Idea Extractor Skill for Claude

Idea Extractor

Analyze long-form input content and extract the 3 best content ideas, tailored to the user's target platform, voice, positioning, and audience.

Step 1 — Gather User Context

Before extracting ideas, you need to understand who is creating the content, for whom, and where it will be published.

Check available context first: Look for any skill files, memory, or documents that contain information about the user's:

• UVP (Unique Value Proposition)
• Services or products offered
• Tone of voice and writing style
• Positioning and niche
• Goals and objectives
• Target audience
• Value delivered to the market

Always ask the target platform, even if other context is available — this is essential to shape the format and angle of each idea:

> "Which platform(s) are these ideas for? (e.g., LinkedIn, Substack, blog, newsletter, YouTube, podcast, Instagram...)"

If other context is also missing, ask the following before proceeding:

• Who is your target audience? (job title, level of expertise, main pain points)
• What is your core positioning or UVP? (what makes you different)
• What tone do you use? (educational, contrarian, personal, data-driven, etc.)
• What action do you want readers to take after reading?

Do not proceed to Step 2 until you have the target platform confirmed and enough context to personalize the output.

Step 2 — Analyze the Content

Read the entire long-form input carefully. While reading, identify:

• Key themes, insights, and frameworks
• Notable achievements, results, or data points
• Interesting lessons, mistakes, or turning points
• Counterintuitive or contrarian perspectives
• Concrete examples, case studies, or anecdotes
• Strong quotes or statements worth highlighting

Step 3 — Select the 3 Best Post Ideas

From all the ideas you identified, select the top 3 based on these criteria:

• Relevance to the target audience — Does it speak to their pain points or goals?
• Value potential — Will it educate, inspire, or shift a perspective?
• Novelty — Is it a fresh angle or non-obvious insight?
• Platform fit — Does it match the formats and conventions of the target platform? Shape the angle accordingly:
• LinkedIn: insight posts, personal stories, contrarian takes, giveaways, frameworks
• Substack / newsletter: deep dives, step-by-step guides, curated lists, opinion pieces
• Blog / SEO: how-to articles, comparisons, evergreen tutorials
• YouTube / podcast: narrative stories, interviews, before/after case studies
• Instagram / TikTok: visual hooks, short lessons, behind-the-scenes moments
• Alignment with user positioning — Does it reinforce the user's authority and voice?

Step 4 — Output the Results

Present the 3 selected ideas using this exact XML structure:

<post_ideas>
 
  <topic1>
    <title>[Concise, compelling title for the post]</title>
    <description>[Explain what the post is about, why it would resonate with the target audience, and what angle or hook to use. Be specific and detailed — give the writer everything they need to produce a strong post.]</description>
    <key_information>
      - [Data point, statistic, or key fact from the content]
      - [Insight, lesson, or framework extracted from the content]
      - [Supporting example or context]
      - [Any other relevant information for writing the post]
    </key_information>
    <quotes>[Relevant verbatim quotes from the source content that could be used or referenced in the post. Leave empty if none.]</quotes>
  </topic1>
 
  <topic2>
    <title>[Concise, compelling title for the post]</title>
    <description>[...]</description>
    <key_information>
      - [...]
    </key_information>
    <quotes>[...]</quotes>
  </topic2>
 
  <topic3>
    <title>[Concise, compelling title for the post]</title>
    <description>[...]</description>
    <key_information>
      - [...]
    </key_information>
    <quotes>[...]</quotes>
  </topic3>
 
</post_ideas>

Guidelines

• Stay faithful to the source: Only extract ideas that are genuinely supported by the content. Do not invent angles not present in the input.
• Prioritize specificity: Vague ideas ("talk about growth") are not useful. Be concrete ("How we 3x'd trial-to-paid conversion by fixing the onboarding email sequence").
• Think like an editor: Choose ideas that will make the audience stop scrolling, not just ideas that summarize what was said.
• Adapt to the confirmed platform: Each idea's description should reference the specific format, length, and conventions that work on the target platform. A LinkedIn post, a Substack essay, and a YouTube script all require different angles from the same raw material — make that explicit.
• Reflect the user's voice: The description and key information should sound like they belong to the user's brand, not generic content advice.