Sandcastles MCP for Claude: Deep Social Media Analytics Inside Your Agent
Sandcastles connects Claude to real Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts data via eight MCP tools — analyse any video, find top-performing formats, and get next video suggestions without leaving your agent.
Last updated: June 13, 2026
Sandcastles connects Claude to real Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts data via eight MCP tools — analyse any video, find top-performing formats, and get next video suggestions without leaving your agent.
This guide is reviewed for clarity, service accuracy, and AI-search readability. The next quarterly content review is tracked internally before unsupported metrics or client proof are added.
What Sandcastles does
Sandcastles is a social media data platform that connects to Claude via MCP, giving your agent live access to Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts analytics. Instead of switching between a separate analytics dashboard and your Claude session, you query the data directly inside the agent.
The integration provides eight tools covering video-level analysis, channel performance, top formats, top hooks, creator discovery, and next-video suggestions — all from Watchlist channels you define.
Setup
Sandcastles requires an active Pro, Visionary, or Titan plan. Setup from there is about 30 seconds.
- Sign up at sandcastles.ai and choose a plan (Pro, Visionary, or Titan)
- Follow the MCP installation steps in the Sandcastles dashboard — this installs the connector and authenticates the connection to Claude
- Open Claude and confirm the tools are available — all eight should appear in the tools list immediately
The 8 MCP tools
- — deep analysis of any Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube Shorts video by URL. Returns transcript, stats, idea, format breakdown, topic, hook, storytelling structure, and visual layout. Use this to reverse-engineer any specific video that performed well.prompt
/analyze - — surfaces the top-performing topics across the channels in your Watchlist. Use before ideation to find what subject matter is actually driving engagement in your niche right now.prompt
/topic - — generates next video suggestions based on the performance patterns in your Watchlist. Returns ideas ranked by predicted engagement based on what's already working.prompt
/video-suggest - — comprehensive channel analysis by URL. Returns the full performance picture for any channel — top content, patterns, growth signals.prompt
/channels-recap - — returns the top-performing videos from all channels in your current Watchlist. Use this to identify what the best-performing content in your niche looked like last week.prompt
/videos-watchlist - — find creators by niche description. Specify follower count range and platform. Returns matching channels for competitive research and Watchlist building.prompt
/channels-search - — surfaces the top-performing content formats across your Watchlist. Use to identify structural patterns: talking head vs. tutorial vs. POV vs. list format.prompt
/formats-watchlist - — returns the top-performing hooks across your Watchlist. Use to build a swipe file of opening lines that are actually working in your niche right now.prompt
/hooks-watchlist
How to use it with Claude
Once the MCP is connected, the tools work inside any Claude conversation. You don't need special commands — just describe what you want in plain language.
Useful workflows:
- Video debrief — paste a URL and say "analyse this video and tell me what made it work." Claude calls and returns hook type, storytelling structure, visual layout, and transcript breakdown.prompt
/analyze - Niche research — ask "what are the top-performing formats in my Watchlist right now?" Claude calls and returns a ranked breakdown of what structural patterns are driving views.prompt
/formats-watchlist - Ideation — ask "suggest my next 5 videos based on what's working in my Watchlist." Claude calls and returns data-grounded ideas rather than guesses.prompt
/video-suggest - Competitor research — paste a channel URL and ask "give me a full recap of this channel's performance." Claude calls and returns the full picture.prompt
/channels-recap - Creator discovery — ask "find fitness creators on TikTok with 100k to 500k followers." Claude calls with your niche and follower parameters.prompt
/channels-search
What the Watchlist is and why it matters
Several tools (
/topic/video-suggest/videos-watchlist/formats-watchlist/hooks-watchlistThe quality of the data these tools return depends directly on how well your Watchlist represents your niche. A Watchlist of ten tightly relevant competitors produces much more useful signals than a Watchlist of accounts you happen to follow. Build the Watchlist first; the analytical tools get better as the reference set gets tighter.
Frequently asked questions
Does this work on the Claude free plan? The MCP connection works with any active Claude account — the plan restriction is on the Sandcastles side, not Claude. You need Pro, Visionary, or Titan on Sandcastles. Claude plan tier doesn't affect access to the tools.
What's the difference between /analyze/channels-recap
/analyze/channels-recap/analyze/channels-recapHow current is the data? Sandcastles pulls from live platform data via the integration — it's not a static database with a cutoff date. The data freshness depends on Sandcastles' update frequency and what the platform APIs allow. For trend-sensitive work (hooks, formats, top videos), the data reflects recent performance rather than historical averages, which is what makes it useful for content planning.