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The Idea Engine

The Idea Engine

The Idea Engine

The Idea Engine

The Idea Engine

The Idea Engine

The Idea Engine

A morning brief for Max's own channel. It finds the short videos taking off in the niche and says what to film that day.

A morning brief for Max's own channel. It finds the short videos taking off in the niche and says what to film that day.

Services

Software

Scope

Data pipeline, AI brief, phone app

Year

2026

Tools

Supabase, ScrapeCreators, Claude API

Project cover

What it does

What it does

What it does

What it does

What it does

Every morning at 05:30, the Idea Engine puts a brief on Max’s phone that says what to film that day. Overnight it reads the latest videos from up to 30 creators he follows, searches the niche on Instagram and TikTok, and picks out the ones doing far better than normal.

Each pick comes with its numbers, its opening line and why it worked, plus three scripts written for Max’s own channel. It does the scrolling he used to do himself, and it learns from how his own reels perform.

The brief

The brief

The brief

The brief

The brief

Max posts short videos as @maxbuilds.ai most days. Working out what to film meant scrolling Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to spot what was working. That took time and still missed most of it.

The idea

The idea

The idea

The idea

The idea

Do the scrolling overnight. The engine reads the niche, picks out the videos doing far better than usual, works out why, and has a brief on Max's phone before he's up.

How it works

How it works

How it works

How it works

How it works

01

Read the niche overnight

Every day it reads the newest reels and TikToks from up to 30 watchlist creators and searches up to 30 keywords. Reddit, YouTube and AI news blogs are read too.

02

Spot the outliers

A video counts when it gets three times its creator’s usual views, or plays at twice the account’s follower count. Videos under 72 hours old are read again so fast growers show up by day two.

03

Sort and pick

An AI sorter labels every video by topic and format. At 04:00 the Picker, running on Sonnet 5.5, chooses the day’s winners, and up to 25 are transcribed.

04

Write the brief

The Writer, on Opus 5.5, turns the winners into three scripts a day. Scripted checks drop any hook of 18 words or more and any topic Max posted in the last 30 days.

05

Max films

The brief lands in the phone app under Brief, Film and Post. Max picks ideas into a filming queue and posts them himself. The engine never posts.

06

Learn from the results

Views, retention and follows from each posted reel feed back into the Picker, so it leans towards what works on Max’s account.

Key decisions

Key decisions

Key decisions

Key decisions

Key decisions

01

Judge each video against its own creator

Why

A big account always gets views. A small account getting ten times its usual views has found something.

Effect

A video counts as a winner at three times its creator's usual views, or when it plays at twice the account's follower count.

02

It suggests, Max films

Why

The videos are Max talking to camera, so the engine can't make them.

Effect

The engine never posts anything. Max picks ideas into a filming queue and posts from his phone.

03

Learn from Max's own results

Why

What works across the niche doesn't always work for one account.

Effect

It reads the insights from each posted reel and leans towards the topics, hooks and formats that do well for Max.

01

Judge each video against its own creator

Why

A big account always gets views. A small account getting ten times its usual views has found something.

Effect

A video counts as a winner at three times its creator's usual views, or when it plays at twice the account's follower count.

02

It suggests, Max films

Why

The videos are Max talking to camera, so the engine can't make them.

Effect

The engine never posts anything. Max picks ideas into a filming queue and posts from his phone.

03

Learn from Max's own results

Why

What works across the niche doesn't always work for one account.

Effect

It reads the insights from each posted reel and leans towards the topics, hooks and formats that do well for Max.

01

Judge each video against its own creator

Why

A big account always gets views. A small account getting ten times its usual views has found something.

Effect

A video counts as a winner at three times its creator's usual views, or when it plays at twice the account's follower count.

02

It suggests, Max films

Why

The videos are Max talking to camera, so the engine can't make them.

Effect

The engine never posts anything. Max picks ideas into a filming queue and posts from his phone.

03

Learn from Max's own results

Why

What works across the niche doesn't always work for one account.

Effect

It reads the insights from each posted reel and leans towards the topics, hooks and formats that do well for Max.

01

Judge each video against its own creator

Why

A big account always gets views. A small account getting ten times its usual views has found something.

Effect

A video counts as a winner at three times its creator's usual views, or when it plays at twice the account's follower count.

02

It suggests, Max films

Why

The videos are Max talking to camera, so the engine can't make them.

Effect

The engine never posts anything. Max picks ideas into a filming queue and posts from his phone.

03

Learn from Max's own results

Why

What works across the niche doesn't always work for one account.

Effect

It reads the insights from each posted reel and leans towards the topics, hooks and formats that do well for Max.

01

Judge each video against its own creator

Why

A big account always gets views. A small account getting ten times its usual views has found something.

Effect

A video counts as a winner at three times its creator's usual views, or when it plays at twice the account's follower count.

02

It suggests, Max films

Why

The videos are Max talking to camera, so the engine can't make them.

Effect

The engine never posts anything. Max picks ideas into a filming queue and posts from his phone.

03

Learn from Max's own results

Why

What works across the niche doesn't always work for one account.

Effect

It reads the insights from each posted reel and leans towards the topics, hooks and formats that do well for Max.

01

Judge each video against its own creator

Why

A big account always gets views. A small account getting ten times its usual views has found something.

Effect

A video counts as a winner at three times its creator's usual views, or when it plays at twice the account's follower count.

02

It suggests, Max films

Why

The videos are Max talking to camera, so the engine can't make them.

Effect

The engine never posts anything. Max picks ideas into a filming queue and posts from his phone.

03

Learn from Max's own results

Why

What works across the niche doesn't always work for one account.

Effect

It reads the insights from each posted reel and leans towards the topics, hooks and formats that do well for Max.

Software

Software

Software

Software

Software

Software

The morning briefThe brief opens on Max’s phone each morning with today’s picks and a walk topic. He can decide what to film before he sits down at his desk.
Today’s winnersEach winner with its views, how far it beat the creator’s usual and how fast it’s growing. Videos winning on TikTok but not yet on Instagram are marked early, so Max can get there first.
Why it workedA short read on why each video took off: its hook type, format and topic. That turns someone else’s hit into a pattern Max can use with his own work.
The filming queueIdeas Max has picked wait here until they’re filmed. He films three a day and marks each one posted, which tells the engine what to learn from.
A script for an ideaA script for Max’s channel, written from a winning video with the hook first. He can film straight from it on his phone.
The morning briefThe brief opens on Max’s phone each morning with today’s picks and a walk topic. He can decide what to film before he sits down at his desk.
Today’s winnersEach winner with its views, how far it beat the creator’s usual and how fast it’s growing. Videos winning on TikTok but not yet on Instagram are marked early, so Max can get there first.
Why it workedA short read on why each video took off: its hook type, format and topic. That turns someone else’s hit into a pattern Max can use with his own work.
The filming queueIdeas Max has picked wait here until they’re filmed. He films three a day and marks each one posted, which tells the engine what to learn from.
A script for an ideaA script for Max’s channel, written from a winning video with the hook first. He can film straight from it on his phone.
The morning briefThe brief opens on Max’s phone each morning with today’s picks and a walk topic. He can decide what to film before he sits down at his desk.
Today’s winnersEach winner with its views, how far it beat the creator’s usual and how fast it’s growing. Videos winning on TikTok but not yet on Instagram are marked early, so Max can get there first.
Why it workedA short read on why each video took off: its hook type, format and topic. That turns someone else’s hit into a pattern Max can use with his own work.
The filming queueIdeas Max has picked wait here until they’re filmed. He films three a day and marks each one posted, which tells the engine what to learn from.
A script for an ideaA script for Max’s channel, written from a winning video with the hook first. He can film straight from it on his phone.
The morning briefThe brief opens on Max’s phone each morning with today’s picks and a walk topic. He can decide what to film before he sits down at his desk.
Today’s winnersEach winner with its views, how far it beat the creator’s usual and how fast it’s growing. Videos winning on TikTok but not yet on Instagram are marked early, so Max can get there first.
Why it workedA short read on why each video took off: its hook type, format and topic. That turns someone else’s hit into a pattern Max can use with his own work.
The filming queueIdeas Max has picked wait here until they’re filmed. He films three a day and marks each one posted, which tells the engine what to learn from.
A script for an ideaA script for Max’s channel, written from a winning video with the hook first. He can film straight from it on his phone.
The morning briefThe brief opens on Max’s phone each morning with today’s picks and a walk topic. He can decide what to film before he sits down at his desk.
Today’s winnersEach winner with its views, how far it beat the creator’s usual and how fast it’s growing. Videos winning on TikTok but not yet on Instagram are marked early, so Max can get there first.
Why it workedA short read on why each video took off: its hook type, format and topic. That turns someone else’s hit into a pattern Max can use with his own work.
The filming queueIdeas Max has picked wait here until they’re filmed. He films three a day and marks each one posted, which tells the engine what to learn from.
A script for an ideaA script for Max’s channel, written from a winning video with the hook first. He can film straight from it on his phone.
The morning briefThe brief opens on Max’s phone each morning with today’s picks and a walk topic. He can decide what to film before he sits down at his desk.
Today’s winnersEach winner with its views, how far it beat the creator’s usual and how fast it’s growing. Videos winning on TikTok but not yet on Instagram are marked early, so Max can get there first.
Why it workedA short read on why each video took off: its hook type, format and topic. That turns someone else’s hit into a pattern Max can use with his own work.
The filming queueIdeas Max has picked wait here until they’re filmed. He films three a day and marks each one posted, which tells the engine what to learn from.
A script for an ideaA script for Max’s channel, written from a winning video with the hook first. He can film straight from it on his phone.

In use

In use

In use

In use

In use

In use

22,835

22,835

22,835

22,835

22,835

22,835

videos read

13

13

13

13

13

13

morning briefs

133

133

133

133

133

133

ideas offered

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