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Break down any Instagram post

Two prompts for the Claude desktop app. The first sets up your computer once. The second downloads your reels, reads their numbers and breaks each one down: what to keep and what to drop.

  • Prompts
  • Instagram growth
  • Claude
  • ChatGPT

Part 1 · Setup

Set up your computer

A one-time setup. Claude installs the tools it needs and connects to Chrome so it can read your reels' numbers. Needs the Claude desktop app.

How to use it

  1. 1In the Claude desktop app, click the + icon in the chat box and add a folder. Claude does all its work there.
  2. 2Copy the prompt below and paste it into that chat.
  3. 3Approve the installs and follow the Chrome steps Claude gives you. It tells you when setup is finished.

The prompt

I want to set up my computer so you can break down my Instagram reels. I'm using Claude chat in the desktop app with a folder connected. Do all the work on my computer inside that folder. I'm not technical, so explain each step in one plain sentence before you do it, and handle every install and command yourself. If you need me to do something (approve a step, click a setting, log in), tell me exactly what to click.

INSTALL THE TOOLS
1. Check whether yt-dlp, ffmpeg, and Whisper (openai-whisper) are installed, and check how much free disk space there is. Tell me what's missing and how you'll install it, then wait for me to say yes.
2. Install or update yt-dlp to the latest version.
3. Install ffmpeg if it's missing.
4. For Whisper, install the CPU-only version of PyTorch first from https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu, then install openai-whisper with that same address as an extra index. Don't install any GPU, CUDA, or nvidia packages. Use pip's --no-cache-dir option so the install doesn't fill up the disk.
5. Run each install in the foreground and wait for it to finish. Don't start installs in the background, because they can get stopped partway.
6. If an install fails or the disk gets full, stop, clean up the partial download files, and tell me what happened before trying again.
7. When everything is installed, confirm each tool works by printing its version.

CONNECT CHROME
8. Check whether you can use Claude in Chrome in this chat. If you can't, walk me through it one step at a time:
   - Install the Claude extension from the Chrome Web Store, sign in, and pin it.
   - In the Claude desktop app: Settings → Connectors → Claude in Chrome → turn it on.
   - In this chat, turn on Claude in Chrome from the connectors menu.
9. Open instagram.com in Chrome and check that I'm logged in to my account. If I'm not, tell me to log in and wait.
10. Open one of my recent reels and check where you can see its numbers: the reel's page, its "View insights" option if there is one, or Meta Business Suite (business.facebook.com → Insights). Tell me which numbers you could find in each place.

When it's all done, tell me setup is finished and that I can paste in the breakdown prompt.

Part 2 · Breakdown

Break down your reels

Claude downloads each reel, reads its numbers, and tells you what to keep and what to drop.

How to use it

  1. 1In Chrome, log in to instagram.com as the account that posted the reels. Claude reads their numbers from there.
  2. 2In a chat with the same folder connected, paste the prompt below.
  3. 3Replace [paste link] with your reel links, one per line, and fill in your usual numbers.
  4. 4Add your 3 best and 3 worst reels. Claude finishes with the patterns that show up across them.

The prompt

You're my Instagram content strategist. Break down the reel(s) below so I learn what to repeat and what to drop. Do the work on my computer in the connected folder. If yt-dlp, ffmpeg, or Whisper are missing, tell me to run the setup prompt first.

BEFORE YOU START
Open instagram.com in Chrome and check that I'm logged in as the account that posted these reels. If I'm not, tell me to log in and wait. You can't see the numbers without it.

FOR EACH REEL
1. Use yt-dlp to download the reel and pull its caption. Use ffmpeg to grab the audio and save frames from the first 3 seconds, then transcribe the audio locally with Whisper using the "base" model. Fix obvious mis-heard words, like brand or tool names, using the caption. Don't change anything else.
2. If Instagram blocks the download with a login error, stop and ask me before retrying with my browser cookies. Don't save the cookie file anywhere permanent, and delete it when you're done.
3. Use Claude in Chrome to get the reel's numbers: views, likes, comments, shares, saves, and average watch time. Check the reel's page first, then its insights, then Meta Business Suite. If you can't find a number, say which one and keep going.
4. Look at the frames from the first 3 seconds to find the first text on screen.
5. Save the caption, transcript, and numbers as a text file named after the reel.

Then break it down using these details:
- My usual numbers: [typical views, likes and comments]

Answer in this order, one or two plain sentences each:

1. The job: what was it built to get (views, saves, comments, follows, clicks)? Point to the line that shows it.
2. The angle: what's it about, who's it for, and what's the specific take?
3. The hook: quote the first line said and the first text on screen. Why would someone stop?
4. The hold: the shape from start to finish, like hook, steps, payoff, ask. What kept people watching to the end?
5. The ask: what did it ask people to do, and where?
6. The result: compare each number to my usual. Did it do its job?
7. Keep and drop: the 2 or 3 parts to reuse next time, and anything to drop.
8. One rule to take with you: a single sentence I can apply to my next post, with one example from my niche.

Keep it short and plain. If you're guessing, say so. Save each breakdown in a folder called reel-breakdowns.

If I gave you more than one reel, finish with what keeps showing up across them: what to keep doing and what to stop. Only point to patterns that show up in more than one reel.

MY REELS (one link per line)
[paste link]

Doing this for every post is a lot. Marshmallow does it automatically for your posts and your competitors'.

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