# My Idea Department

From Mariah Brunner, learnaiwithmariah.com/guides/ai-content-idea-department/

Before you start, connect Apify, Gmail and Exa in Claude (Customize or Plugins, then Connectors) and turn on code execution under Settings, then Capabilities.

Feed formats Claude can read:
- Substack: https://NAME.substack.com/feed
- Reddit top posts this week: https://www.reddit.com/r/NAME/top/.rss?t=week

Ideas are inspiration. Never copy someone's content, and credit them when you build on their take.

## Step 1. Pick your sources (run once)

I make content about [your niche] for [who you make it for]. Help me pick the sources for my Idea Department. I want 8 Instagram accounts and 8 X accounts in my niche that get big views, 5 subreddits, 5 Substack newsletters and 5 podcasts that put out new episodes every week. Only pick ones that posted in the last month, and give me the link for each. Then search my Gmail for newsletters I already get on this topic and list the senders. Put it all in one list called My Idea Sources so I can reuse it.

## Step 2. Build the dashboard (run once)

Build me an interactive dashboard artifact called Idea Department that finds my 30 best content ideas from the last 7 days, using My Idea Sources. Use my Apify connection to pull Instagram Reels and X posts from those accounts and keep only the posts with the most views and likes. Use Gmail to read my newsletters, and use Exa to read my Substack feeds, the top posts of the week in my subreddits, and new podcast episodes with their transcripts. Show each idea as a card with the source, the views or likes, a one-line summary and the link to the original, ranked best first. Give every card a Save button that keeps my saved ideas in a Saved tab between visits, and add a Refresh button. Keep it read only, so never send, delete or change anything in my email or accounts. Before each refresh, tell me roughly how much Apify credit it will use.

## Step 3. Twice-a-week refresh (make it a scheduled task)

Every Monday and Thursday at 7am, refresh my Idea Department. Pull the last 7 days from My Idea Sources with Apify, Gmail and Exa, and keep only the posts with the most views and likes. Rank the 30 best ideas for my audience, skipping anything I already saved. For each one, give me the source, the views or likes, the link and one line on why it would work for me. Update my Idea Department dashboard if you can, and if you can't, give me the ranked list here. Read only, never send or change anything.

## Step 4. Voice note to angle (every time you save an idea)

Here's my voice note about an idea I saved: [dictate or paste it here]. The original post is here: [link]. Turn my rambling into my own take, in my words and my voice. Give me one scroll-stopping hook, a 5-beat outline and a closing line. Use my opinion and my stories, never the original creator's wording, structure or examples. If my take is too close to theirs, tell me and push me to find what I actually think. If I'm building on their point, add a line that credits them by name.