You already did the hard part: you recorded the thing. Somewhere in that 20-minute video there's a LinkedIn post, a short X thread, a newsletter and three or four clips. The problem is that writing all of them by hand takes longer than the video did, and asking a chatbot to "turn this into posts" gets you five posts that sound like nobody.
The fix is a skill: a folder of instructions Claude Code loads when you ask for it. If you haven't built one before, start with Skills are the new SOPs. This post is the specific recipe: transcript in, platform-native drafts out, your voice intact, and you still press "post".
Get a clean transcript
Everything downstream depends on this. A transcript with your product name misspelled produces posts with your product name misspelled.
Three ways to get one, depending on where the video lives:
It's on your YouTube channel. In YouTube Studio, open Subtitles, pick the video, click Edit next to the language, then Options and Download subtitles. You get a caption file with timestamps. If you only have YouTube's automatic captions, the yt-dlp command below can fetch those directly.
You want to script it. yt-dlp is a free command-line downloader that can fetch just the captions without the video:
yt-dlp --write-auto-subs --sub-langs en --skip-download "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOUR_VIDEO_ID"
Use --write-subs instead of --write-auto-subs if you uploaded your own captions. Stick to videos you own or have permission to reuse.
It's a file on your computer. OpenAI's Whisper runs locally and is free. It needs ffmpeg installed. This writes an .srt file with timestamps:
whisper episode-12.mp4 --model turbo --output_format srt
Whichever route you take, keep the timestamps. They're how the skill will point you at clip-worthy moments. Then skim the transcript once and fix names, brands and jargon. Five minutes here saves you fixing the same typo in five drafts.
Set up the skill folder
Put the skill in your project so it travels with your content:
.claude/skills/repurpose-video/
├── SKILL.md
├── style-guide.md
└── examples/
├── linkedin/
├── x/
└── newsletter/
SKILL.md holds the steps. style-guide.md holds your rules. The examples/ folders hold real posts you've written that did well. Claude Code only loads the supporting files when the skill runs, so they don't cost you anything the rest of the time.
Write a style guide that says something
Most style guides say "friendly but professional". That describes every brand on earth. Write down rules a stranger could check. Here's an example to adapt; the specifics are placeholders for yours:
# How I write
## Voice
- Short sentences. One idea per paragraph.
- I say "you", not "we" or "one".
- I explain jargon the first time in plain words.
- Dry humor is fine. Exclamation marks are not.
## Words I never use
game-changer, unlock, supercharge, delve, "in today's world",
"let that sink in", "here's the thing"
## Habits
- Open with the most useful sentence, not a setup.
- End with a question only if I actually want answers.
- No hashtags on LinkedIn. At most one on X.
- Numbers only if I said them in the video.
## Audience
Solo founders and creators who are busy and skeptical.
Collect examples, not adjectives
This is the part people skip, and it's the part that matters most. Telling Claude "be punchy" is vague. Showing it three of your best LinkedIn posts is specific.
Drop three to five of your own real posts into each examples folder, one per file: examples/linkedin/pricing-mistake.md, and so on. Pick posts that did well and that you'd still be happy to have written. If a platform's folder is empty, the skill should say so rather than guess, which is why the instructions below tell it to.
The skill itself
Here's a complete SKILL.md. The frontmatter (the block between the --- lines) tells Claude Code what the skill is. disable-model-invocation: true means it only runs when you type the command, never on its own. $ARGUMENTS is replaced with whatever you type after the command, here the transcript path, and ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR} is replaced with the skill's own folder.
---
name: repurpose-video
description: Turns a video transcript into draft posts for LinkedIn, X, a newsletter and a short-clips list, in the creator's own voice. Use when asked to repurpose a video, podcast or talk.
argument-hint: [transcript-file]
disable-model-invocation: true
---
# Repurpose a video
Transcript: $ARGUMENTS
## Before writing anything
1. Read the whole transcript.
2. Read ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/style-guide.md and follow it strictly.
3. For each platform, read every file in ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/examples/<platform>/.
Match their length, rhythm and structure. If a folder is empty, say so
in notes.md and keep that draft plain.
4. List the 3 to 5 strongest ideas in the video. One idea per post.
## Hard rules
- Use only facts, numbers, stories and claims that appear in the transcript.
Never add statistics, examples or credentials.
- Quotes must be word for word, with the timestamp.
- If something in the transcript is unclear, write [CHECK: reason] instead of guessing.
- Don't post, schedule or send anything. Drafts only.
## What to write
Create a folder drafts/<transcript file name>/ with these files:
### linkedin.md
Two different posts, each built on one idea. The first two lines must work
on their own. Short paragraphs. No hashtags unless the style guide allows them.
### x.md
Three standalone posts and one thread of 3 to 5 posts. Every post must fit
X's 280-character limit (each link counts as 23 characters).
Write the character count under each post.
### newsletter.md
Three subject line options, then one issue: a short intro, the main idea
explained properly, one practical takeaway, one call to action.
### clips.md
5 to 8 moments that work as standalone short clips. For each:
- start and end timestamps copied from the transcript, never estimated
- the opening line, verbatim
- why it works without context, in one sentence
- a caption draft
### notes.md
Every [CHECK] flag, every claim a reader might question, and a suggested
posting order for the week.
When done, list the files you created and the top three things to check.
Run it
Open Claude Code in your content folder and type the command with the transcript path:
/repurpose-video transcripts/episode-12.srt
A few minutes later you have a drafts/episode-12/ folder. A sensible week, as an example: Monday the stronger LinkedIn post, Tuesday the X thread, Wednesday and Friday a clip each, Thursday the newsletter. notes.md will suggest an order too, but you know your audience better than the transcript does.
The first run is a starting point, not the finish line. Stay in the same session and ask for changes in plain words:
- "LinkedIn post 2 is too long. Cut it to the first idea only."
- "The thread's opening post is a setup. Lead with the surprising part."
- "Clip 3 starts mid-sentence. Find a cleaner start within ten seconds."
- "Rewrite the newsletter intro without the question."
Specific requests get specific fixes. "Make it better" gets a different post, not a better one.
If you notice yourself asking for the same fix every week, that's a rule missing from the style guide or the skill. Move it there once, and stop asking. That's how the skill gets better without you writing a longer prompt each time.
The same skill works for anything with a transcript: a podcast episode, a webinar, a conference talk, a long voice memo. A recorded customer call works too, but only with the customer's permission, and strip their name and company before anything gets near a public post.
Keep your voice
The skill gets you most of the way. These habits close the gap:
- Read every draft out loud. If you wouldn't say it on camera, cut it.
- Grow the kill list. Every time you delete a phrase Claude loves, add it to "Words I never use". The guide gets sharper each week.
- Promote your edits. When a post you edited performs well, save your final version into the examples folder. Over time the examples become your best work, not your average work.
- Don't let it add. The rule "only use what's in the transcript" is the one that keeps you honest. A made-up statistic under your name is worse than a plain post.
Review before you post
The skill drafts. You publish. Before anything goes out, run this quick check:
- Clear every
[CHECK]innotes.md. - Compare each quote with the video at its timestamp.
- Check every number against what you actually said.
- Open each link.
- Paste X posts into the composer and confirm they fit.
- Watch each clip range before cutting it. A great sentence sometimes starts mid-thought.
Then schedule them yourself, in whatever tool you already use. Twenty minutes of review is still a lot less than a day of writing from scratch.
Sources
- Extend Claude with skills (Claude Code docs)
- yt-dlp README (GitHub)
- Whisper README (GitHub)
- Edit or remove captions (YouTube Help)
- Counting characters (X developer docs)