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How to Make Viral Reels With Claude the Right Way
The Ootto Team · 9 min read · November 6, 2026
Everybody's making videos with Claude, but there's a right way and a wrong way.
The wrong way: tell Claude to make a reel, download it, upload it, and hope.
The right way is a system: five jobs Claude does for you, and six steps to set them up. Every job and every step below has a prompt you can copy. If you would rather run the whole thing in one go, the one big prompt is at the end.
The five jobs
Our own account, @jayantcreates.ai, has over 7 million views and 38,000 followers, running Instagram this way with Claude. It comes down to five jobs, and Claude does all five. Each job has its own prompt. Connect Ootto first (step 1), then paste a job into a chat whenever you need it.
1. Researcher finds what's going viral in your niche and ranks it by views.
Use Ootto. You are my researcher. My niche is [your niche]. Find what is going viral in it right now and rank it by views, highest first. For each reel show me the views, how far it beat its own account's usual, the hook and the format. If anything costs credits, tell me the cost first and wait for my yes. Do not make or post anything.
Change the words in brackets.
2. Writer scripts in your voice, and every correction becomes a rule.
Use Ootto. You are my writer. Write a script on [the reel or idea] in my voice, from my brand brain: the hook, each beat, the payoff and one action. Use only my real facts and never make up a number. Every time I correct you, save the correction as a rule in my brand brain so every script after this follows it, and tell me you saved it. Show me the script and wait for my yes. Do not make or post anything.
Change the words in brackets. Add your voice with step 3 below.
3. Editor builds the whole reel: visuals, captions and sound.
Use Ootto. You are my editor. Build the whole reel from the script I approved: visuals, captions and sound, in my brand. Use my own footage from [your website or a shared folder link]. First tell me what it costs in credits and wait for my yes. Then show me the finished reel with its caption and wait for my approval. Do not post anything.
Change the words in brackets.
4. Poster posts only after you say yes.
Use Ootto. You are my poster. Show me the reel and its caption and ask me when it should go out. Post it or book it only after I say yes to this reel. If I have not said yes, post nothing. Tell me when it is live or booked.
Nothing goes out until you say yes.
5. A/B tester runs a bunch of trial reels, same idea with different hooks, in front of people who don't follow you yet. The winner goes to your main page.
Use Ootto. You are my A/B tester. Take [one idea] and write 3 or 4 different hooks for it. Show me the hooks and wait for my yes. Tell me what it costs in credits and wait for my yes, then make one reel for each hook. Show me each reel, and with my yes on each one, post it as an Instagram trial reel, so people who do not follow me yet see it first. Set each one to stay a trial until I share it, so only the winner reaches my followers. If Instagram refuses a trial reel, nothing has gone out: tell me what it said and ask me before posting it as a normal reel. Once they have had time to run, read the numbers on each one and tell me which hook won and why. If you cannot read a trial reel's numbers, tell me and I will check them in Instagram.
You share the winner to your followers yourself, in the Instagram app.
Each trial stays a trial until you share it, so your followers only see the winner. Ootto can't move a trial reel to your main page for you, so you share the winner in the Instagram app. Instagram lets only some accounts post trial reels: step 5 says what to do if yours is refused.
Step 1: Connect your Instagram to Claude
Claude can't see your Instagram on its own. Ootto is the connector that lets it.
- In Claude (claude.ai or the desktop app), go to Customize > Connectors > Add custom connector. On some versions of Claude, Customize is called Settings.
- Name it Ootto and paste https://mcp.ootto.ai/mcp. (Open the form with Ootto filled in.)
- Click Connect and sign in to Ootto. No key to copy.
- Connect your Instagram when it asks.
On a phone, add the connector once on a computer and it works in the Claude app too. Every screen is in the connector guide.
The connector needs a paid Ootto plan (weekly plan: $10/week). Every plan is on the pricing page.
What Ootto gives Claude:
- Your real numbers. Reach, profile visits, link clicks and follows for your account, and the reach, comments, shares, saves and watch time of each post.
- Your own winners. The reels that beat your usual views, with their hooks, and a full audit of your account.
- What's working in your niche. Real reels from Instagram's own search, each with its views against that creator's usual, and the creators and hooks your research found.
- Any reel, taken apart. Paste a link and Claude gets the hook, the words, the frames and why it worked.
- A brand brain. Your voice, your do's and don'ts and your standing rules, saved so every reel follows them.
- Your own material. Photos and videos from your website, a shared folder or your past posts, plus your own cloned voice.
- The making. Finished reels and carousels in your brand, with captions, in your Ootto account.
- The posting. Post now or book a time, as a normal reel or a trial reel, only when you approve it.
- Your comments. Read and reply to comments, and send what you promised by message when someone comments your word.
Use Ootto. Tell me which of my accounts has Instagram connected. If none has, tell me how to connect mine. Then read my Instagram numbers for the last month and tell me in plain words how my account is doing.
Paste this into a new chat once Ootto is added.
Step 2: Ask what's going viral in your niche
Don't guess what to post. Ask for the reels that beat their own account's usual, because a small account's surprise hit tells you more than a big account's normal day.
Use Ootto. My niche is [your niche]. Find what is going viral in it right now: the reels that did far better than their own account's usual, not just the biggest numbers. For each one show me the views, the hook, the format and why it worked. Then find my own outliers the same way. If anything costs credits, tell me the cost first and wait for my yes.
Change the words in brackets.
Step 3: Build a brand brain: your voice, your do's and don'ts, your editing
This is what stops a reel from sounding like everyone else's. Claude reads your website and your Instagram, and you correct what it got wrong. Anything you confirm is saved, so you only say it once.
Use Ootto. Build my brand brain. My website is [your website]. Read it and my Instagram, and show me what you learned: my voice, who I serve and what I sell. Then ask me for my do's and don'ts and how I like my reels edited. Look at how my best reels are cut and show me what you found. Save what I confirm, so every reel follows it.
Change the words in brackets. No website? Say so and it works from your Instagram.
Step 4: Recreate those reels in your voice
Keep what made the winner work: the structure, the pacing, the kind of hook. Change everything else, so it's your story, your facts and your footage.
Claude shows you the scripts first, and nothing is made until you pick. It tells you if something costs credits, and waits for your yes.
Use Ootto. Take the winners you found and write me 5 or 6 reels, each on a different topic, in my voice from my brand brain. Keep each winner's structure, never its words. Use only my real facts and never make up a number. Show me the scripts and wait for me to pick. Then tell me what it costs in credits and wait for my yes. Then make them with my own footage from [your website or a shared folder link], and show me each reel with its caption. Do not post anything.
Change the words in brackets.
Step 5: Post 5 or 6 trial reels on different topics
This is the step most people miss.
A trial reel is shown first to people who don't follow you. Your followers don't see it in their feed, so you can test a topic without filling your page with it. Post 5 or 6 on different topics and you find out which topic strangers care about.
Yes, Ootto can post trial reels for you. You choose what happens next: Instagram shares it with your followers by itself if it does well, or it stays a trial until you share it yourself in the Instagram app.
Use Ootto. Post the reels I approve as Instagram trial reels, one at a time, each on a different topic. Show me each reel and its caption first and wait for my yes. Ask me whether Instagram should share it with my followers by itself when it does well, or whether I will do that myself. If Instagram refuses a trial reel, nothing has gone out: tell me what it said and ask me before posting it as a normal reel.
Instagram lets only some accounts post trial reels. See below if yours is refused.
If Instagram refuses a trial reel, nothing goes out and Claude tells you what Instagram said. Instagram says trial reels need a professional account. It also turns some accounts away for not having enough followers, and it doesn't publish the number. Reconnecting won't change that. So switch to a professional account in the Instagram app if you haven't, and if you're still refused, post the same reels as normal reels, with your yes. You still learn which topic wins, your followers just see them too.
Trial reels are reels only. A carousel or a story can't be a trial.
Step 6: Set a daily task so Claude finds the clear winners
Once your trial reels are out, you need someone checking them every day. A scheduled task in Claude does that.
The rule for this task: nobody is there to answer when it runs, so it only researches, writes ideas and reports. Nothing is posted, made or charged without your own yes. That rule is written into the prompt, so keep it in if you change the wording.
CONTENT TEAM - DAILY REPORT Use Ootto, the connector I added. Do not guess anything it can look up. If a step fails, say what failed and stop. Nobody is watching this run, so you may only research, write ideas and report. Never make a reel, post, book a post, spend a credit or change my account. If something would spend credits, skip it and list it for me. 1. Research. Read my own newest reels and their numbers, and what my Ootto research board already holds for my niche. 2. Winners. Compare each reel I posted lately, trial reels included, with my usual. Name the clear winners with their numbers. If there is no clear winner yet, say so. 3. Ideas. For each clear winner, write 3 new ways to tell it: the same topic with a new hook or a new angle, in my voice, following my saved do's and don'ts. Use only my real facts and never make up a number. 4. Report. Send me the winners, the ideas and anything you skipped. When I want one made, I will open a new chat and say which one.
Save this as the task's prompt. Keep the second paragraph: it is the rule that stops an unattended run.
How to save it as a scheduled task
Which plans have it: all paid Claude plans (Pro, Max, Ultra, Team and Enterprise). On Team and Enterprise, your admin controls access to Cowork. It isn't on the free plan of Claude.
If your message box has no "Chat" and "Cowork" options:
- In any conversation, say "Every day at 8 AM, run this:" and paste the prompt above.
- Answer any questions Claude asks.
- Check the name, the schedule and the instructions it shows you, then click Schedule.
If you have Claude Cowork:
- Click Scheduled in the left sidebar.
- Click New task in the upper right, then Set up manually.
- Give it a name and paste the prompt above.
- Choose an approval mode, the one that asks you most if you're unsure, and set how often it runs to daily.
- Leave the folder empty, then click Save.
What it needs to keep running:
- Your computer doesn't need to be on. Scheduled tasks run remotely, even when your computer is asleep or the Claude desktop app is closed.
- A task that needs files or apps on your computer only runs there, which is why you leave the folder empty.
- Ootto stays connected in the same Claude account, your Instagram stays connected in Ootto, and your Ootto plan stays active.
Test it once before you rely on it. Click Scheduled, open your task and run it on demand, then read the report. Claude's help page says scheduled tasks can use your connected tools, but it doesn't name custom connectors like Ootto. It also doesn't explain the approval modes, what happens to a missed run, or what a run does if a connection needs signing in again. So check three things in that first report: it really read your Ootto numbers, it made and posted nothing, and you can find the report where you expect it. If it couldn't reach Ootto, check your connector under Connectors. You can pause, edit or delete the task from the same page.
Then have Claude retell those winners in new ways
Your report names the winners and gives you new ways to tell them. Pick one and send this in a new chat, where you're there to say yes.
Use Ootto. From my daily report, retell [the winner] as [the idea I picked]. Keep the topic and change the hook or the angle. Write the script in my voice and show it to me. Then tell me what it costs in credits and wait for my yes before you make it. Post it only when I approve that reel.
Change the words in brackets.
Then post it as a trial reel and let the daily task judge it. That's the whole loop.
The one big prompt: your content team
This is the same system as one prompt, run by five jobs, each handing to the next:
- Researcher finds your outliers and what's going viral in your niche.
- Writer builds your brand brain and writes your next reels and carousels in your voice.
- Editor builds what you picked from your own footage, with visuals, captions and sound, after you say yes.
- Poster posts only after you say yes.
- A/B tester runs trial reels with different hooks, finds the clear winners and has them retold in new ways.
It stops and waits for you whenever something would be made, charged or posted. At the end it writes you the daily task from step 6.
MEGA PROMPT - RUN MY INSTAGRAM You are my content team. Use Ootto, the connector I just added, for everything below. Do not guess anything it can look up. If a step fails, tell me what failed and stop. Never make a reel, spend credits, post or book a post without my yes in this chat. Do these jobs in order, and wait for me wherever a job says so. 1. Researcher: find what works. Audit my whole Instagram account with Ootto: every reel and every carousel I have posted and how each did. Find my outliers, the reels that beat my usual views by the most and the carousels that beat my usual saves and shares by the most, and tell me in plain words why each one worked. Then find what is going viral in my niche. Find the accounts in my niche I compete with (ask me if you are not sure) and find their outliers, the reels and carousels that beat their own usual by the most. For each reel, tell me the hook, the format and why it worked. For each carousel, tell me its hook slide, how many slides it has, its format and why it worked. If any of this costs credits, tell me the cost first and wait for my yes. 2. Writer: build my brand brain, then write. Read my brand brain: my voice, my do's and don'ts, my editing. If it is empty or thin, build it from my website and my Instagram, show me what you learned, and save every correction I give you so each reel follows it. Then, using what worked for me and for them, write my next reels and carousels in my voice: 5 or 6 reels on different topics, each one modelled on a winner's structure, never its words. For each one: who it is for, their pain, what others get wrong, why me, my real proof and one action. Use only my real facts and leave out anything you cannot back up. Show me the ideas and wait for me to pick. 3. Editor: build what I picked. Tell me what it costs in credits and wait for my yes. Then make my next reels and carousels with Ootto in my brand: visuals, captions and sound. Use my own footage: take it from my website, or from a shared folder link (ask me for it). Show me each reel with its caption, and each carousel with its hook slide, the text of every slide and its caption, and wait for my approval. 4. Poster: post only after my yes. Post or book each reel and carousel only after I say yes to that one. A carousel cannot be a trial, so it goes out as a normal post. Any reel I want to test goes to the A/B tester instead. 5. A/B tester: test the hooks, then find the winners. Run a bunch of trial reels: the same idea with different hooks. With my yes on each one, post it as an Instagram trial reel, so people who do not follow me yet see it first. Set each one to stay a trial until I share it, so only the winner reaches my followers. If Instagram refuses a trial reel, nothing has gone out: tell me what it said and ask me before posting it as a normal reel. Once they have had time to run, read the numbers on each one and compare them with each other and with my usual. Tell me the clear winners and why they won, so I can share them to my main page in the Instagram app. Then retell each winner in new ways, the same topic with a new hook or a new angle, and hand those to the Writer as my next ideas. Last, my daily task. Write me a short task I can save as a daily scheduled task in Claude. Each run may only research, write ideas and report. It never makes a reel, spends a credit, posts, books a post or changes my account. If you can create scheduled tasks here, show it to me first and save it only when I agree.
Add Ootto to Claude first (step 1), then paste this into a new chat or a Project. On Claude Pro or Max, switch to Opus before you paste it.
The same prompt, with each step shown on screen, is on our main guide.
Ootto
Your 24/7 Instagram Growth Operator
Skip the manual setup
- Posts finished Reels straight to your Instagram
- Real motion-graphic Reels, not slideshows
- Built around your own photos and footage
- Finds winning content opportunities in your niche
- Writes on-brand scripts and captions
- Answers every comment by your own keyword rules
- DMs qualified leads and starts the conversation
- Runs up to 50 Instagram accounts
One AI. Every Post. Every Comment. More Leads. More Sales.
Frequently asked questions
Does Claude post anything without me?
Can Ootto really post a trial reel?
Will the daily task use my credits?
Do I need a paid Claude plan?
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