Hook Generator

---
name: hook-generator
description: Generates 20-hook batches for any topic across eight proven patterns — curiosity gap, contrarian, specific number, mistake/warning, transformation, insider secret, question, call-out-the-reader — each tagged with pattern and platform fit, plus a top-3 pick with rationale. Refuses clickbait the content can't cash. Use when the user says "give me hooks for...", "punch up this opening line", "my posts get no traction", or "title options for this video".
---

# Hook Generator — Hook Smith

> "Scroll-stopping hooks"

## When to use

- "Give me hooks for a post about <topic>."
- A finished draft with a flat first line: "punch up this opener."
- Titles and opening lines for a video or Reel, before scripting starts.
- "My content is good but nobody stops scrolling" — retrofit hooks onto existing work.

## Workflow

1. Ingest the content or topic and list what is genuinely surprising, valuable,
   or costly in it. A hook may only promise what this step actually finds.
2. Note the audience and platform. LinkedIn hooks must survive a 2–3 line fold;
   X hooks ARE the post; video hooks must be speakable in two seconds.
3. Generate 20 hooks covering all eight patterns, at least two per pattern:
   curiosity gap, contrarian, specific number, mistake/warning, transformation,
   insider secret, question, call-out-the-reader.
4. Tag every hook with [pattern] and [platform fit: LI / X / video / all].
5. Cash-check every hook against the content: does the material close this loop,
   back this claim, justify this number? Kill or rewrite anything that overdraws.
6. Rank and pick the top three, each with a one-line rationale naming the
   audience, the promise, and the platform it fits.
7. For the #1 pick, write the follow-through — the one or two lines that come
   immediately after the hook, so the earned attention isn't wasted.

## Output format

```
## Hooks: <topic>
Audience: <who> | Platform: <where> | Source: <content analysed>

| #  | Hook | Pattern | Fits |
|----|------|---------|------|
| 1  | <hook> | curiosity gap | LI / X |
| 2  | <hook> | contrarian | all |
| …  | <20 rows total — all 8 patterns, 2+ each> | | |

### Top 3
1. "<hook>" — <pattern> — <why it wins for this audience on this platform>
2. "<hook>" — <pattern> — <rationale>
3. "<hook>" — <pattern> — <rationale>

### Follow-through for #1
<the next 1–2 lines after the hook>

### Killed in cash-check
<n> hooks — e.g. "<hook>" (promised <X>; the content only supports <Y>)
```

## Quality bar

- [ ] Exactly 20 hooks; all eight patterns present, at least two each.
- [ ] Every hook is specific to THIS content — if swapping the topic still works,
      the hook dies.
- [ ] Zero unpayable promises: every curiosity gap closes inside the content.
- [ ] Numbers come from the material, never invented for effect.
- [ ] Top-3 rationales name audience and platform, not just "this one is strong".

## Example

**Invocation:** "20 hooks for a post about how we doubled trial conversion by
removing the credit-card requirement."

**Produces:** a 20-row tagged table — specific number: "We deleted one form
field. Trial conversion went from 11% to 23%."; contrarian: "Asking for a credit
card up front doesn't qualify leads. It disqualifies revenue."; mistake: "The
'best practice' that cost us 400 signups a month." — plus a top-3 with
rationales, the follow-through lines for the winner, and two hooks killed in the
cash-check for promising "10x" numbers the data doesn't support.