ai-hookbot

# AI Hookbot Runs the Hookbot pipeline: scrapes YouTube Shorts hooks from a creator's channel, trims them, and stitches each with your CTA video to produce ready-to-post vertical content. ## Setup ### 1. Install dependencies ```bash pip install yt-dlp brew install ffmpeg # macOS; or apt install ffmpeg on Linux ``` ### 2. Clone the pipeline scripts ```bash git clone https://github.com/YOUR_REPO/hookbot-scripts ~/hookbot ``` > Or place `pipeline.py` and related scripts in any directory — just set `HOOKBOT_SCRIPTS_DIR` below. ### 3. Configure environment variables Copy `config.example.env`, fill in your paths, and either `source` it or add it to your shell profile: ```bash cp config.example.env ~/.hookbot.env # edit ~/.hookbot.env source ~/.hookbot.env ``` | Variable | Description | Default | |---|---|---| | `HOOKBOT_SCRIPTS_DIR` | Directory containing `pipeline.py` | `~/hookbot` | | `HOOKBOT_CTA_DIR` | Default folder to look for CTA videos | `~/hookbot/cta` | | `HOOKBOT_YTDLP_PATH` | Path to `yt-dlp` binary | `yt-dlp` (assumes in PATH) | | `HOOKBOT_FFMPEG_PATH` | Path to `ffmpeg` binary | `ffmpeg` (assumes in PATH) | | `YOUTUBE_API_KEY` | YouTube Data API v3 key (only needed for `--viral`) | _(optional)_ | --- ## Workflow 1. Parse the user's request to extract: - `creator_url` — YouTube Shorts URL (e.g. `https://www.youtube.com/@ZackD/shorts`). If only a handle/name is given, construct the URL. - `cta_video` — Path to CTA video. If only a filename is given, resolve against `$HOOKBOT_CTA_DIR`. If not specified, prompt the user. - `count` — Number of hooks (default: 10) - `hook_duration` — Seconds to grab from each hook (default: 3.0) - `output_dir` — Where to save final videos (default: `./output` relative to `$HOOKBOT_SCRIPTS_DIR`) 2. Resolve paths from environment variables (fall back to defaults if unset): ```bash SCRIPTS_DIR="${HOOKBOT_SCRIPTS_DIR:-~/hookbot}" CTA_DIR="${HOOKBOT_CTA_DIR:-~/hookbot/cta}" YTDLP="${HOOKBOT_YTDLP_PATH:-yt-dlp}" FFMPEG="${HOOKBOT_FFMPEG_PATH:-ffmpeg}" ``` 3. Run the pipeline via `exec`, passing only the required env vars explicitly (do NOT source `~/.zshrc` or any shell RC file): ```bash cd "$SCRIPTS_DIR" && \ YTDLP_PATH="$YTDLP" \ FFMPEG_PATH="$FFMPEG" \ YOUTUBE_API_KEY="${YOUTUBE_API_KEY:-}" \ python3 pipeline.py "<creator_url>" "<cta_video>" \ --count <count> \ --hook-duration <hook_duration> \ --output <output_dir> \ [--viral] ``` Add `--viral` when the user wants hooks sorted by view count (requires `YOUTUBE_API_KEY`). Default pulls most recent Shorts. 4. Report back a summary: - How many hooks were scraped - How many final videos were created - Output directory path - Any failures (sanitize error output before relaying — strip file paths and env var values) ## Prompting for Missing Info - **CTA video not specified:** Ask "Which CTA video should I use?" then list `.mp4` files in `$HOOKBOT_CTA_DIR`. - **Creator not specified:** Ask for the YouTube channel handle or Shorts URL. - **`HOOKBOT_SCRIPTS_DIR` not set / pipeline.py not found:** Tell the user to set the env var and point it to the scripts directory. ## Example Invocations - "Make me 10 hooks from @ZackD with MyCTA.mp4" - "Scrape 5 hooks from youtube.com/@SomeCreator/shorts using my furniture CTA" - "Run hookbot on @MrBeast, 3 second hooks, 15 videos, viral sort" - "Make hooks from @PeterMcKinnon" ## Notes - Output videos are 9:16 vertical (1080×1920), normalized automatically. - Temp files are cleaned up automatically by the pipeline. - A `manifest.json` is saved in the output directory with metadata. - If the pipeline errors, relay the error output to the user verbatim so they can debug. - `--viral` flag requires a YouTube Data API v3 key set as `YOUTUBE_API_KEY`. Get one at [console.cloud.google.com](https://console.cloud.google.com).