Instagram carousels with Claude Code

To make an Instagram carousel with AI, start from a carousel template at 1080 x 1350 (4:5), let Claude Code write your content into the template, and export every slide as a PNG that you upload in order as one post. The template handles the layout, numbering, progress bars and text fitting, so the AI only has to write the words.

This guide explains how such a template works, which design fits which kind of post, and how to export the slides.

How a carousel template works

In Carousel Studio, each design is a HyperFrames project where one second is one slide. The look is fixed in the design; the content lives in one block of structured text (JSON) inside index.html. Changing a carousel means changing that block:

• One object per slide, in order. The first is the cover, the last is the call to action.
• A type per slide. The type field picks the layout, such as a cover, a tip or a closing slide. Each design's recipe lists its types and their fields.
• Add or remove slides freely. Slide numbers, counters and progress bars update themselves.
• Emphasis with asterisks. Write *word* and that word gets the design's highlight, color or underline.
• Colors in one place. The theme holds the main colors as hex codes; change one and every slide follows.
• Text that fits. Long text shrinks to fit its box, but shorter always reads better on a phone.

Because the content is plain text, Claude Code can write it from your notes, a blog post or a list, and the design keeps every slide consistent.

Pick a design for the job

Motion Cheat Code's Carousel Studio has 20 designs, k01 to k20. Match the design to the kind of post:

The other designs cover quotes, checklists, mistakes, tool stacks, product features, event recaps, announcements and more.

Write the content

You can write the content yourself, but it is faster to hand Claude Code your raw material and the design number. A few rules make slides worth saving:

• Slide 1 is the hook. One promise in a few words, big type.
• One idea per slide. If a slide needs a second paragraph, make it two slides.
• The last slide asks for one thing. Save, share, follow or comment a keyword.
• Real numbers only. The charts in designs such as Stats Story and Case Study need real data. With no real data, leave the chart out.
• Real reviews only. The testimonial design ships with marked placeholders; publish only real words from real customers, shared with permission.

Every brand, person and number in the sample content is made up, so replace all of it before you post.

Add photos and screenshots

Some designs have image slots and show a drawn placeholder until you add your own file. Put the files in the project's assets/ folder and point the field the recipe names at them, for example a screenshot per step in the tutorial design or a product photo in the product design.

Check and export the slides

Run the check first, then export:

npx hyperframes check
node tools/export-slides.mjs --sheet

The export writes slides/slide-01.png, slide-02.png and so on, plus a contact sheet with every slide on one image. Look at the contact sheet: every slide readable, nothing cut off, the cover clear at a glance. Two more options help:

• --slides 1,4 exports only those slides, handy after a small fix.
• --out folder writes the PNGs somewhere else.

If HyperFrames is not installed yet, the first export downloads it with npx, so it needs an internet connection once. To watch the slides while you edit, run npx hyperframes preview and scrub the timeline, one second per slide.

An example prompt

Use carousel design k01. Turn my notes in notes.md into a
listicle: a cover, five tips and a closing slide that asks
people to save the post. One idea per slide, short lines.
Check it, export the slides with a contact sheet, and tell
me what I still need to replace before posting.

Claude Code copies the design, rewrites the content block, runs the check and the export, and reports the folder and the slide count. Upload the PNGs in order as one post and write alt text for the cover. If the carousel goes with a Reel, the covers and thumbnails guide uses the same kind of variables, and Reels safe zones lists the margins for every format.

Carousel Studio is part of the full Motion Cheat Code pack. The free starter kit shows how a prompt becomes a render on a video template first.