Generate a weekly Instagram content plan from a theme

Instagram Content Planner

by sergebulaev · MIT license · ★ 138 on GitHub · updated Sep 17

Generate a weekly Instagram content plan from a theme, audience, and content pillars. Produces a per-day mix of Reels, carousels, single images, and stories, each with a hook formula, angle, posting time, and primary goal, plus a weekly…

---
name: ig-content-planner
description: "Generate a weekly Instagram content plan from a theme, audience, and content pillars. Produces a per-day mix of Reels, carousels, single images, and stories, each with a hook formula, angle, posting time, and primary goal, plus a weekly saves-and-shares goal (the 2026 lever), a story cadence, and a balance check across saves, shares, comments, and follows. Use to plan a week instead of ad-hoc posting. Not for drafting one caption (use ig-caption-writer) or one carousel (use ig-carousel-planner)."
---

# Instagram Content Planner

Produce a weekly Instagram plan built around a pillar discipline and the
format mix Instagram rewards: Reels for reach, carousels for saves, stories for
the relationship. The plan sets a weekly saves-and-shares goal, because sends per
reach and saves are the 2026 levers.

## When to use

- User asks "plan my week on Instagram" or "what should I post this week"
- User wants to escape ad-hoc posting and establish a rhythm
- Before a launch week (the plan aligns a product pillar)

Overview

Produce a weekly Instagram plan built around a pillar discipline and the format mix Instagram rewards: Reels for reach, carousels for saves, stories for the relationship. The plan sets a weekly saves-and-shares goal, because sends per reach and saves are the 2026 levers.

Manual install (npx, ZIP)

Claude Codenpx skills add sergebulaev/instagram-skills --skill ig-content-planner -g -a claude-code

Claude Code (manual)

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && curl -sL https://codeload.github.com/sergebulaev/instagram-skills/tar.gz/2919f0a6d8b1 \
  | tar -xz -C ~/.claude/skills --strip-components=4 instagram-skills-2919f0a6d8b1/.codex-marketplace/instagram-skills/skills/ig-content-planner

Windows (PowerShell)

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force "$HOME\.claude\skills" | Out-Null; Invoke-WebRequest "https://m.agentalley.io/zip/2c8a90a6c9542ac27714/ig-content-planner.zip" -OutFile "$env:TEMP\ig-content-planner.zip"; Expand-Archive "$env:TEMP\ig-content-planner.zip" -DestinationPath "$HOME\.claude\skills" -Force

Claude.ai / desktopDownload the ZIP and upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

Codex, Cursor, other agentsPoint them at SKILL.md. The other files are plain text.

Connects with Agent Alley MCP · agentalley.io/mcp

Files included

SKILL.md5.8 KB
references/2 files · 5.6 KB

Read the files here

sergebulaev/2919f0a3 files

SKILL.md5.8 KB

SKILL.md

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PreviewCode

Outline

RawView on GitHub

Instagram Content Planner

When to use

User asks "plan my week on Instagram" or "what should I post this week"
User wants to escape ad-hoc posting and establish a rhythm
Before a launch week (the plan aligns a product pillar)

Input

Theme (optional): e.g. "launching our design course"
Audience description: e.g. "junior designers, career switchers"
Pillar mix (optional): defaults to 40% Educational / 30% Story / 20% Engagement / 10% Promotion
Posting cadence (optional): defaults to 4-5 feed posts/week + daily stories
Voice samples (optional): past captions for voice calibration

Output

A markdown plan with:

7-day calendar

Day	Format	Pillar	Formula	1-line angle	Goal	Time
Mon	Reel	Educational	IG9 Pattern-Interrupt	"you post Reels at the worst time"	shares	12:00 PM
Tue	Carousel	Educational	IG5 Listicle	"7 portfolio mistakes"	saves	11:30 AM
Wed	Story set	Engagement	poll + question	"which layout wins?"	comments	7:00 PM
Thu	Carousel	Story	IG6 Before/After	"my first $0 to first $4k"	follows	11:00 AM
Fri	Single image	Engagement	IG3 Relatable	"opening Canva for one graphic"	comments	1:00 PM
Sat	Reel	Educational	IG10 How-I Teardown	"how I edit a Reel in 20 min"	saves	10:00 AM
Sun	Story set	Promotion	reshare + link	"course doors open"	follows	6:00 PM

(The skill fills real angles from the theme. Stories run daily underneath the feed posts.)

Weekly saves goal

Set a concrete saves + shares target for the week (the primary lever). Default heuristic: at least 3 of the week's feed posts are save-bait formats (IG1, IG5, IG6, IG8, IG10) and at least 2 are send-bait (IG2, IG7, IG9).
Track saves and shares as the headline metric, not likes.

Daily story cadence

2-4 story frames/day: behind-the-scenes, a poll or question sticker, and at least one reshare of a recent feed post (a send-equivalent signal that pushes the post to followers who missed it).
Stories deepen the follower relationship; they do not chase non-follower reach.

Weekly balance check

Format mix: at least 2 Reels (reach), at least 2 carousels (saves), stories daily
At least 3 save-bait posts and 2 send-bait posts
At least 1 real first-person story post (build trust, earn follows)
No pillar over 50% of the week's feed posts
No formula repeated more than twice in the week
Promotion pillar 1-2 posts max
Goal mix spread across saves, shares, comments, follows

Goal mix (balance the week)

Every formula earns a primary signal. A week that is all save-bait or all relatable reads as engineered. Spread the goals:

Goal	Formulas	Weekly target
Saves	IG1, IG5, IG6, IG8, IG10	at least 3 (the headline lever)
Shares	IG2, IG7, IG9	at least 2
Comments	IG3, IG4	at least 1
Follows	IG4, IG6, IG8	at least 1

Rules

Consistency beats frequency. 4-5 quality feed posts/week with daily stories beats a daily dump of filler. Do not pad to hit a count.
Reels for reach, carousels for saves, stories for the relationship. Use the right surface for the job.
Reels can run more often than carousels without fatigue, because each reaches a fresh non-follower audience.
Best windows: weekdays 11 AM-1 PM and 7-9 PM local, plus Sunday evening. Check the user's own insights when available.
Promotion pillar max 1-2 posts/week. Overuse buries reach.
One formula per slot, varied across the week. Do not stack three IG5 carousels.

Formula -> pillar mapping

Pillar	Preferred formulas
Educational	IG5 Listicle, IG8 Framework, IG10 How-I Reel, IG1 Number-First
Story	IG4 Confession, IG6 Before/After
Engagement	IG3 Relatable, IG9 Pattern-Interrupt Reel, story stickers
Promotion	IG6 (results that imply the product), IG1 (your own data)

Steps

Gather inputs. Ask for theme, audience, pillar preferences if not provided.
Validate the pillar mix sums to 100%; warn if any pillar is over 50%.
For each day, pick: format (Reel/carousel/image/story), pillar, formula (do not over-repeat), angle, posting time (audience timezone), goal.
Set the weekly saves + shares goal and the daily story cadence.
Run the weekly balance check and the goal-mix check; flag anything missing.
Return as markdown, plus optional JSON for import.

Example

See references/example-week.md for a filled-in 7-day plan.

Files

SKILL.md - this file
references/example-week.md - worked 7-day plan
references/pillars-framework.md - the Instagram pillar discipline explained

ig-caption-writer - draft each single-image caption from the plan
ig-carousel-planner - draft each carousel from the plan
ig-hashtag-strategist - rotate sized hashtag sets across the week
ig-hook-extractor - study competitors' posts while planning

1	---
2	name: ig-content-planner
3	description: "Generate a weekly Instagram content plan from a theme, audience, and content pillars. Produces a per-day mix of Reels, carousels, single images, and stories, each with a hook formula, angle, posting time, and primary goal, plus a weekly saves-and-shares goal (the 2026 lever), a story cadence, and a balance check across saves, shares, comments, and follows. Use to plan a week instead of ad-hoc posting. Not for drafting one caption (use ig-caption-writer) or one carousel (use ig-carousel-planner)."
4	---
5
6	# Instagram Content Planner
7
8	Produce a weekly Instagram plan built around a pillar discipline and the
9	format mix Instagram rewards: Reels for reach, carousels for saves, stories for
10	the relationship. The plan sets a weekly saves-and-shares goal, because sends per
11	reach and saves are the 2026 levers.
12
13	## When to use
14
15	- User asks "plan my week on Instagram" or "what should I post this week"
16	- User wants to escape ad-hoc posting and establish a rhythm
17	- Before a launch week (the plan aligns a product pillar)
18
19	## Input
20
21	- Theme (optional): e.g. "launching our design course"
22	- Audience description: e.g. "junior designers, career switchers"
23	- Pillar mix (optional): defaults to 40% Educational / 30% Story /
24	20% Engagement / 10% Promotion
25	- Posting cadence (optional): defaults to 4-5 feed posts/week + daily stories
26	- Voice samples (optional): past captions for voice calibration
27
28	## Output
29
30	A markdown plan with:
31
32	### 7-day calendar
33
34	\| Day \| Format \| Pillar \| Formula \| 1-line angle \| Goal \| Time \|
35	\|---\|---\|---\|---\|---\|---\|---\|
36	\| Mon \| Reel \| Educational \| IG9 Pattern-Interrupt \| "you post Reels at the worst time" \| shares \| 12:00 PM \|
37	\| Tue \| Carousel \| Educational \| IG5 Listicle \| "7 portfolio mistakes" \| saves \| 11:30 AM \|
38	\| Wed \| Story set \| Engagement \| poll + question \| "which layout wins?" \| comments \| 7:00 PM \|
39	\| Thu \| Carousel \| Story \| IG6 Before/After \| "my first $0 to first $4k" \| follows \| 11:00 AM \|
40	\| Fri \| Single image \| Engagement \| IG3 Relatable \| "opening Canva for one graphic" \| comments \| 1:00 PM \|
41	\| Sat \| Reel \| Educational \| IG10 How-I Teardown \| "how I edit a Reel in 20 min" \| saves \| 10:00 AM \|
42	\| Sun \| Story set \| Promotion \| reshare + link \| "course doors open" \| follows \| 6:00 PM \|
43
44	(The skill fills real angles from the theme. Stories run daily underneath the
45	feed posts.)
46
47	### Weekly saves goal
48
49	- Set a concrete saves + shares target for the week (the primary lever).
50	Default heuristic: at least 3 of the week's feed posts are save-bait formats
51	(IG1, IG5, IG6, IG8, IG10) and at least 2 are send-bait (IG2, IG7, IG9).
52	- Track saves and shares as the headline metric, not likes.
53
54	### Daily story cadence
55
56	- 2-4 story frames/day: behind-the-scenes, a poll or question sticker, and at
57	least one reshare of a recent feed post (a send-equivalent signal that pushes
58	the post to followers who missed it).
59	- Stories deepen the follower relationship; they do not chase non-follower reach.
60
61	### Weekly balance check
62
63	- [ ] Format mix: at least 2 Reels (reach), at least 2 carousels (saves), stories daily
64	- [ ] At least 3 save-bait posts and 2 send-bait posts
65	- [ ] At least 1 real first-person story post (build trust, earn follows)
66	- [ ] No pillar over 50% of the week's feed posts
67	- [ ] No formula repeated more than twice in the week
68	- [ ] Promotion pillar 1-2 posts max
69	- [ ] Goal mix spread across saves, shares, comments, follows
70
71	## Goal mix (balance the week)
72
73	Every formula earns a primary signal. A week that is all save-bait or all
74	relatable reads as engineered. Spread the goals:
75
76	\| Goal \| Formulas \| Weekly target \|
77	\|---\|---\|---\|
78	\| Saves \| IG1, IG5, IG6, IG8, IG10 \| at least 3 (the headline lever) \|
79	\| Shares \| IG2, IG7, IG9 \| at least 2 \|
80	\| Comments \| IG3, IG4 \| at least 1 \|
81	\| Follows \| IG4, IG6, IG8 \| at least 1 \|
82
83	## Rules
84
85	- Consistency beats frequency. 4-5 quality feed posts/week with daily stories
86	beats a daily dump of filler. Do not pad to hit a count.
87	- Reels for reach, carousels for saves, stories for the relationship. Use the
88	right surface for the job.
89	- Reels can run more often than carousels without fatigue, because each
90	reaches a fresh non-follower audience.
91	- Best windows: weekdays 11 AM-1 PM and 7-9 PM local, plus Sunday evening.
92	Check the user's own insights when available.
93	- Promotion pillar max 1-2 posts/week. Overuse buries reach.
94	- One formula per slot, varied across the week. Do not stack three IG5 carousels.
95
96	## Formula -> pillar mapping
97
98	\| Pillar \| Preferred formulas \|
99	\|---\|---\|
100	\| Educational \| IG5 Listicle, IG8 Framework, IG10 How-I Reel, IG1 Number-First \|
101	\| Story \| IG4 Confession, IG6 Before/After \|
102	\| Engagement \| IG3 Relatable, IG9 Pattern-Interrupt Reel, story stickers \|
103	\| Promotion \| IG6 (results that imply the product), IG1 (your own data) \|
104
105	## Steps
106
107	1. Gather inputs. Ask for theme, audience, pillar preferences if not provided.
108	2. Validate the pillar mix sums to 100%; warn if any pillar is over 50%.
109	3. For each day, pick: format (Reel/carousel/image/story), pillar, formula (do
110	not over-repeat), angle, posting time (audience timezone), goal.
111	4. Set the weekly saves + shares goal and the daily story cadence.
112	5. Run the weekly balance check and the goal-mix check; flag anything missing.
113	6. Return as markdown, plus optional JSON for import.
114
115	## Example
116
117	See `references/example-week.md` for a filled-in 7-day plan.
118
119	## Files
120
121	- `SKILL.md` - this file
122	- `references/example-week.md` - worked 7-day plan
123	- `references/pillars-framework.md` - the Instagram pillar discipline explained
124
125	## Related skills
126
127	- `ig-caption-writer` - draft each single-image caption from the plan
128	- `ig-carousel-planner` - draft each carousel from the plan
129	- `ig-hashtag-strategist` - rotate sized hashtag sets across the week
130	- `ig-hook-extractor` - study competitors' posts while planning
131