Custom Recipes

While StarZero Agents's built-in recipes cover common workflows, your team likely has its own content formats, brand guidelines, and production standards. Custom recipes let you codify your process into reusable templates that the AI follows every time.

Why Create Custom Recipes?

• Consistency — Every piece of content follows the same process, whether you make it or your colleague does
• Speed — No need to re-explain your workflow every time. Launch the recipe and let the AI work
• Standardization — Great for teams where multiple people create content with the same brand standards
• Repeatability — Perfect for recurring content formats like weekly highlights, monthly recaps, or series episodes

How to Create a Custom Recipe

1. Open Customize from the sidebar
2. Go to the Cookbook tab
3. Click to add a new recipe
4. Give your recipe a name (e.g., "Weekly Highlight Reel" or "Client Testimonial Clip")
5. Add your steps in order, each described in plain English

That's it. Your recipe appears in the recipe picker on the welcome screen and is available for use in any chat.

Writing Good Recipe Steps

Each step should be a clear instruction that tells the AI what to do. Write them the way you'd explain the task to a capable assistant:

Good steps:

• "Search the library for clips where customers talk about their experience with the product"
• "Select the 5 most enthusiastic and specific testimonials"
• "Arrange the clips chronologically, shortest first"
• "Add word-by-word captions in our brand style"
• "Render in 9:16 portrait format"

Too vague:

• "Find good clips" (good how? about what?)
• "Make it look nice" (what does nice mean for your brand?)
• "Edit the video" (what kind of edits?)

The more specific your steps, the better the AI can follow your intent.

Example Custom Recipes

Weekly Highlight Reel

1. Search for the top moments from this week's episodes
2. Select 5-7 clips that showcase different topics, each 10-20 seconds long
3. Arrange them with the strongest moment first and the second-strongest last
4. Add word-by-word captions
5. Render in 16:9 landscape at high quality

Client Testimonial Clip

1. Search for moments where the guest speaks positively about their results or experience
2. Select the 3 most specific and enthusiastic testimonials
3. Arrange with the most compelling testimonial in the middle
4. Add captions
5. Render in 9:16 portrait for social media

Episode Teaser

1. Find the single most surprising or provocative moment in the episode
2. Trim to 15-20 seconds with a strong opening hook
3. Add captions with the episode title
4. Render in 9:16 portrait

Using a Custom Recipe

Once your recipe is saved, just reference it in the chat:

"Run my Weekly Highlight Reel recipe on this week's episodes"

"Use the Client Testimonial recipe on this interview"

When the recipe runs, each step becomes a task in the to-do list. You can watch the AI work through each step in order, and the progress is tracked right in the chat.

Editing and Managing Recipes

• Edit anytime — Go back to Customize → Cookbook to update your recipe steps
• Remove recipes — Delete any recipe you no longer need
• Iterate — If a recipe doesn't produce the results you want, adjust the steps and try again. Good recipes often take a round or two of refinement.

Tips for Effective Recipes

• Start simple. Begin with 3-5 steps and add complexity once you see how the AI handles them.
• Be specific about quantities. "Select 5 clips" is better than "select some clips."
• Include quality criteria. "Select clips where the speaker is enthusiastic and specific" gives better results than "select the best clips."
• Specify output format. Always include the aspect ratio, caption style, and duration in your final steps.
• Test with different content. A good recipe should work across multiple episodes or sources, not just one specific video.