YouTube Retention Script Builder

Use this skill to turn a clickable idea into a watchable video. It owns the full opening-to-payoff arc: generate and score hooks, pick the strongest, then build a retention spine and script around it. The script should keep viewers moving from promise to payoff without wasting the first minute on context.

Automation

1. Score hook candidates

Generate hook candidates from the topic and viewer, then run the shared scorer:

python ..\_shared\scripts\youtube_growth_automation.py hook-score --topic "how to grow a new YouTube channel" --viewer "new creator with no audience" --hook "I got 10,000 subscribers with only 7 videos." --hook "In this video I will tell you some tips." --out .\hook-scores.json

The script's score is heuristic, not final truth. Use it to catch weak specificity, missing curiosity gap, or overly long openings, then apply the hook rubric below.

Optionally extract real openings from example videos to model: collect-videos --video "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --out .\hook-samples.json.

2. Build the retention spine