YouTube prompts for ChatGPT and Claude

These 15 YouTube prompts help you plan videos, write scripts and hooks, and produce titles, thumbnails, descriptions and chapters with ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. The prompts build in the limits and rules from the YouTube Help Center, so the output fits the upload form instead of breaking it.

How to use these prompts

Copy a prompt, replace the blanks in double braces, or keep the default after the colon: {{audience:beginner home bakers}} means "beginner home bakers" unless you change it. Blanks with no default, like {{transcript}}, need your own material.

The prompts follow the order you make a video: idea, script, packaging (title and thumbnail), then the upload details. The best inputs are things only you have: viewer comments, your analytics, your notes, and the transcript of the finished video. A transcript is what makes the description and chapter prompts accurate.

For short vertical videos on other platforms, the social media prompts include a short video script prompt. For turning a video into a written post, see the blog writing prompts.

Which prompts help you plan a video?

1. Video ideas from viewer questions

Your comments and search terms already tell you what people want next.

Here are recent comments from my channel about {{niche:home baking}} and
the search terms from my YouTube analytics:

Comments:
{{comments}}

Search terms:
{{search_terms}}

Group the questions people keep asking into themes. For each theme,
suggest 2 video ideas with a working title and a one-line promise of
what the viewer will be able to do after watching. Rank the ideas by
how many comments or searches support them, and quote the evidence.

2. One viewer, one promise

A video that tries to serve everyone keeps no one. Run this before you write.

Video idea: {{idea:how to fix dense sourdough}}

Help me sharpen it. Answer:
1. Who exactly is this for? ({{audience:beginner home bakers}} or narrower)
2. What one problem are they trying to solve when they click?
3. What will they be able to do by the end that they can't now?
4. What would make them click away in the first minute?
5. What's the one promise the title and thumbnail should make?

Then rewrite the idea as a single sentence: "A video for [viewer] who
wants [outcome], showing [how]."

3. Research brief with facts to check

Models state wrong facts confidently. This separates what you know from what you need to verify.

I'm making a {{length:10 minute}} video on {{topic:why sourdough comes out dense}}.

Here is what I already know from experience:
{{my_notes}}

List the key points the video should cover, in order. Mark each point
as either "from my notes" or "needs a source". For each "needs a
source" point, say what kind of source would confirm it. Do not state
statistics, dates or quotes as facts; list them as questions to check.

Which prompts write the script?

4. Outline with retention beats

An outline that gives viewers a reason to stay at each step.

Write an outline for a {{length:10 minute}} YouTube video.
Topic: {{topic:why sourdough comes out dense}}
Promise: {{promise:you'll know which of 4 causes is ruining your loaf}}

Structure:
- Hook (first 30 seconds): show the payoff or the problem, no channel intro.
- Setup: why this matters, in under 30 seconds.
- Main points: each with a time estimate and a reason to keep watching
  into the next point.
- Payoff: deliver the promise in full.
- End: one next step for the viewer.

Use only the points from my notes:
{{notes}}

5. Hooks that match the title

The opening has to deliver on what the title promised, or viewers leave.

Title: {{title}}
Thumbnail shows: {{thumbnail:a cut loaf with a dense gummy crumb}}

Write 5 different opening hooks, each under 40 spoken words, that
immediately confirm the viewer is in the right place. Use these angles:
show the result, name the mistake, ask the question they're asking,
make a surprising but true statement from my notes, and start mid-action.
No "Hey guys, welcome back". No promises the video doesn't keep.

Notes:
{{notes}}

6. Full script in a speaking voice

Written English sounds stiff on camera. This asks for the way you talk.

Turn this outline into a full script for a {{length:10 minute}} video
(roughly {{words:1,400}} words).

Write it to be spoken: short sentences, contractions, plain words,
and natural transitions like "here's the thing" only where they help.
Mark [B-ROLL: ...] where footage should cover the voice and [ON SCREEN:
...] for text overlays. Keep my examples and opinions. Add no facts
that aren't in the outline.

Here is a sample of how I talk, from a past video transcript:
{{voice_sample}}

Outline:
{{outline}}

7. Tighten a script by 20 percent

Most first drafts run long. Cutting is where the pacing comes from.

Cut this script by about {{percent:20}} percent without losing any
step the viewer needs.

Remove: repeated points, throat-clearing sentences, hedges, and any
intro longer than 30 seconds. Keep the hook and the payoff intact.
Show the cut lines with strikethrough so I can see what changed, then
give the clean version.

{{script}}

8. Shot list and on-screen text

Turns the script into a filming plan so nothing gets missed on the day.

From this script, make a shot list as a table with columns: script
section, what I say (first few words), shot type ({{shot_types:talking head, close-up of hands, screen recording, B-roll}}),
on-screen text (under 6 words), and props or setup needed.

Group shots that share a setup so I can film them together, and list
those groups at the end.

{{script}}

Which prompts write titles and thumbnails?

9. Title options with the key words first

YouTube's thumbnail and title tips say viewers may only see part of your title, so put the most important words near the beginning.

Write 12 YouTube titles for this video.
Topic: {{topic:why sourdough comes out dense}}
Promise: {{promise:you'll know which of 4 causes is ruining your loaf}}
Words people search: {{search_terms:dense sourdough, gummy sourdough, sourdough not rising}}

Rules:
- Under 70 characters (YouTube's limit is 100). Show the count.
- Most important words in the first 40 characters.
- The title must be accurate: everything it promises happens in the video.
- Limit ALL CAPS and emoji to one per title at most, or none.

Group them by angle (problem, outcome, curiosity, how-to) and mark
your top 3.

10. Thumbnail concept that works with the title

The title and thumbnail should add to each other, not repeat.

Title: {{title}}

Suggest 4 thumbnail concepts. For each:
- The main image (one subject, readable at small size)
- Text on the thumbnail, if any: 4 words or fewer, not repeating the title
- Facial expression or action, if a person is in it
- Why it makes someone curious enough to click

Keep each design simple. Avoid anything that implies something the
video doesn't show.

11. A/B test set

YouTube's A/B test for titles and thumbnails compares up to 3 versions and picks the one with the highest watch time, so test meaningfully different ideas.

Here are my candidate titles and thumbnail concepts:

{{candidates}}

Pick 3 title and thumbnail combinations to test against each other.
Each should test a different idea (for example, problem versus outcome),
not small wording changes. For each, explain what we'd learn if it won.
All three must accurately describe the same video.

Which prompts write the description and chapters?

12. Description from the transcript

Descriptions can be up to 5,000 characters. YouTube Help says the corrections section should appear after any video chapters.

Write a YouTube description from this transcript.

- First 2 lines: what the viewer will learn, using the words people
  search ({{search_terms:dense sourdough, gummy sourdough}}) naturally.
- A short paragraph with more detail.
- Leave a line that says [CHAPTERS] where chapters will go.
- Then links I provide: {{links:my starter guide, my flour comparison video}}
- Then 2 or 3 relevant hashtags at the end.

Under {{max_chars:1,500}} characters total. No claims that aren't in
the transcript.

Transcript:
{{transcript}}

13. Chapters from a timestamped transcript

YouTube's chapter rules: the first timestamp starts with 00:00, at least three timestamps in ascending order, and each chapter at least 10 seconds long.

Create YouTube chapters from this timestamped transcript.

Rules:
- The first line must be 00:00.
- At least 3 chapters, timestamps in ascending order.
- Every chapter at least 10 seconds long; aim for {{chapter_count:5 to 8}} chapters.
- Chapter titles under 40 characters, describing what happens, using
  words a viewer would search.

Output only the chapter list, one per line, in the format
"00:00 Title", ready to paste into the description.

Transcript:
{{transcript}}

14. Shorts from a long video

YouTube Shorts can be up to 3 minutes long with a square or vertical aspect ratio.

Find {{count:4}} moments in this transcript that would work as
standalone YouTube Shorts of {{short_length:30 to 60 seconds}}.

For each: the start and end timestamps, why it works on its own
without the rest of the video, a hook line to add at the start if the
clip needs context, and on-screen text for the first 2 seconds.
Only pick moments that make sense with no setup.

Transcript:
{{transcript}}

15. Sponsor segment with a clear disclosure

YouTube's branded content disclosure page says you have to let YouTube know about branded content by selecting the paid promotion option in your video details, which adds a disclosure label to the video.

Write a {{segment_length:45 second}} sponsor segment for {{sponsor:a flour company}}
in my video about {{topic:why sourdough comes out dense}}.

Start by saying clearly that this part of the video is sponsored. Use
only these approved talking points and my honest experience:

Talking points:
{{talking_points}}

My experience with the product:
{{experience}}

Keep my usual voice. No claims beyond the talking points. End with the
link and any code I give you: {{offer:link in the description}}.

What are YouTube's limits for titles, descriptions and chapters?

These come from YouTube Help Center pages as of October 2026. Check them again if an upload fails, because limits can change.

Do you have to disclose AI use on YouTube?

Not for writing help. YouTube's page on disclosing GenAI content lists "Production assistance, like using generative AI tools to create or improve a video outline, script, thumbnail, title, or infographic" among the things creators don't need to disclose. Scripts, titles and thumbnail ideas from the prompts on this page are that kind of help.

You do need to disclose realistic AI content. YouTube says: "We require creators to disclose AI-generated or altered content that seems realistic." Its examples include content that "Makes a real person appear to say or do something they didn't do" or "Generates a realistic scene that didn't actually occur."

Separately, keep titles and thumbnails honest. YouTube's spam and deceptive practices policy covers "Using maliciously misleading titles, thumbnails, descriptions, or imagery." That is why prompts 9 to 11 tell the model that every promise must happen in the video.

How do you get YouTube scripts that sound like you?

Paste a transcript of yourself talking. A few hundred words from a past video teach the model your rhythm and phrasing better than any description of your style. Prompt 6 asks for one.

Keep your opinions and stories. The model can structure and tighten, but the parts viewers remember (what you tried, what failed, what you'd do differently) have to come from you.

Say the script out loud before filming. Anything you stumble over, rewrite in the words you'd naturally use.

Keep your YouTube prompts in one place

If you run the same title, description and chapter prompts on every upload, turn them into a skill with your channel's rules built in. Paste a prompt into the free SKILL.md generator to get a SKILL.md you can use in Claude, Claude Code or Codex.

To keep your video workflow prompts ready for each upload, save them in Kipt with their {{blanks}}, tag them by stage (plan, script, upload), and press ⌘K to find one. Your library lives as Markdown in a private GitHub repo you own.