git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/samber/cc-skills /tmp/copywriting-hooks && cp -r /tmp/copywriting-hooks/skills/copywriting-hooks ~/.claude/skills/copywriting-hooksSKILL.md
# Copywriting Hooks
## The method
A hook's only job is to make the reader want sentence 2. Voice, structure, formatting, all of it, follow from that one job.
What makes a reader want sentence 2 is one of **five levers**:
1. **Open a gap.** Pose something incomplete that the reader needs to close. Curiosity gap, question, open loop.
2. **Break a prediction.** State something that violates the reader's prior. Contrarian, definition reversal, surprising statistic.
3. **Drop into a scene.** Load sensory or specific detail that builds a vivid frame. In medias res, concrete detail, time anchor.
4. **Promise a payoff.** Name an outcome the reader wants. Benefit, "if you... then this", direct problem.
5. **Borrow weight.** Lean on a name, number, or quote that carries embedded authority. Authority hook, statistic, quote with disagreement.
A strong hook usually pulls two levers at once. "Frank Sinatra, holding a glass of bourbon..." is scene plus open loop. "Most people think X. They're wrong." is prediction-break plus gap. Single-lever hooks can still work but are easier to ignore.
Three further principles:
- **Specific beats abstract every time.** Replace "many companies" with "Stripe, Shopify, Vercel". Replace "recently" with a date. Replace "studies show" with the actual finding or cut the claim.
- **The first sentence must force the second.** Read each candidate cold. If you would not click sentence 2 after sentence 1, rewrite.
- **Match technique to article type.** Personal essay does not open like a tutorial. See the type-fit table below.
---
## Behavior
When this skill triggers:
1. **Confirm the brief.** Topic, audience, target language (EN, FR, or both), approximate length, where it will be published. If any of these is unclear and material, ask before generating.
2. **Pick 3 to 4 hooks from the catalog** below that are genuinely different. Different levers, not three flavors of contrarian.
3. **Write 2 candidates per hook**, specific to the user's article. The two candidates within one hook should explore different angles (different anecdote, different statistic, different scene), not be rewordings of each other.
4. **Present using the Output format** below.
5. **Use `ask_user_input_v0`** if available. The choice is a small fixed set, which is what that tool is for.
6. **Wait for the user's pick.** Do not pick for them.
7. **After they pick**, name what the choice commits the rest of the article to. A contrarian hook commits paragraphs 2 to 3 to defending the non-consensus claim. A scene opener commits the next section to either resolving the scene or productively delaying it.
**Diversification rule.** Across your 3 to 4 options include at minimum:
- One intellectual hook (contrarian, definition reversal, historical analogy, curiosity gap)
- One sensory hook (in medias res, concrete detail)
- One reader-direct hook (conditional, direct problem, promise)
This guarantees real choice. Three flavors of contrarian is not a choice.
**Type-fit reference:**
| Article type | Strong hooks | Avoid |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Technical deep-dive | concrete detail, statistic, contrarian, direct problem | personal confession, scene opener |
| Personal essay | in medias res, personal confession, time anchor, definition reversal | bold claim, direct problem |
| Opinion / contrarian | bold claim, definition reversal, contrarian, quote + disagreement | gentle setup, dictionary opener |
| Tutorial / how-to | direct problem (PAS), promise, conditional | scene opener, historical analogy |
| Reported / investigative | concrete detail, time anchor, in medias res, statistic | bold claim, definition reversal |
| Listicle | curiosity gap, counted stakes, conditional | personal confession, in medias res |
| Longform analysis | historical analogy, statistic, contrarian | direct problem |
| Newsletter issue | personal confession + open loop, conditional, curiosity gap | dictionary opener |
---
## Output format
Always present options exactly like this:
```
## Hook options for: [working title]
**Option 1: [Hook name]** ([lever])
A. [Candidate 1]
B. [Candidate 2]
**Option 2: [Hook name]** ([lever])
A. [Candidate 1]
B. [Candidate 2]
**Option 3: [Hook name]** ([lever])
A. [Candidate 1]
B. [Candidate 2]
Which? Reply with letter combination (e.g., "1B") or "more" for different techniques.
```
If the user says "more" or "none", produce 3 different hooks (not new candidates for the same hooks). If the user says "blend 1A and 2B", write a combined hook and check in again.
---
## The hook catalog (18)
Each hook: what it does, examples (mix EN and FR, real and illustrative), when to use, when to avoid.
### 1. Curiosity Gap
Open an information gap the reader wants closed.
- EN: "How does Shen Yun make any money? Short answer: they don't." (Packy McCormick)
- EN: "Many years ago, one mustard dominated the supermarket shelves: French's." (Gladwell, "The Ketchup Conundrum")
- FR: "Trois startups françaises ont franchi le milliard cette année. Aucune n'est dans la tech."
- EN: "I've been a surgeon for eight years. For the past couple of them, my performance in the operating room has reached a plateau." (Gawande)
**Use when**: you can honestly close the gap in 2 or 3 sentences. The gap must be one the reader cares about. **Avoid**: vague gaps ("You won't believe what happened next") that the reader cannot even guess at.
### 2. Contrarian
Knock down a consensus belief the reader holds.
- EN: "Prevailing wisdom claims that the best way to achieve what we want in life is to set specific, actionable goals." (Clear, "Forget About Setting Goals", proceeds to argue the opposite)
- EN: "To do something well you have to like it. That idea is not exactly novel." (Graham, "Do What You Love", proceeds to complicate it)
- EN: "If you're not saying 'HELL YEAH!' about something, say no." (Sivers)
- FR: "Le Marketing est TOUT ce que l'IA ne peut pas faire !" (Truphème)
**Use when**: you have a defensible non-consensComprehensive guide for building Chrome extensions with Manifest V3. Use this skill whenever the user mentions Chrome extension, browser extension, manifest.json, content script, service worker (in extension context), popup, side panel, chrome.runtime, chrome.tabs, chrome.storage, chrome.scripting, background script, MV3, Manifest V3, or any Chrome extension API. Also trigger when the user wants to inject scripts into web pages, communicate between page and background, bypass CSP from a content script, build an RPC layer over chrome messaging, or publish to the Chrome Web Store. Covers both new extension projects and adding features to existing ones. Do NOT use for framework-specific questions.
Conventional Commits v1.0.0 branch naming, worktree naming, and commit message standards for GitHub and GitLab projects. Use when creating branches, naming worktrees, writing commits, generating commit messages, reviewing branch conventions, or setting up changelog automation. Apply when your project needs consistent git history, SemVer-driven releases, parseable changelog generation, or automatic issue closing. Trigger when the user asks how to name a worktree, create a git worktree, or organize worktrees alongside branches.
Design end-of-article CTAs (calls-to-action placed at the bottom of blog posts, newsletters, essays, articles, or any long-form content). Use this skill whenever the user asks to write, design, review, or improve a CTA at the bottom of an article, blog post, or essay; mentions "end-of-post CTA", "bottom of the article", "call-to-action", "signup box", "newsletter CTA", "subscribe block", "what should I put at the bottom", "how do I get readers to subscribe / share / book a call / buy / follow / join / download"; or asks how to convert article readers into subscribers, leads, customers, community members, or supporters. Also trigger when the user wants A/B testing guidance or accessibility review for a CTA block. Covers independent / personal writing, newsletter publications, and brand / content-marketing blogs across any topic — tech, finance, food, climate, design, lifestyle, B2B, B2C. Produces both the copy (content) and the structural / visual design (form), matched to the user's objective and audience.
Codifies how someone or a brand writes — prose mechanics (lexicon, syntax, rhythm, structure, signature moves) independent of emotional tone. Output: PROSE.md. Three modes: BUILD a fresh guide from SOUL.md + TONE.md + discovery interview; ADAPT an existing guide to a new channel; AUDIT a corpus for prose patterns before codification. Use when: writing rules for a content factory, codifying ghostwriting voice for multi-writer consistency, defining banned words and sentence-length targets, building a house style guide, reverse-engineering prose from a corpus, porting style across channels. Trigger on: PROSE.md, writing style guide, prose guide, house style, ghostwriter style, writing playbook, brand writing mechanics, signature moves. NOT for: writing actual content (→ linkedin-ghostwriting, technical-article-writer, press-release-writer), removing AI patterns (→ humanizer), tone decisions (→ copywriting-tone-of-voice), hooks (→ copywriting-hooks), CTAs (→ copywriting-cta).
Build a brand tone of voice guide (TONE.md) via discovery, voice definition, and channel modulation. Outputs voice attributes with do's/don'ts, NN/g positioning, tone modulation matrix, lexicon, mechanics, and channel rules — consumed by downstream content skills writing on-brand copy. Covers B2B SaaS, B2C/D2C, NGO, public sector, consulting, industrial, product-led, personal, and volunteering brands; researches uncovered contexts (politics, regulated niches, religious orgs, gaming) on demand. Also adapts an existing TONE.md to a new channel (blog → LinkedIn, web → Twitter/X, in-product UI). Optionally consumes SOUL.md to pre-fill brand identity. Apply when the user wants to create a TONE.md, define brand voice, port voice to a new channel, refresh an outdated voice, or set up a content factory writing across many supports. Not for writing individual posts, articles, emails, or UI strings (→ dedicated writing skills), nor SOUL.md, PROSE.md, DESIGN.md.
CRXJS Chrome extension development — true HMR for popup, options, content scripts, side panels, manifest-driven builds, dynamic content script imports (`?script`, `?script&module`), and `defineManifest` for type-safe manifests. Uses Vite as its build tool. Use when the user mentions CRXJS, crxjs, @crxjs/vite-plugin, 'extension with hot reload', 'HMR for chrome extension', or wants to set up a CRXJS-based Chrome extension project with any framework (React, Vue, Svelte, Solid, Vanilla). Also trigger when the user has an existing CRXJS project and wants to add features, fix HMR issues, or configure content scripts with CRXJS. For general Chrome extension architecture (messaging, CSP, storage, permissions) -> See `samber/cc-skills@chrome-extension` skill.
Deep research skill — broad parallel web searches, multi-source validation, confidence tracking, cited Markdown report. Supports 11 research types: market (TAM/SAM, segments, pricing, trends), domain (industry structure, ecosystem, regulatory landscape), technical (architecture, tools, benchmarks), competitive (competitor teardown, positioning, win/loss), product (feature analysis, reviews, roadmap signals), academic (literature survey, citation networks, key authors), person/org (due diligence on a company or public figure), financial (funding rounds, valuation multiples, revenue signals), legal (IP, patents, litigation, compliance), trend (emerging signals, foresight, scenario mapping), community (ecosystem health, key voices, governance, fragmentation). Use when asked to: 'research <topic>', 'deep dive on X', 'analyze the landscape', 'competitive analysis', 'compare these options', 'who are the players in Z', 'literature review', 'background on Y', 'what papers exist on X', 'product teardown', 'technology evaluation', 'regulatory overview', 'funding landscape', 'what trends are emerging in X', 'patent landscape', 'community health', or any request requiring scanning many sources and producing a cited written analysis. Apply whenever the deliverable is a thorough, sourced report rather than a quick answer. Trigger even when phrased casually: 'look into X', 'what's the deal with Y', 'dig into Z', 'I need to understand the space', 'catch me up on X'.
Produce distinctive, non-generic UI and design applications well, working strategy-first. Identify the project (landing page, SaaS app, dashboard, ecommerce, presentation, docs, portfolio...) and its positioning and personality, commit to brand adjectives, translate into a typography and color system, then apply the craft layer (layout, components and states, motion, iconography, imagery, dark mode and theming, accessibility), avoiding the AI-slop / Claude-esque default. This is both a de-slop and an expert app-design skill. Use this whenever building or styling any web frontend, app, dashboard, landing page, deck, or artifact, or when the user says "make it not look like AI", "de-slopify", "deslop", "less generic", "give it character", "design a UI for X", "design an app", "update DESIGN.md", or complains the output looks like every other AI site. Trigger even when the user just says "build a UI for X" without naming an aesthetic, because the default without this skill is slop.