# Content Ideas

> Turn one or more content recipes and your brand into 1 to 10 post ideas, each with a hook, beats and a shot list. The next node runs once per idea.

Source: https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/video/content-ideas

The **Content Ideas** node turns one or more content recipes and your brand into new post ideas. Each idea borrows the structure of a recipe, that is its format, hook mechanic, beat order and pacing, and never the original's words, footage, music, faces or logos. The node returns a list, so the node after it, such as [Generate Script](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/video/generate-script), runs once per idea.

- Found in: Video › Story & Script
- API type: `content-ideas`

Content Ideas runs on Nodaro Cloud only. It is not available on self-hosted installs.

## When to use it
- You have a post that worked, yours or a competitor's, and you want ideas for your brand on the same structure.
- You want several ideas at once, each ready for a script, a shoot or a video node.
- You want to mix what worked in several posts into one batch of ideas.
- You want ideas in a language other than the language of your brand text.

## Quick start
### Add the node

Press Tab on the canvas and choose **Video › Story & Script › Content Ideas**.

### Connect the recipes

Connect one or more [Content Recipe](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/video/content-recipe) nodes to the **Recipes** input. Either output of a recipe works: **Recipe JSON** or **Recipe text**.

### Describe your brand

Open the settings panel and write your brand under **Your brand**: what you sell, who it is for, your tone and what the brand never does. You can also connect a [Text](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/automate/text) node with the same text to the **Brand** input.

### Choose the number of ideas and run

Set **Number of ideas**, from 1 to 10, and click **Run**. When the run ends, the app says, for example, "5 content ideas ready". The node lists each idea with its title, its format and its hook line. Point at the list to open every idea as text or to copy it.

### Connect the next node

Connect the **Ideas** output to the **Prompt** input of [Generate Script](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/video/generate-script). Generate Script runs once per idea and writes one script for each.

Workflow: Two recipes and a brand text go into one run of Content Ideas. Generate Script then runs once for each of the five ideas.

- Content Recipe → Content Ideas (recipes)
- Content Recipe → Content Ideas (recipes)
- Text → Content Ideas (brand)
- Content Ideas → Generate Script (prompt)

## Inputs
| Input | Accepts | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Recipes** | [Content Recipe](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/video/content-recipe) nodes, from either output, or any text node that holds a recipe | The recipes the ideas are built on. Required. Up to 10 recipes are read. |
| **Brand** | Text nodes, such as [Text](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/automate/text) | The brand profile. A connected text wins over **Your brand**. |

**Several recipes, one run.** Connect several Content Recipe nodes, or one Content Recipe that ran once per post. Every recipe goes into the same run of Content Ideas. The node does not run once per recipe.

## Outputs
The output, **Ideas**, is a list with one creative brief per idea. Every connection that leaves it runs the next node once per idea. This works in the editor and in runs started from the API.

- **What each run receives.** Each run of the next node receives one idea as readable text, with the same fields as below. The brief ends with the post that inspired the idea.
- **All ideas at once.** Set a connection to **Selected** to hand the next node every idea as one text, in a single run. See [connection modes](https://nodaro.ai/docs/concepts/nodes-and-connections#connection-modes).

## Settings
| Setting | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **AI Model** | The language model that writes the ideas. The default is Gemini 3.6 Flash. The list offers the models that can return structured data. The model's tier sets the price. See [Credits](#credits). |
| **Your brand** | What you sell, who it is for, your tone, and what the brand never does. Up to 6,000 characters. A text node connected to **Brand** replaces it. When it is empty, the ideas are for a small brand in the same niche as the recipes. |
| **Number of ideas** | How many ideas to write, from 1 to 10. The default is 5. The note under the field says "Charged per 5 ideas." |
| **Language (optional)** | The language of the ideas, for example Spanish. When it is empty, the ideas follow the language of the brand text, or English when there is no brand text. |

## What each idea contains

| Field | What it holds |
| --- | --- |
| `title` | A short working title. |
| `format` | One format label, from the same list as [Content Recipe](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/video/content-recipe#label-lists). |
| `hook` | `line`, the first spoken line or caption. `firstShot`, what the viewer sees in the first second. `onScreenText`, the text on screen. |
| `beats` | The idea's structure. Each beat has a `start` and an `end` in seconds, a `purpose` and a `description`. |
| `shotList` | 2 to 6 shots you can film. |
| `durationSec` | The target length, in seconds. |
| `cta` | The closing call to action. |
| `whyItFitsUs` | Why the idea suits the brand and its audience. |
| `inspiredBy` | `recipe`, the number of the input recipe, counted from 1. `url`, the source post's link, and `title`, the recipe's topic, when the recipe carries them. `borrowed`, the structural element taken from the post. |

## What the ideas borrow

Each idea borrows the structure of a recipe: its format, its hook mechanic, its beat order and its pacing. An idea never reuses the original's words, footage, music, faces or logos.

This rule is built into the node, not only asked of the model. Before the model reads a recipe made by Content Recipe, the post's spoken lines, on-screen text and call to action are removed from it, so the model cannot repeat them.

## Credits
Content Ideas is charged per batch of up to 5 ideas, by the tier of the AI model:

| Model tier | 1 to 5 ideas | 6 to 10 ideas |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Economy, such as Gemini 3.6 Flash (the default) | 11 | 22 |
| Standard, such as Claude Sonnet 4.6 | 39 | 77 |
| Premium, such as Claude Opus 5 | 55 | 110 |

- **Ideas per run.** A run of 6 to 10 ideas is billed at the price in the last column, whatever the exact count. 5 ideas on the default model cost 11 credits. 7 ideas on a standard model cost 77 credits. 10 ideas on a premium model cost 110 credits.
- **Reasoning effort.** From the API, a `reasoningEffort` of `xhigh` or `max` moves the run one tier up, capped at Premium. The settings panel has no reasoning-effort control on this node.
- **Failed runs.** A run that fails is refunded. See [Credits](https://nodaro.ai/docs/concepts/credits).
- **The next node counts once per idea.** In the editor, the estimate of a workflow run prices the node after Content Ideas once per idea. With 5 ideas, a Generate Script set to Gemini 3.6 Flash adds 5 × 11 = 55 credits.

### What the whole flow costs

A post of up to 60 seconds, from its link to five scripts. Every node keeps its default settings, and Generate Script has Gemini 3.6 Flash chosen under **AI Model**:

| Step | Credits |
| --- | --- |
| [Video URL](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/automate/video-url): download the post | 0 |
| [Video Analysis](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/video/video-analysis) on **Pro** | 238 |
| [Content Recipe](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/video/content-recipe) on the default model | 6 |
| Content Ideas, 5 ideas on the default model | 11 |
| [Generate Script](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/video/generate-script) on Gemini 3.6 Flash, 5 runs at 11 credits | 55 |

The analysis is most of the price, and it depends on the length of the post. See [Video Analysis](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/video/video-analysis#credits) for its other steps.

## Tips
- **Write a specific brand text.** Name the audience, the tone, an offer and the things the brand never does. The ideas are only as specific as this text.
- **Mix recipes from different posts.** The ideas then spread across the posts and across hook mechanics.
- **Ask for 5 or 10 ideas.** Ideas are charged per batch of 5, so 6 ideas cost the same as 10.
- **Connect the node, do not name it.** In another node's text, `{Content Ideas}` gives every idea at once, not the current one. Connect the **Ideas** output instead, so that each run gets one idea. See [Prompt variables](https://nodaro.ai/docs/concepts/prompt-variables).

## Troubleshooting
**The run stops with "connect at least one Content Recipe first".** No recipe reaches the **Recipes** input. Connect a Content Recipe that has a result, and run again. The run stops before anything is charged.

**The run ends with "Content ideas failed".** The model did not finish the ideas. The credits are refunded. Run the node again.

**The next node ran once, with every idea in one text.** The connection from **Ideas** is set to **Selected**. Set it to **Each** to run the next node once per idea.

**The node says that only the first 10 recipes were used.** More than 10 recipes reached the **Recipes** input. Content Ideas reads the first 10 and ignores the rest.

## From the API
`POST /v1/content-ideas` writes ideas on Nodaro Cloud. The body takes `recipes` and the optional `brand`, `count`, `language`, `llmModel` and `reasoningEffort`.

- `recipes` is an array of 1 to 20 recipes, each a string: a recipe's `text`, or its `json` as a string. The first 10 recipes are read.
- `count` is the number of ideas, from 1 to 10. The default is 5.

```bash
curl -s https://app.nodaro.ai/v1/content-ideas \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NODARO_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
"recipes": ["<the text output of a Content Recipe job>"],
"brand": "A small ceramics studio that sells hand-made mugs online. Audience: people who work from home. Tone: warm, never salesy.",
"count": 5
}'
```

The answer is `{ "jobId": "…" }`. Poll the job with `GET /v1/jobs/:id/status` until its status is `completed`. Its `output_data` holds the ideas as `json`, all of them as one `text`, and one brief per idea as `listResults`. See [Jobs](https://nodaro.ai/docs/developers/api/jobs).

A request that cannot run is refused with `400` before any job exists, so nothing is charged. That happens when no usable recipe is sent, or when the model cannot return structured data. It also happens when a field is out of range: more than 20 `recipes`, a `count` outside 1 to 10, a `brand` over 6,000 characters or a `language` over 40.

There is no dedicated MCP tool or SDK method. In a workflow, the node's type is `content-ideas`. AI assistants and code can add it with the [workflow tools](https://nodaro.ai/docs/mcp/tools/projects-and-workflows) or the [Workflows API](https://nodaro.ai/docs/developers/api/workflows).

## Frequently asked questions

### What does the Content Ideas node produce?

A list of 1 to 10 post ideas for your brand. Each idea has a title, a hook with its first line, first shot and on-screen text, a format, timed beats, a shot list, a length and a call to action. It also names the post that inspired it, what it borrowed, and why it fits the brand.

### Does Content Ideas copy the original post?

No. Each idea borrows only the structure of a recipe, that is the format, the hook mechanic, the beat order and the pacing. It never reuses the original's words, footage, music, faces or logos. The model that writes the ideas is never shown the post's own lines.

### How many credits does Content Ideas cost?

It is charged per batch of up to 5 ideas. On the default economy model, 1 to 5 ideas cost 11 credits and 6 to 10 ideas cost 22. A standard model costs 39 or 77 credits, and a premium model 55 or 110. A failed run is refunded.

### How do I get one script per idea?

Connect the Ideas output to the Prompt input of Generate Script. Generate Script then runs once per idea, and each run receives one idea as a complete brief.

### Can I combine several posts into one batch of ideas?

Yes. Connect several Content Recipe nodes, or one Content Recipe that ran once per post, to the Recipes input. Every recipe goes into one run of Content Ideas, and up to 10 recipes are read.

### In which language are the ideas written?

In the language of your brand text, or in English when there is no brand text. To choose another language, type it under Language (optional) in the settings panel.