how to install the ig competitor research skill in claude desktop
what this skill does
this is a claude desktop skill that does your instagram competitor research for you. you give it a handful of handles, it scrapes their top-performing reels through apify, pulls keyframes and audio, ranks everything by performance, and builds you a clean report you can open and act on.
no spreadsheets. no manually scrolling competitor profiles for an hour. you type one command, hand it some handles, and it does the digging.
the whole thing runs locally inside your content-os skill directory. the only external dependency is apify for the actual scrape - everything else runs on your machine with free, open tools. follow the 5 steps below and you'll be running it in about 15 minutes.
install dependencies
the skill leans on a few command-line tools. install these first so everything works on the first run:
- uv - bootstraps all the python deps on the fly, so you never have to manually pip install anything
- ffmpeg + ffprobe - pulls keyframes and extracts audio from the reels
- yt-dlp - fallback reel downloader if the cdn curl fails
- python3 - runs rank-and-select.py (standard library only, nothing extra to install)
- curl + bash - handle the downloads and scripts
- macos open - auto-opens the final report when it's done
on a mac, the fastest path is homebrew:
brew install uv ffmpeg yt-dlppython3, curl, and bash already ship with macos. once those are in, you're set for the whole pipeline.
connect apify
apify is what actually scrapes instagram. you connect it once inside claude:
- go to customize > connectors > browser connectors > apify
- sign into apify and grab your api key
- paste it into the connector field
that's it - claude can now run the scrape.
a note on cost: apify is the only external/paid dependency in the whole skill. the scrape is the one billed step, and it runs about $0.11-0.18 per run - comfortably under apify's $5/mo free credit. in practice you'll never pay anything unless you're scraping all day.
drag and drop the skill files
download the skill files from the kit at the bottom of this guide. then drop them into your content-os skill directory so claude can find them.
unzip the folder and drag the whole ig-competitor-research folder into your skills directory. the skill ships with everything it needs - the SKILL.md instructions, the README, and the scripts folder (rank-and-select.py, build-report.py, reel-breakdown.sh, fetch-images.sh).
restart claude desktop
close the claude app completely and open it again. this forces claude to load the new skill files. if you skip this, claude won't see the skill yet - a full restart is the fix.
run and test the skill
you're ready. there are two ways to kick it off:
- type /ig-competitor-research and hand it the handles you want to scrape
- or just update your competitor-list file - it scrapes the top 5 in your list by default
let it run. it'll scrape, rank, and build the report, then auto-open it for you. that's the whole loop - from competitor handles to an actionable breakdown in a couple of minutes.
grab the files
the full skill is downloadable below. unzip it, drop the folder into your content-os skills directory, restart claude, and run it. everything you need - the SKILL.md, the README, and all four scripts - is in the kit.
ready-to-post caption
stop watching your competitors. let claude do it. i built a skill that scrapes their top instagram reels, ranks them by performance, and builds you a breakdown of exactly what's working — automatically. you give it 5 handles. it gives you a report. two minutes, start to finish. the full skill + a 5-step install guide is free on the site. link in bio 🔗 #contentstrategy #instagramgrowth #aiworkflow #claudeai #contentcreator #competitoranalysis #socialmediatips #creatoreconomy
free - one email, every guide
read the full guide
a claude skill that scrapes your competitors' top instagram reels, ranks them, and builds a report you can actually act on. here's how to install it in 5 steps - dependencies, apify, the skill files, and your first run.
we only ask once - all guides stay open on this device. no spam.
want a system built for you?
we design and build ai-powered content engines - custom, done-for-you, yours to keep.
let's talk →