Every article, long video and podcast episode you make holds a week of Shorts. Turning each one into Shorts by hand is the part that never gets done: pick the moment, write the hook, record, cut, caption, post. This page shows how I run that job in Claude Code, one step at a time, from one source to a week of Shorts and Reels.
Why one prompt gives you bad Shorts
The "Shorts with AI" clips going round make it look like one prompt. However, try one on a real article and you get clips that only make sense to someone who read the article.
I learned this on my own lessons. My first Shorts were cut from phrases inside a lesson, and they only made sense to someone who had already watched it. A Short is seen by a stranger who never saw the source. So the moments are picked from the source, and the words are written fresh for that stranger.
What you need before you start
- Claude Code on a paid Claude plan, and some time already spent in it. Pro is the minimum.
- ffmpeg, Python and a Whisper model that times every word, for cutting and captions.
- HyperFrames, free and open source from HeyGen, to render captions, hook cards and cover frames.
- One source you own: an article, one of your YouTube videos or a transcript.
The flow: one source to a week of Shorts
- Set your brand style once. One style file from your logo, your site and two or three Shorts you like: colours, fonts, captions and hook cards. Then pick a preset that sets length, shape and pacing.
- Read in the source. An article link, a video or a transcript, with every sentence tagged with where it came from.
- Pick the moments a stranger gets. Claude lists the moments that work for someone who never saw the source, with the reason each one made the list. You check every pick.
- Write a script per moment. The hook lands in the first seconds. Leave the call to action out of the script and put it in the pinned comment.
- Record in one sitting. Read the scripts off a phone-shaped prompter. Say "retake" after a fumble and start the line again.
- Split and cut. The sitting becomes one Short per script, with pauses, retakes and false starts cut and names fixed before the captions.
- Finish for a phone. Captions a viewer can read with the sound off, word pops, a hook card and a cover frame.
- Check every Short. A separate checker looks for sync, leftover retakes, loudness at -14 LUFS, frozen frames and private details on screen.
- Package and schedule. A title, caption and pinned comment per platform, laid out on a posting schedule you approve.
Already have a long video? Skip the recording. Claude picks moments from your own footage, reframes them to vertical around your face and adds a hook card.
Two details that are easy to miss
Pick your own cover frame. If you leave it to YouTube, it picks one for you. On my first seven Shorts it chose a dim diagram from the middle of the video every time. I now build the cover from the hook frame and set it in YouTube Studio, because the API does not accept a thumbnail for a Short.
Pick topics people already watch. Before I script a batch, I look for Shorts topics that beat their own channel's usual views on three or more channels. A great edit does not save a topic nobody is searching for.
Build your own Shorts pipeline with me
This is what my live workshop covers, on Sunday 6 December, 9 AM to 1 PM ET. You bring a source and build your own pipeline while I build on mine. You get my kit of 10 Claude Code skills and four presets: Shorts and Reels, UGC ad, product clip and video ad. A follow-up clinic a week later fixes what broke when you ran it alone. It is $499. Save your seat on Maven.
The workshop is fast and assumes you already work in Claude Code. New to it? Start with Claude Code Builder, my six-week live cohort that starts from a blank folder. Editing long-form videos instead? Read my 14-step flow for editing YouTube videos with Claude Code. Not sure which fits? See the whole path.