Pro guide · from the Reel
Make a week of faceless Instagram Reels from a list of ideas with Claude Code
This kit turns a text file of ideas into a week of faceless Instagram Reels. Each line becomes a 15-second Reel: a hook on screen from the first frame, three points, a payoff and a call to action, set as animated text in one of three looks, with a music bed and a caption ready to paste. You type one prompt, /reels ideas/week-1.txt, and Claude Code writes the words, renders the batch and checks the frames.
- 7 Reels per batch
- 3 looks
- Free tools, your Claude plan
Published · Updated
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The first 150 readers get the whole guide and the kit free with their email. After that it is $12, one payment, no subscription. Price as of October 2026.
- The Reel template (HTML + GSAP, rendered with HyperFrames): 1080 x 1920, 15 seconds, three looks (bold, notes, terminal)
- A Claude skill (SKILL.md): type /reels and the name of your ideas file, and Claude writes, renders and checks the whole batch
- make_reels.py: renders every Reel in one batch, adds the music at -14 LUFS, writes captions, frame strips and a contact sheet
- music.py: a music bed generator in three moods, every sound made by code, with a hit on each cut
- Our two ideas files and the 14 scripts Claude wrote from them
- Four fonts under the Open Font License, with their licence files
- Posting checklist: Instagram specs, safe zones, AI label, what to check before you post
- README with every step, the prompts, and LICENSES.md
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Here is the hook Reel from our first run, shown with two others. The line we gave Claude was "3 signs your hook is too slow":
- Hook: "Your hook is too slow"
- Points: "You say hi before you get to the point", "The first words on screen are your name", "The text appears after the first second"
- Payoff: "Open on the result"
From the prompt to seven finished Reels took 3 minutes 42 seconds on our server, about 2 of them rendering. The files on this page come from a later re-render, 2 minutes 35 seconds without Claude, after we fixed the first frame of the bold hook and edited two Reels by hand (step 6). A second batch, on houseplants, took 6 minutes 16 seconds because Claude spotted two lines it didn't like and rendered again. Everything besides Claude Code is free: HyperFrames renders the video (Apache 2.0), the animation is GSAP (free under its Standard License), and the music comes out of a Python script. No video model, no stock footage, no paid API. The kit is $12 at launch ($29 regular).
How people make these, and what we changed
People who make short videos with Claude Code mostly have Claude write the video as code and render it in a headless browser. HyperFrames' README has Claude write HTML with GSAP and renders it frame by frame. Remotion's own docs add a skill to Claude Code and then you prompt the video. Blotato's walk-through builds 9:16 videos that way and puts "safe zones" for captions in the prompt.
We built the animation once, as a template with three looks, and gave Claude only the words to write. Seven ideas become seven Reels that look like they belong to the same account, and they render in one batch. We chose HyperFrames over Remotion because its licence has no company-size limit; Remotion's licence is free for individuals and companies of up to 3 employees.
What is in the kit
- The Reel template,
index.html: 1080 x 1920, 30 fps, 15 seconds, three looks. Bold is big capitals on colour blocks that change at every cut. Notes is handwriting on lined paper with a yellow marker. Terminal is text typed into a dark code screen. - The
/reelsClaude skill, which turns an ideas file into scripts and runs the batch. make_reels.py, which renders all Reels at once, adds music at -14 LUFS, writes each caption file and makes a contact sheet and frame strips for checking.music.py, which makes a 15-second music bed in three moods (bright pop, warm lo-fi keys, dark synth pulse) with a soft whoosh and hit on each cut.- Our two ideas files, the 14 scripts Claude wrote from them, the four fonts with their licences, a posting checklist and a README.
What you need
- Claude Code. It works with a paid Claude subscription, which is what we used, or with an Anthropic Console account billed per use.
- Node.js 22 or newer; HyperFrames won't install on older versions.
- Python 3.10 or newer. The kit installs NumPy for you in step 2.
- About 400 MB of disk for HyperFrames and its Chrome, plus 2 to 5 MB per finished Reel.
We ran everything on a Linux server with 8 CPU cores, 15 GB of RAM and no graphics card. We didn't test macOS or Windows.
The steps
Step 1: Check your tools
Run these four commands. You need Node 22 or newer and Python 3.10 or newer; any recent FFmpeg and Claude Code will do:
node -v
ffmpeg -version | head -1
python3 --version
claude --version
If claude is missing, install it from the link above and run claude once to log in. The headless runs later in this guide fail with "Not logged in · Please run /login" until you have.
Everything from step 2 on uses the kit's template and scripts. The download link is in the unlock box on this page.
Step 2: Set up the kit and render a test Reel
In the pro guide
Step 3: Write your ideas file
In the pro guide
Step 4: Ask Claude for the week
In the pro guide
Step 5: Read what it made
In the pro guide
Step 6: Change a Reel without Claude
In the pro guide
Step 7: Post
In the pro guide
Questions people ask
Do I need a graphics card?
No. We ran everything on a server with 8 CPU cores, 15 GB of RAM and no graphics card, where rendering seven 15-second Reels took about 2 minutes 20 seconds. We didn't test a slower machine; expect the render to take longer with fewer cores. HyperFrames runs one headless Chrome per worker, around 256 MB of RAM each according to its help text.
Will Instagram mute the music or flag it for copyright?
We can't promise either way, because we haven't posted these Reels. What we can say is how the music is made: the kit's music.py generates every drum, chord and bass note in code, with no samples, loops or recordings from anyone else. Automatic matching systems can still make mistakes; if a Reel gets a claim, you can show the script that made the track.
Do I have to add Instagram's AI label?
Meta requires the label on posts with photorealistic video or realistic-sounding audio that was made or changed digitally. These Reels contain animated text and music generated by a script. Meta's statement doesn't say how it treats generated instrumental music, so decide for your account; Instagram lets you turn the label on when you share.
Can I add a voiceover?
Not with this kit: we left voice out so the whole thing stays free. If you want one, we use ElevenLabs in our other video guides. Its free plan is fine for tests, but a commercial licence needs a paid plan.
What does it cost to run?
The tools are free: HyperFrames (Apache 2.0), GSAP (free Standard License), FFmpeg, Python, NumPy and the fonts. Claude Code itself needs a Claude subscription (what we used) or an Anthropic Console account with API billing. Claude Code reported $0.63 and $0.67 at API prices for our two batches of seven; on a Claude subscription that comes out of your plan's usage instead.
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