Claude Skills for Instagram: Reels, Carousels and Captions

Claude Skills can turn one Instagram brief into a Reel outline, a carousel plan and a caption without starting from scratch three times. The useful part is the repeatable process: you supply the audience, the point you want to make and the facts it can use. The skill keeps those inputs consistent across formats.

Here’s how to build that workflow yourself. I’ve also made a free Instagram Content Studio Skill you can download, with an editable brief, a worked example and a setup guide.

What a Claude Skill for Instagram does

A Claude Skill is a set of instructions Claude can load when a task calls for it. For Instagram planning, that means you can define a process once: check the brief, find one clear idea, adapt it for different formats and flag anything that needs a human check. It does not connect to your Instagram account or publish a post.

This is especially useful when you create several assets around one topic. A Reel needs a spoken opening and visual beats. A carousel needs a sequence that makes sense slide by slide. A caption needs enough context to stand on its own. They should agree on the facts without copying the same sentences.

Start with one useful brief

Give Claude the information you would give a colleague. Before you ask for content, write down:

• Audience and problem: who is this for, and what are they trying to do?
• One takeaway: what should someone remember after seeing the post?
• Approved facts: product details, dates, prices, links, examples or claims Claude may use.
• Voice: a short sample of your writing and any words or styles to avoid.
• Action: what, if anything, should the reader do next?
• Production limits: whether you can film yourself, use screenshots, make graphics or show customer material.

For example, “promote our workshop” leaves almost everything open. “Explain one way a marketing manager can use AI to turn a customer question into three useful post ideas; avoid claims about reach; invite them to a free live workshop” gives Claude something to work with. Add the actual workshop details only when you have confirmed them.

A starter prompt for three Instagram formats

Copy this prompt to try the workflow without installing anything. Replace the brackets with your own brief.

Act as my Instagram content editor. Use only the facts in my brief. If a key detail is missing, ask up to three short questions before drafting. Never invent a result, testimonial, product feature, date or price.

Audience: [who this is for]
One takeaway: [the single idea to communicate]
Approved facts and examples: [paste them here]
Voice sample: [paste a short example of my writing]
Action or link: [what I want readers to do, if anything]
Production limits: [what I can film or design]

Create three related but distinct options:
1. A 30–45 second Reel plan with a spoken hook, 4–6 visual beats, voiceover and a closing action.
2. A six-slide carousel outline with one point per slide and a clear progression.
3. A caption of no more than 150 words that makes sense without seeing the other formats.

For each, show the main idea first. Keep the language natural and specific. Mark any claim that needs checking. Finish with a short production checklist. Do not add hashtags unless I ask.

Think of this as a first draft, not a content calendar. If Claude produces three versions of the same opening sentence, ask it to give each format a different job. The Reel can demonstrate the idea, the carousel can teach the steps and the caption can add context or a question.

Worked example: one idea, three posts

This is an illustrative example written for this article, not a transcript of a Claude response. The brief is for an educator helping small marketing teams use AI. The approved idea is simple: take one recurring customer question and use it to plan content. There are no performance claims or invented customer quotes.

Reel: show the change

Opening: “Stuck for your next Instagram post? Look at the question your customers asked this week.” The next shots show an anonymised question, three possible angles and one rough post outline. The closing line asks the viewer to try the method with a real question from their own audience. A human would check that the question is genuinely common and that the screenshot reveals no personal information.

Carousel: teach the method

1. One customer question can become several useful posts.
2. Write the question in the customer’s own words, with private details removed.
3. Answer it directly in one sentence.
4. List the steps someone needs to take.
5. Show a concrete example or a common mistake.
6. Ask what question the audience wants answered next.

Each slide has a distinct purpose. If a slide needs a paragraph to make sense, split the idea or move the detail into the caption.

Caption: add context

“The best place to find your next content idea might be your inbox. Pick a question you’ve answered more than once. Write the short answer first, then show the steps or an example. That gives people something they can use, and it gives you a clearer starting point than a blank content calendar. Remove names and private details before you share anything. What question does your audience keep asking?”

That caption works on its own. It supports the Reel or carousel but does not depend on someone seeing either one.

Make the workflow reusable with a Claude Skill

The downloadable pack turns the starter into a fuller process. It asks for missing information, separates approved facts from suggestions, develops a different angle for each format and checks the drafts against the original brief. It includes an editable brief so you can reuse it for your own business or a client.

After the email form accepts your signup, the download link appears on this page. Existing newsletter subscribers can enter the same email address. The ZIP contains a second ZIP called instagram-content-studio-claude.zip, which is the file to upload to Claude, plus a setup guide, brief template and worked example.

Install the Instagram Skill in Claude

1. Download and unzip the pack. Leave instagram-content-studio-claude.zip zipped.
2. In Claude, enable code execution and file creation if needed. On a work account, your organisation may control access to Skills.
3. Open Customize → Skills → + Create skill → Upload a skill and choose the inner ZIP.
4. Enable the Skill, paste in your completed brief and ask Claude to create Instagram options using Instagram Content Studio.

Anthropic’s custom Skills guide explains the ZIP format, and its Skills setup guide has the current account instructions.

Check before you post

Read the drafts against your source material. Check names, dates, prices, links and any claims. Make sure the spoken Reel is possible to film, the carousel slides will be legible on a phone and the caption still sounds like you. Ask permission before using customer messages or images, even when names have been removed.

Claude can help with a first pass, but you decide what deserves publishing. A good post starts with a useful point for your audience and ends with a draft you can stand behind.

If you want more repeatable workflows, see my nine Claude Skills for social media managers. For a broader publishing plan, try the AI-powered content calendar guide.