Content systems Claude

The /hooks skill: build your hook machine

Hey, it's Cindy 🧠 Feed the skill ten real opening lines from creators in your niche. It learns the mechanisms, generates twenty new hooks, grades them, and rejects near-copies.

btw the waitlist for AI System Club is now open! If you're keen on using AI to automate your content, video editing, job search, business or build AI agents, feel free to sign up (only if you want to hehe). Ps. the waitlist gets first dibs:)

Download the skill

Download: https://cindyzhu.com.au/guides/files/hooks-skill.zip

Install it in Claude

Open Claude.
Click Customize.
Open Skills.
Click Upload a Skill.
Drag in hooks-skill.zip.

Official instructions: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12512198-how-to-create-custom-skills

Build your starter comparison set

Choose ten relevant short-form videos. Copy only the first spoken line from each one.

Use a mix:

3 from the largest creators in your niche
3 from smaller creators with an obvious outlier
2 that made you stop even though the topic was unfamiliar
2 that looked polished but did not make you care

Keep creator, link, opening line, views, and the creator’s typical views if you know them. Never invent missing metrics.

#	Creator	Reel link	Opening line	Views	Typical views
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Run `/hooks`

Paste:

/hooks

TOPIC: [YOUR TOPIC]
AUDIENCE: [WHO THIS IS FOR]

OPENING LINES
1. [LINE]
2. [LINE]
3. [LINE]
4. [LINE]
5. [LINE]
6. [LINE]
7. [LINE]
8. [LINE]
9. [LINE]
10. [LINE]

The skill returns:

a verbatim hook map
a mechanism label for each line
patterns across the set
twenty new hooks across five mechanism families
clarity, tension, and payoff scores
an anti-copy check
the top five to test

What the mechanism labels mean

Curiosity gap: opens a specific unanswered question.
Consequence: makes the cost of ignoring the topic visible.
Proof: uses a real number, result, demonstration, or constraint.
Scenario: puts the viewer inside a recognisable moment.
Result: names the concrete transformation.
Contradiction: overturns an assumption without becoming vague clickbait.
Warning: protects the viewer from a real mistake.
Identity: speaks to a specific person or role.
Story open: begins at a moment that forces the next line.

The label is not the output. The useful part is the exact unanswered question or payoff each line creates.

The grading rubric

Every new hook is scored from 1 to 5:

Clarity: can the topic be understood in one second?
Tension: is there a real question, consequence, or contrast?
Payoff: can the body deliver what the line implies?

A high score does not guarantee reach. Use it to remove weak openings before you film.

Add your own data later

After you publish, add:

three-second hold
average watch time
completion rate
shares and saves
the exact first line

Ask /hooks to compare your winners with the original comparison set. Weight your own repeated results above someone else’s viral line.

One viral hook can be a fluke. A pattern across ten is a strategy. A pattern across your own repeated tests is the moat.