What this actually is
The arcads-claude-code skill is a free agent skill pack on GitHub. It plugs Claude Code into the Arcads API. Arcads bundles Sora 2, Veo 3.1, Kling 3.0, and Nano Banana 2 behind one interface.
You don't touch the API. You don't click around any UI. You chat with Claude in plain English and it makes the ads for you.
Why this matters
Meta's algorithm rewards new creative every 3 to 5 days. Most brands die there because no human can ship 30 ads a month at $300 a clip.
This collapses that to one person, one afternoon. Caleb runs an 8-figure media buying community on this exact stack. The skill is what his team uses internally.
One message to Claude. That's the whole install.
No env vars. No terminal commands. No copy-pasting keys into config files. If you can paste a sentence into a chat box, you can do this.
Step 1. Open Claude Code in any folder on your computer.
Step 2. Paste this exact message:
Step 3. Claude clones the repo, runs the setup script, and asks you for your Arcads API key in plain chat. You paste the key once. It saves it for you. Done.
If Claude asks a question you don't understand during setup, just say "skip" or "use the default."You're fine.
Do this before the next step
Get your free Arcads account (60 seconds)
You need one thing before the workflow below works. An Arcads account. Free to create. You only pay for credits as you generate stuff. Sign up, then grab your API key from Settings, then paste it when Claude asks during install.
Create your Arcads account →The exact 3 messages that made the reel clips
Three messages. That's the entire process. Most people get stuck because they try to skip step 1 and jump straight to video. Don't. Step 1 is what makes the ads actually look real.
Message 1. Build your AI creator once. Reuse forever.
Before you make a single ad, build a reusable AI influencer. This is the trick that separates ads that convert from ads that look like AI. Type something like:
Claude generates a hero shot. You approve it. Then it auto-generates 9 more angles (3/4, profile, close-up, etc.) using that hero as the reference. All 10 images get saved locally under references/influencers/. From now on, every ad you make uses the same face. Consistency is what makes AI ads pass the sniff test.
Message 2. The still (your product in her hands).
Drop your product photo into chat and say:
You get 3 to 5 stills back. Pick the one you like. The skill auto-pulls style references from references/aesthetics/ugc-selfie/to add skin realism, camera imperfections, and that authentic phone-grab look that fights AI's polished default.
Message 3. The video.
Take the still you picked and say:
30 to 90 seconds later, you have a finished UGC ad. Veo 3.1 starts from your approved still, so the person in the video is the exact same person you just approved. No swapped faces. No surprises. Natural motion (eye contact breaks, head tilts, body shifts) and dialogue baked in.
The faster variant (skip the still)
If you just need volume and don't care about controlling the person's face, drop a product photo and say:
Sora 2 runs it end-to-end using your product photo as a style reference. Faster, no character setup needed. Less control over who shows up on camera.
What it costs
- Nano Banana stills: 0.03 credits each
- Veo 3.1 videos: 1 credit each
- Sora 2: varies by length
Credit pricing lives in your Arcads dashboard. You're talking cents per ad, not hundreds of dollars.
The scaling move most people miss
Don't try to make a perfect ad on day one. Make 20 mediocre ones. Pick the 3 that hit in testing. Then make 10 more that look like the winners.
The skill doesn't make better ads than a real creator. It just lets you ship 30x the volume so the algorithm can do the picking for you. That's the actual unlock.
When to use this. When to skip it.
Use it for: ad iteration, hook testing, faceless brands, product demos, anything where volume beats polish.
Skip it for:founder-led content where you need to be on camera, brand films, anything tied to a real person's likeness for credibility.