Hook Machine

---
name: hook-machine
description: Generate dozens of scroll-stopping hooks (the first 1-3 seconds / first line) engineered for a specific platform, audience, and format. Use when the user needs hooks, openers, titles, first lines, "make this stop the scroll", or their content gets impressions but no watch-time/clicks. Trigger on hooks, opening lines, titles, thumbnails-text, or low retention at the start. Works with any capable model.
---

# Hook Machine

The hook is 90% of the outcome. On every feed, the first 1-3 seconds (video) or first line (text) decides whether the algorithm keeps showing your content — because it measures whether *humans* stopped. A great piece with a weak hook dies; a mediocre piece with a great hook travels. So generate **many** hooks and select ruthlessly; never ship the first one.

## The mechanism a hook must trigger

A scroll-stopping hook creates an **open loop** the brain needs to close. It does one of: promises a specific outcome, breaks a pattern/expectation, names a tension the viewer feels, or makes a claim they must verify. If it does none of these, it's a topic label, not a hook.

## Method — generate wide, then cut

1. **Extract the payload.** What's the single most valuable/surprising thing in this content? The hook sells *that*, not the topic.
2. **Run the hook archetypes** — generate 3-5 hooks per archetype:
   - **Contrarian** — "Everything you've been told about X is wrong."
   - **Specific result** — "How I got 12,000 followers in 9 days with 3 posts."
   - **Curiosity gap** — "The one setting that doubled my reach (nobody talks about it)."
   - **Callout** — "If you post daily and still get 200 views, watch this."
   - **Stakes/loss** — "You're losing followers every time you do this."
   - **Story cold-open** — "I almost deleted this account. Then this happened."
   - **Question they can't not answer** — "Why do some 5-second clips get 2M views?"
   - **Number/list** — "5 hooks that print reach."
3. **Sharpen with specificity.** Replace vague words with numbers, timeframes, names. "Grow fast" → "0 to 10k in 30 days." Specific = believable = clickable.
4. **Front-load.** The stopping word must be in the first 3 words. Cut every warm-up syllable ("So today I want to talk about…" → delete).
5. **Score & cut.** Rate each hook 1-5 on: stops-the-scroll, curiosity, specificity, truthfulness. Ship only 4s and 5s.

## Output template

```
## Hooks for: <content> | Platform: <x> | Audience: <who>
Payload (what the hook sells): <the one valuable thing>

### Top 5 (ranked)
1. "<hook>" — archetype: <..> — why it works: <..>
...
### Bench (10-15 more, by archetype)
<grouped list>

### Paired visual/text-on-screen (first frame)
<3 on-screen text options for the first frame/thumbnail>
```

## Platform variants

- **TikTok/Reels/Shorts:** spoken hook + on-screen text hook must differ and stack; movement in frame 1.
- **YouTube (long):** title + thumbnail text are the hook; they must create one loop together, not repeat.
- **X/Threads:** first line only; the second line must earn the "show more" click.
- **LinkedIn:** first 2 lines before "…more"; lead with a concrete result or a contrarian claim, never a preamble.

## Rules

- Never ship the first hook. Generate 15+, ship the best 1-3.
- No preamble. If the first 3 words don't stop a thumb, rewrite.
- Specific beats clever. A real number outperforms a pun.
- The hook must be *true* to the content — a hook the payload doesn't pay off kills retention and trust (the algorithm punishes the drop-off).
- Match the viewer's existing conversation in their head; don't announce your topic, enter their tension.