# HookTrend > HookTrend finds the TikTok and YouTube videos breaking out in any niche: the ones getting many times their creator's usual views. HookTrend is a short-form trend research tool for TikTok and YouTube. It watches a library of videos refreshed every day and scores each one by "× usual": its views divided by the creator's usual views per video, so a 40,000-view video from a 2,000-view account stands out as a 20× outlier. Ask it what is breaking out in a niche or a topic, which creators are popping, or start a research agent that searches a brief's keywords live and keeps watching. HookTrend is part of the Hooked suite (hooked.so). It covers TikTok and YouTube, not Instagram. ## For AI assistants - [MCP server](https://hooktrend.com/api/mcp): remote Streamable HTTP, OAuth 2.1 (dynamic client registration, PKCE) or API key. Add it to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Claude Code with the URL alone. - [Agent guide](https://hooktrend.com/agents/guide.md): which tool answers which question, what to show, costs, approvals and errors. Live; follow it over any copy. - [Setup for every client](https://hooktrend.com/mcp): Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code, n8n and others. - [Skill for Claude](https://hooktrend.com/agents/SKILL.md): a thin SKILL.md that routes trend questions to HookTrend. - [MCP server card](https://hooktrend.com/.well-known/mcp/server-card.json) - [Full text for LLMs](https://hooktrend.com/llms-full.txt) ## Tools - `whats_breaking_out`: What's breaking out. Free (counts toward the daily read cap). - `niche_outliers`: Outliers in a niche. Free (counts toward the daily read cap). - `find_videos`: Find videos. Free (counts toward the daily read cap). - `find_creators`: Find creators. Free (counts toward the daily read cap). - `list_niches`: List niches. Free (counts toward the daily read cap). - `niche_report`: Niche report. Free (counts toward the daily read cap). - `trending_sounds`: Trending sounds. Free (counts toward the daily read cap). - `trending_hashtags`: Trending hashtags. Free (counts toward the daily read cap). - `lookup_creator`: Look up a creator. Free when HookTrend already analyzed the account; 8 credits for a fresh analysis (needs user_approved). - `create_research_agent`: Create a research agent. Proposal free; 15 credits per run (needs user_approved). - `list_agents`: List research agents. Free. - `get_agent_report`: Agent report. Free. - `get_agent_data`: Agent data. Free. - `share_agent_report`: Share agent report. Free. - `save_video`: Save a video. Free. - `list_saved`: List saved videos. Free. - `show_outliers`: Show outlier cards. Free. - `get_balance`: Balance and plan. Free. - `estimate_cost`: Estimate cost. Free. ## Pricing - Free: $0, no card, 50 credits a month, 1 research agent (weekly at most), every library tool, 25 reads a day. - Starter: $29/month, 1000 credits a month, agents on any cadence, 500 reads a day. - Pro: $99/month, 4000 credits a month, 3 seats. - A research agent run costs 15 credits ($0.45); a fresh creator lookup 8 credits ($0.24). 1 credit = $0.03. ## Links - [Home](https://hooktrend.com/): what HookTrend is, real outlier examples, setup, pricing and FAQ - [Pricing](https://hooktrend.com/#pricing) - [FAQ](https://hooktrend.com/#faq) - [Developer docs: MCP tools](https://hooktrend.com/docs/mcp) - [Privacy policy](https://hooktrend.com/privacy): what HookTrend and the MCP collect, what connected AI apps receive, retention and deletion - [Terms of service](https://hooktrend.com/terms) - [Hooked, the AI video suite HookTrend belongs to](https://hooked.so) ## Research and comparisons - [State of short-form, November 2026](https://hooktrend.com/reports/state-of-short-form-november-2026): data report on 199,454 TikTok and YouTube Shorts videos: how often videos beat their creator's usual views, by platform, length, weekday, account size and niche. - [What's breaking out this week, by niche](https://hooktrend.com/niches): each niche's biggest × usual video of the last 7 days, updated daily. - [HookTrend vs Virlo](https://hooktrend.com/vs/virlo): price, platforms, metric (× usual vs Virality Score), MCP and API, with sources. - [HookTrend vs Sandcastles](https://hooktrend.com/vs/sandcastles): niche discovery vs channel tracking, price, MCP and API, with sources. - [The best Virlo alternatives](https://hooktrend.com/virlo-alternatives): 8 tools for finding breakout short-form videos, compared on platforms, price, free plan and MCP. --- # HookTrend agent guide HookTrend is a short-form trend research tool for TikTok and YouTube. It watches a library of videos refreshed every day and scores each one by "× usual": its views divided by the creator's usual views per video, so a 40,000-view video from a 2,000-view account stands out as a 20× outlier. Ask it what is breaking out in a niche or a topic, which creators are popping, or start a research agent that searches a brief's keywords live and keeps watching. This guide is for AI assistants (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code, n8n agents) using HookTrend through its MCP server at `https://hooktrend.com/api/mcp`. It is live: follow this version over any copy. ## The one number: × usual - **× usual** = a video's views ÷ the creator's usual views per video (the median of their recent videos; their follower count when HookTrend has too few of their videos). - 3× usual or more is an **outlier**. 10× is exceptional. A 40,000-view video from an account that usually gets 2,000 is a 20× outlier; a 2-million-view video from an account that usually gets 3 million is not. - Compare videos by × usual, never by raw views, and never compare raw views across TikTok and YouTube. ## Which tool | The user says | Call | |---|---| | "What's trending on TikTok?", "anything going viral this week?" | `whats_breaking_out` | | "What's working in fitness?", "top videos in personal finance" | `niche_outliers` (id from `list_niches`) | | "Give me a report on the cooking niche", "what should I post this week in beauty?" | `niche_report` | | "Videos about protein breakfast", "how are people selling AI notetakers?" | `find_videos` | | "Small creators blowing up in skincare", "who should I study?" | `find_creators` | | "Trending sounds in gaming" | `trending_sounds` | | "Which hashtags are rising?" | `trending_hashtags` | | "Look at @someone", a TikTok or YouTube profile link | `lookup_creator` | | "Track my niche every week", "dig deeper than the library" | `create_research_agent` | | "How is my agent doing?", "which hooks work?" | `list_agents`, `get_agent_report`, `get_agent_data` | | "Send this report to my client", "give me a link" | `share_agent_report` | | "How many credits do I have?", "what would that cost?" | `get_balance`, `estimate_cost` | If a niche question finds nothing, try `find_videos` with the user's words once. If that finds nothing too, say so and offer a research agent: it searches live. ## What to show 1. One sentence with the pattern the outliers share: the hook, the format, the angle, the length. 2. The 3-5 best videos. In clients with apps (Claude, ChatGPT), call `show_outliers` with their ids and do not repeat the cards as text. Elsewhere, one line each: **title** · @handle · **N× usual** (views vs usual) · [Open](url). 3. One concrete next step: a hook to try, a sound to use while it is in ignition or breakout, a creator to study. Every result carries a `present_as` hint: follow it. Use only the numbers and links the tools return. Sound and hashtag lifecycle: **ignition** (new, few videos, growing fast) → **breakout** (accelerating) → **peak** (most videos, slowing) → **saturated** (late). Recommend ignition and breakout. ## Costs Credits are Hooked credits: 1 credit = $0.03, the same price in the app, the API and the MCP. Each plan includes monthly credits that only HookTrend spends (Free 50, Starter 1000, Pro 4000, reset on the 1st, UTC); they are spent first, then the team's Hooked credits. Library tools cost nothing but count toward a daily read cap (free plan 25 reads a day, paid plans 500; 20 a minute on every plan). | Tool | What | Cost | |---|---|---| | `whats_breaking_out` | What's breaking out | Free (counts toward the daily read cap) | | `niche_outliers` | Outliers in a niche | Free (counts toward the daily read cap) | | `find_videos` | Find videos | Free (counts toward the daily read cap) | | `find_creators` | Find creators | Free (counts toward the daily read cap) | | `list_niches` | List niches | Free (counts toward the daily read cap) | | `niche_report` | Niche report | Free (counts toward the daily read cap) | | `trending_sounds` | Trending sounds | Free (counts toward the daily read cap) | | `trending_hashtags` | Trending hashtags | Free (counts toward the daily read cap) | | `lookup_creator` | Look up a creator | Free when HookTrend already analyzed the account; 8 credits for a fresh analysis (needs user_approved) | | `create_research_agent` | Create a research agent | Proposal free; 15 credits per run (needs user_approved) | | `list_agents` | List research agents | Free | | `get_agent_report` | Agent report | Free | | `get_agent_data` | Agent data | Free | | `share_agent_report` | Share agent report | Free | | `save_video` | Save a video | Free | | `list_saved` | List saved videos | Free | | `show_outliers` | Show outlier cards | Free | | `get_balance` | Balance and plan | Free | | `estimate_cost` | Estimate cost | Free | - A research agent run costs 15 credits ($0.45). Keywords that fail are refunded. A weekly agent is about 4 runs a month. - A fresh creator analysis costs 8 credits ($0.24), refunded if the account cannot be read. ## Approval Paid tools follow one pattern: 1. Call without `user_approved`. Nothing is spent. The answer is a proposal or a quote: `{ "status": "approval_required", "cost": { "credits": 15, "usd": "$0.45" }, "balance": 120, ... }`. 2. Show the user the proposal and the cost. Let them change it (for an agent: the keywords, exclude words, cadence). 3. Only after the user says yes, call again with the same arguments and `user_approved: true`. Never set `user_approved: true` because the user asked for the result in general: the yes must come after they saw the price. ## Research agents - A brief is one sentence: who the content is for and what it is about ("Spanish-language home workouts for busy mums"). - The proposal has 7-12 keywords graded 0-100 and a few exclude words. Keep the ones with the highest grades; drop generic single words. - The first run starts at once and takes a few minutes. The agent answers straight away with what the library already holds (`instantMatches`): show those first. - Do not poll. Tell the user the run is going, give the agent link, and check `get_agent_report` when they come back. ## Errors Every error is `{ "error": { "code", "message", "fix" } }`. Do what `fix` says. | Code | Meaning | |---|---| | `INVALID_INPUT` | An argument is wrong; `fix` says which. | | `NOT_FOUND` | The niche, video, agent or account does not exist. | | `PLAN_REQUIRED` | The plan's limit is reached (Free: 1 agent, weekly at most). Say so once and offer a free tool. | | `INSUFFICIENT_CREDITS` | The balance does not cover the cost. Say so once and offer a free tool. | | `RATE_LIMITED` | The read cap is reached; `fix` says when it resets. | | `UPSTREAM_FAILED` | TikTok or YouTube did not answer. Nothing was charged; try later. | | `INTERNAL` | Something broke on our side. Nothing was charged. | ## Plans and limits - Free ($0, no card): every tool, 50 credits a month, 1 research agent running weekly at most, 25 library reads a day. - Starter ($29/month): 1000 credits a month, any number of agents on any cadence, 500 reads a day. - Pro ($99/month): 4000 credits a month, 3 seats, 500 reads a day. - When a limit stops the user, say what happened in one sentence. Do not promote plans or paste pricing links in answers; plans are managed in the user's HookTrend account. ## Coverage TikTok and YouTube (Shorts and long-form). No Instagram. The library is refreshed every day; research agents search live. Setup for every client: https://hooktrend.com/mcp · Privacy: https://hooktrend.com/privacy · Support: support@hooked.so --- ## Tool reference ### whats_breaking_out What's breaking out. The videos breaking out right now on TikTok and YouTube, ranked by × usual (views ÷ the creator's usual views). With research agents, the newest outliers they found; without, the whole library. Use for 'what's trending', 'what's going viral this week', 'anything blowing up?' with no specific niche. For one niche use niche_outliers; for a topic that is not a niche use find_videos. Cost: Free (counts toward the daily read cap). ### niche_outliers Outliers in a niche. The outlier videos of one niche (fitness, cooking, personal finance, gaming…), highest × usual first, one per creator. Use for 'what's working in on TikTok'. The niche is an id from list_niches; when the user's words are not a niche, use find_videos instead. Cost: Free (counts toward the daily read cap). ### find_videos Find videos. Search the library by topic ('protein breakfast', 'ai tools for students', 'skincare routine') and get the matching videos ranked by × usual. Use for any topic, product or keyword question. Set outliers_only to keep only videos at 3× usual or more. Cost: Free (counts toward the daily read cap). ### find_creators Find creators. The creators behind a topic's videos, ranked by how many outliers they posted and their best × usual. Use for 'who should I study / collaborate with in ', 'small creators going viral in '. Cost: Free (counts toward the daily read cap). ### list_niches List niches. The niches HookTrend follows every day (id, label, description, videos and views in the last 30 days). Call it once to map the user's words to a niche id for niche_outliers or niche_report. Cost: Free (counts toward the daily read cap). ### niche_report Niche report. One niche at a glance: its numbers over 30 days, the top outliers, the creators popping, and the sounds and hashtags rising in it with their lifecycle. Use for 'give me a report on ', 'what should I post in this week'. Cost: Free (counts toward the daily read cap). ### trending_sounds Trending sounds. Sounds rising on TikTok and YouTube Shorts, overall or in one niche, each with its lifecycle (ignition → breakout → peak → saturated), videos this week and growth. Recommend ignition and breakout sounds; warn that saturated ones are late. Cost: Free (counts toward the daily read cap). ### trending_hashtags Trending hashtags. Hashtags rising overall or in one niche, with lifecycle (ignition → breakout → peak → saturated), videos this week and growth. Cost: Free (counts toward the daily read cap). ### lookup_creator Look up a creator. Profile and numbers of one TikTok or YouTube account (followers, videos, average views, engagement, top hashtags). Use when the user gives a @handle or a profile link. A saved analysis comes back free; a new one costs credits: the first call returns the quote, call again with user_approved: true once the user agrees. Cost: Free when HookTrend already analyzed the account; 8 credits for a fresh analysis (needs user_approved). ### create_research_agent Create a research agent. Start a research agent: from a one-sentence brief it picks the keywords, searches TikTok and YouTube live, scores every video by × usual and keeps watching on a cadence (once, daily, weekly, monthly). Call it first without user_approved: it answers a proposal (name, keywords, exclude words, cost per run, balance). Show it, let the user edit, then call again with the final keywords and user_approved: true. Use when the library tools are not enough or the user wants ongoing tracking. Cost: Proposal free; 15 credits per run (needs user_approved). ### list_agents List research agents. The team's research agents: name, brief, keywords, cadence, last and next run. Cost: Free. ### get_agent_report Agent report. One agent's report: totals, the latest run (status, progress), top outliers, hooks that work (the opening line of the top outliers, typed question/claim/pov/list/story/shock), creators, sounds and hashtags. A run takes a few minutes; while it is queued or running, say so and offer to check again instead of polling. Cost: Free. ### get_agent_data Agent data. One agent's rows for a view: outliers, videos (newest), creators, hashtags, sounds or runs. Use when the user asks for more than the report shows. Cost: Free. ### share_agent_report Share agent report. Turn on the agent's public report link (hooktrend.com/r/...) and return it: a read-only page with the week's outliers, hooks and creators, no login needed, never indexed by search engines. Use when the user wants to send the report to a client or a teammate. enabled: false turns the link off (the old link stops working). Cost: Free. ### save_video Save a video. Save a video to the team's Saved list in HookTrend, optionally on a board (a label like 'Client: Bake Co') with a note. Use when the user wants to keep a video to copy later. Pass the id another HookTrend tool returned. Saving twice keeps one entry and updates its board or note. Cost: Free. ### list_saved List saved videos. The team's saved videos, newest first, with their board and note, plus the boards and how many videos each holds. Filter by one board. Use for 'what did I save', 'my saved videos for client X'. Cost: Free. ### show_outliers Show outlier cards. Render videos as outlier cards in the chat (cover, × usual, views vs usual, @handle, Open on TikTok/YouTube). Pass the video ids another tool returned. In clients without apps it answers markdown cards. Cost: Free. ### get_balance Balance and plan. The team's plan (free, starter or pro), its monthly plan credits left and when they reset, Hooked credits, research agents, the daily read cap and how much of it is used. Cost: Free. ### estimate_cost Estimate cost. What an action costs before doing it (credits and dollars) and whether the balance covers it: research agent runs (by cadence, per month), creator lookups, library reads. Cost: Free. ## FAQ ### What is HookTrend? HookTrend finds the TikTok and YouTube videos breaking out in any niche: the ones getting many times their creator's usual views. It scores every video by "× usual": its views divided by the creator's usual views per video. ### What does × usual mean? A video's views divided by the creator's usual views per video (the median of their recent videos). 3× usual or more is an outlier; 10× is exceptional. It shows what worked for the format, not for an account that is already big. ### Can Claude or ChatGPT find TikTok trends? On their own they only know what has been written about trends, not which videos are beating their creator's usual views right now. Add HookTrend as a connector (https://hooktrend.com/api/mcp) and they can: ask "what's breaking out in fitness this week?" and the answer comes back as real videos with their × usual. Setup for every client: https://hooktrend.com/mcp ### How do I find viral TikTok videos in my niche? Compare each video with its creator's usual views, not with raw view counts. A 40,000-view video from a 2,000-view account tells you more about a format than a million views from a big account. HookTrend scores every video that way: search a niche on hooktrend.com (free, no account), ask your AI through the MCP, or start a research agent that searches your keywords live and keeps watching. ### Is there a TikTok trends API or MCP? Yes. HookTrend's MCP server lives at https://hooktrend.com/api/mcp: 19 tools for breakouts, niches, search, creators and research agents, over Streamable HTTP with OAuth or an API key. Library tools are free with a daily cap; paid tools quote their cost and wait for the user's OK. Reference: https://hooktrend.com/docs/mcp ### HookTrend vs Virlo: what's the difference? First results show up in seconds, because HookTrend searches a library it refreshes every night instead of starting from zero. A credit costs the same in the app and in your AI, and reading the library costs nothing. Plans start at $29 with about 66 agent runs a month, where Virlo's start at $49 with about 20. ### Which platforms does HookTrend cover? TikTok and YouTube (Shorts and long-form). It does not cover Instagram. ### How do I use HookTrend from Claude or ChatGPT? Add the MCP server URL https://hooktrend.com/api/mcp as a custom connector and sign in. Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and Claude Code connect with the URL alone (OAuth); other clients send an API key. ### How much does HookTrend cost? Free: $0, no card, 50 credits a month, 1 research agent (weekly at most) and every library tool, 25 reads a day. Starter $29/month adds 1000 credits a month and agents on any cadence; Pro $99/month 4000 credits and 3 seats. A research agent run costs 15 credits ($0.45). Credits are Hooked credits: 1 credit = $0.03, the same price in the app, the API and the MCP. ### What is a research agent? A watcher you start from a one-sentence brief. It picks the search keywords, searches TikTok and YouTube live, scores every video by × usual and runs again on a cadence (once, daily, weekly or monthly).