and one ask, before any script is written.
Editing & montage 6
Cold open, then hook: 8-10 s of best frames, hand-picked from a contact sheet
The opening that holds a viewer on real footage: 8-10 s of the strongest frames with no speech, then one line with a twist. What to look for on the sheet, and why the automatic pick is wrong.
The cutaway rule: what is said, same place and time, never over moving lips
Three constraints for every cutaway in a talking film, and the agent prompt that applies them to a transcript. Kills what viewers read as broken: a picture from elsewhere, a face out of sync.
The day as one text file: an agent reads the speech and proposes the story
The step before any timeline: the day's speech in shooting order, numbered by clip and sentence, read by an agent like a scriptwriter. It proposes story, scenes, hook and cutaways; you argue in text.
Length follows the material: cut stammers and repeats, not thoughts
The decision rule for how long a film should be. A target length makes you stretch a thin day or chop a full one; the material decides, and the checklist says what may be removed.
Promise and payoff: find the pairs that thread a multi-day film
An agent prompt that reads several days of transcripts and pairs every promise ('tomorrow we'll buy the boat') with the moment it is kept or broken, so the film has a thread, not a sequence of days.
Scenes, not best phrases: keep the lead-in, the talk and the reaction
Why a reel of good lines confuses everyone who was not there, and the checklist for keeping a scene whole: the lead-in, the talk, the reaction, with filler trimmed only at the ends.
Captions & text 4
Accessible on-screen text: contrast, the bottom 20 percent, no flashing
A checklist for text that everyone can read, including people watching muted, on a small screen, in sunlight, or with photosensitivity. Eight checks, each with the parameter to test against.
Reading speed for on-screen text and speech: the parameters to check against
How long a text overlay must stay up and how many words a voice can carry per second, given as parameters you measure on yourself, with the formula and the two failure modes: unreadable, and slow.
SRT cleanup: fix names from a glossary, merge short cues, cap line length
An agent prompt that takes a raw speech-to-text SRT and returns one you can publish: names fixed from your glossary, sub-second cues merged, lines wrapped at a character cap, timings untouched.
Transcript to YouTube chapters: timestamps in the format the description needs
A prompt that turns a timestamped transcript into a chapter list for the YouTube description: first chapter at 0:00, at least three, each 10 seconds or more, titles that say what the viewer gets.
B-roll 4
B-roll shot list from a transcript: the table to film or generate from
An agent prompt that reads a transcript and returns a shot table (timestamp, line, shot, source: have / film / generate) for a camera or a video model, grouped so each location is filmed once.
Cutaway matching: sentence to a literal visual, same place and time
A prompt that reads each sentence of a transcript and names the one picture that shows it, with the place and time it must come from, so the shot list is a list of things, not moods.
Generated b-roll or real: the decision rule
When a generated cutaway is fine (faceless, no logos, no claim about a real place or time) and when only footage from the same day will do. Five questions, in order, before you open a video model.
Screen-recording b-roll for app demos: what to record, size, cursor
Rules for screen captures used as cutaways in a product video: real-looking data, output-size or 2x resolution, a slow cursor, one action per clip, and what makes a recording unusable.
Music & sound 7
Beat-sync cutting: cut on the beat, not on every beat
A rule and an agent prompt for cutting to music from a list of beat timestamps: cuts land on beats, phrases get room to breathe, and the best shot is held through the hook.
Live music in frame: one continuous audio span, picture cuts on top
When a band or a busker is in the shot, keep one unbroken stretch of that clip's audio under the whole scene and cut only the picture; cut the audio per shot and the beat restarts.
Level every chapter to -16 LUFS with ffmpeg loudnorm
One ffmpeg line that brings a file to -16 LUFS integrated and -1.5 dBTP true peak without touching the video, the two-pass version for exact results, and the timestamp trap on upload.
Music brief: describe the track you need before you search for it
A fill-in brief that names mood as harmony, a BPM range, genre, length and where the drop must land relative to your hook, so a library search or a composer returns something that fits the cut.
Score with a hole, not ducking, where something plays live
Cut the score to silence under live music, a laugh or a knock instead of ducking it; ducking is audible, a hole is not. The rule, the measured levels and the ffmpeg line.
Strip other people's music before upload with Demucs and ffmpeg
Car radio, shop speakers and festival stages trigger Content ID. Split the soundtrack into stems, find the music on drums plus bass, keep the voice, replace the music, rebuild audio only.
Voice cleanup checklist: room tone, de-ess, noise gate, in that order
Six passes that turn a phone or lav recording into a usable voice track, each with the ffmpeg filter and a starting parameter to adjust by ear, in the order that keeps the gate off word endings.
Growth 3
Measurement: one store campaign link per platform and account
The iOS campaign link format with the provider token and a 40-character ct tag, the Android Play referrer, where installs show up, and the rule to judge a format after a week on installs, not views.
Weekly growth review: an agent reads the posts and the installs per campaign
Paste the week's posts and the installs per campaign link; the agent reports numbers first, then what worked by name, then 3-4 actions, judging by installs and by multiples, never by a 20 % swing.
YouTube upload checklist: gate the file, publish private, watch on a phone
Cheap checks first, upload last: title under 100 characters, the real shooting date and chapters in the description, captions as tracks, Shorts linked both ways, a private publish watched on a phone.
Claude Code skills 4
Separate vocals, music and drums from a recording (/stem-split)
Separate a song or a film's soundtrack into stems (vocals, drums, bass, other) with Demucs, locally, on the Apple GPU when there is one.
Transcribe audio and video locally with word timings (/transcribe)
Transcribe audio or video to text locally — on the Apple GPU with mlx-whisper large-v3, or faster-whisper on CPU/CUDA — with the language decided per stretch of speech, .srt subtitles, word…
Edit real footage into a film with the agent as the editor (/video-edit)
Edit real footage into a film with the agent as the editor — read the day's speech as text, write the cut as a script, lay cutaways that match the words, score it, strip other people's music, and…
Upload, title, chapter and track videos on a YouTube channel (/youtube-channel)
Run a solo founder's YouTube channel from the terminal — upload through the YouTube Data API, subtitles as tracks, thumbnails, publish, bulk hide, link Shorts to the long video, and read the…