Trend Scout — Content Opportunity Detection

Scans multiple sources for trending topics and conversations relevant to your domain. Scores each trend by relevance and suggests content angles with recommended platforms.

Configuration

Step 0: Define the domain

Before scanning, the skill needs a domain configuration. Either:

• The user provides it explicitly: "trend-scout for project management tools"
• The skill reads the current project's CLAUDE.md or brand brief for context
• The user is asked: "What product/domain should I scan for?"

From the domain, derive:

Relevance keywords (3 tiers)

High relevance (+25 points): product name, direct competitors, category name, core problem being solved Medium relevance (+10 points): adjacent categories, related user behaviors, industry terms Low relevance (+5 points): broad themes the audience cares about

Example for a project management tool:

• High: Asana, Monday, Linear, Jira, project management, task tracking, sprint planning
• Medium: team collaboration, remote work, agile, kanban, product roadmap, Notion
• Low: productivity, startup tools, developer tools, SaaS

Sources

1. Hacker News -- top 30 stories
2. Reddit -- hot posts from subreddits relevant to the domain (ask or infer from context)
3. Google Trends -- trending searches via WebSearch
4. X/Twitter -- via WebSearch for "site:x.com" + keywords

Competitor list

Derive from context or ask: "Who are the 3-5 main competitors to monitor?"

Input

• Required: domain/product (explicit or from project context)
• Optional: topic focus to narrow the scan (e.g., "pricing backlash", "migration pain")
• Optional: source filter (e.g., "hn,reddit" to scan only those)

Step 1: Scan Sources

Hacker News

• WebFetch https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/topstories.json (get top 30 IDs)
• For each relevant-looking ID, fetch the story: https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/item/{id}.json
• Extract: title, URL, score, comment count
• Filter: only stories with relevance score >= 10

Reddit

• For each subreddit, WebFetch https://www.reddit.com/r/{subreddit}/hot.json?limit=15
• Extract: title, score, comment count, URL, subreddit
• Filter: score > 20 and relevance score >= 10

Google Trends

• WebSearch for trending topics in the domain
• Build search queries from the HIGH relevance keywords + "[current year]", "trends", "alternative to [competitor]"
• Extract: trending topics, related queries, rising searches

X/Twitter

• WebSearch for: "site:x.com [product name]" OR "site:x.com [category]"
• Also search for: "site:x.com [competitor1]" OR "site:x.com [competitor2]" (competitor mentions)
• Extract: post content, engagement signals, author

Step 2: Score Each Trend

For each item found:

Relevance Score = sum of keyword matches (HIGH: +25, MEDIUM: +10, LOW: +5)

Additional scoring bonuses:

• Recency: posted in last 24h: +15, last 48h: +10, last week: +5
• Engagement: HN score > 100: +10, Reddit score > 200: +10, high comment count: +5
• Sentiment: negative sentiment about competitors: +10 (opportunity), positive sentiment about our space: +5

Only include items with total score >= 20.

Step 3: Generate Content Angles

For the top 10 trends, suggest:

1. Angle: what take could the brand/founder have on this?
2. Format: X post, long-form X, blog post, or feature idea for the product
3. Hook: a draft opening line
4. Urgency: time-sensitive (ride the wave now) or evergreen (can wait)
5. Effort: low (tweet), medium (long post), high (blog/feature)

Prioritize angles that:

• Position the product as relevant to the conversation being discussed
• Let the author share an informed opinion (not just promote)
• Are timely (ride a trending conversation)
• Match the author's voice and style

Step 4: Output

---
## Trend Scout Report
**Date**: [YYYY-MM-DD]
**Sources scanned**: [list]
**Trends found**: [total] | **Relevant**: [filtered count]

### Top Opportunities

#### 1. [Trend title] (Score: XX)
- **Source**: [HN/Reddit/Trends/X] | **Engagement**: [score/comments]
- **Why it matters**: [1 line]
- **Angle**: [suggested take]
- **Format**: [X post / long-form / blog]
- **Hook**: "[draft opening line]"
- **Urgency**: [time-sensitive / evergreen]

#### 2. ...

[up to 10 trends]

### Competitor Mentions
[Any mentions of competitors from the configured list]

### Emerging Themes
[2-3 line summary of recurring themes across sources]

### Recommended Actions
1. [Most time-sensitive opportunity]
2. [Best content angle for this week]
3. [Feature/product insight from user conversations]
---

Rules

• Don't fabricate trends. If a source returns nothing relevant, say so.
• Don't force relevance. A trending topic about AI is not automatically relevant to your domain.
• Competitor mentions are always relevant, even with low keyword scores.
• Prefer actionable angles over interesting-but-useless observations.
• The hook line should match the author's voice, not sound like a marketing team.
• When in doubt about relevance, include it with a note rather than filtering it out.