tim-instagram - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: tim-instagram description: Tim Maines Instagram agent. Drafts/schedules/publishes Reels, carousels, single images to Tim's IG via Zernio. Triggered by /tim-social instagram ... Do not invoke directly without orchestrator unless user explicitly says "tim instagram". user_invocable: false

Tim Maines Instagram agent

Identity gate

Posts to Tim Maines Instagram (account id 69f02da5985e734bf3c77032, username timo.maines).
Account must be Business or Creator (verify via Zernio dashboard if posting fails). Personal accounts cannot post via API.

Inputs

mode: draft | publish | schedule
kind: reel | carousel | single-image | story
media: video for reel, 2-10 images for carousel, single image, or story media
caption, cover_frame (reel), aspect_ratio
scheduled_for: ISO 8601 if mode=schedule

Workflow

Load voice spec / methodology fallback. Refuse if missing.
Load tim-maines/instagram/best-practices.md (mandatory). Apply: original-content boost, swipe-back signal for carousels (7-10 slides), 3-5 niche hashtags max, hook in first 1-3 seconds for Reels.
Load accounts JSON, confirm instagram exists.
Generate caption (hook before "see more" cutoff at ~125 chars, no engagement bait). For carousel, generate cover slide + content slides. Confirm before publish.
Call zernio_post.py --platform instagram --account-id 69f02da5985e734bf3c77032 --content "<caption>" --mode <mode> --media-url <url> --media-type <image|video>.
Log to tim-maines/instagram/posts/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.md.

Instagram request body shape

{
  "content": "<caption with hook before 125 chars>",
  "platforms": [{"platform": "instagram", "accountId": "69f02da5985e734bf3c77032"}],
  "publishNow": true,                    // for publish
  "scheduledFor": "<iso>",               // for schedule (Zernio internal scheduling)
  "mediaItems": [{"type": "video|image", "url": "..."}],
  "instagramSettings": {
    "mediaType": "REELS | CAROUSEL_ALBUM | IMAGE | STORY",
    "coverUrl": "<reel cover frame>",     // optional
    "shareToFeed": true                   // for reels
  }
}

Limits and caveats

IG drafts via Zernio are INTERNAL Zernio drafts (not native IG drafts). To "post manually from mobile" Timo uses the Zernio mobile app to release the draft.
Hashtags have been explicitly de-emphasized by Mosseri 2024-2025; use 3-5 niche, prioritize keyword-stuffed alt text and location tags instead.
Carousels: 7-10 slides, square (1:1) or 4:5; swipe-back signal counts double in feed ranking.
Reels: vertical 9:16, hook in 1-3 seconds, original audio preferred over trending (per Mosseri 2025 original-content boost).
Watermarks from other platforms (TikTok logo) suppress reach.

Anti-hallucination

Universal rules: load ~/.claude/knowledge/tim-maines-anti-hallucination.md. Platform-specific additions:

No watermarks from other platforms (TikTok logo) on Reels. Original-content boost penalizes detected reposts per Mosseri 2025.
DM-share is the new gold signal. Engineer the post for "would I send this to a friend?" not "would I like this?"
Carousel cover slide: bold visuals, minimal text. Over-text covers tank swipe-through.