Glossary
The terms you’ll see around Sandcastles, each with the article that explains it in full.
A
- API key
- The key you generate in Settings > Connectors to use the Sandcastles API, which brings your research data into your own tools and scripts. API access is included with Titan only, and you can have one active key at a time.
- How to use the Sandcastles API
- Automation rule
- A rule in the Automations tab that analyzes new videos from your Watchlist that meet its filters and adds them to your Ideas tab. Each video costs 1 credit, and the rule's daily limit caps its credits per day.
- How to use the Automations tab
B
- Bulk Analyze
- Queues a deep analysis on up to 100 videos from the top of your Videos tab feed in one go, at 1 credit per video. Videos already analyzed or queued are skipped. Available on Pro, Visionary and Titan.
- How to bulk analyze multiple videos simultaneously
C
- Collection
- A curated set of standout videos, grouped by format, hook and story structure, picked by the Sandcastles team. You can't create your own collections; to save videos for yourself, add them to a project.
- How to use the Collections tab
- Content Strategy Audit
- A report that shows what's working and what isn't across four areas: topics, hooks, formats and scripting tactics. It runs on the channels you select. Not available on Starter.
- How to use the Reports tab
- Credit boost
- A one-off pack of extra credits you can buy on Pro, Visionary or Titan without upgrading. Boost credits never expire and are only used after your plan credits run out.
- How do I buy more credits?
- Credits
- Credits pay for three actions in Sandcastles: analyzing videos, writing scripts and running reports. Your plan adds a set number of credits each cycle, and unused plan credits don't roll over.
- How does the credit system work?
D
- Deep analysis
- An analysis that breaks a video down into a summary, transcript, idea analysis, hook, storytelling format and visual layout. Each analysis uses 1 credit, and the video is added to your Ideas Inbox.
- How do I deep analyze a video in the Videos tab?
E
- Engagement rate
- Likes plus comments, divided by views, shown as a percentage. You can filter and sort videos by engagement rate in the Videos tab.
- How do I use the filter settings in the Videos tab?
- Export for LLM
- A button on the Video Detail Page that copies a ready-made prompt with the video's analysis, so you can paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or another AI tool.
- How to use the Video Detail Page in Sandcastles
F
- Full plans
- Pro, Visionary and Titan. Higher plans include more credits, workspaces, channels and verified social accounts, and only Titan includes the API and workspace guests.
- What are the differences between the Starter, Pro, Visionary, and Titan plans?
G
- Global Sandcastles
- A browsing mode in the Videos tab that searches short-form videos from across Sandcastles, not just the channels in your Watchlist, including creators you don't follow. Available on Pro, Visionary and Titan.
- How to use the global search feed in the Videos tab
I
- Idea detail panel
- The panel that opens on the right when you click an idea in the Ideas tab. It shows the idea's summary, your notes and the original video, with Shortlist, Discard, Go to Analysis and Turn into script.
- How can I see more information on an individual idea?
- Ideas Inbox
- Where new ideas land in the Ideas tab: every video you analyze becomes an idea in your Inbox. From there you can shortlist, discard or turn ideas into scripts. Your Shortlist holds the ideas you want to pursue.
- How to use the Ideas tab
O
- Outlier score
- A video's views divided by the median views of that channel's videos posted in the 90 days up to that video. A score of 3x means the video got three times the channel's usual views.
- How do I use the filter settings in the Videos tab?
P
- Persona
- Tells Sandcastles about your niche, your brand and how you write, through Content description, Context and Writing style. It personalizes your scripts, channel suggestions and ideas. Each workspace has its own Persona.
- How to use the Persona tab
- Personal Analytics Dashboard
- Your home page in Sandcastles. Once you turn on personal analytics and verify your channels, it shows your followers, views, posts, performance charts, recent videos and latest Content Strategy Audit in one place.
- How to use the Personal Analytics Dashboard
- Project
- A folder in the Projects tab for grouping related content, such as "Great Visual Hooks" or "Visual Inspiration". Use Add to project to save a video to an existing project or a new one.
- How to use the Projects tab
R
- Remix
- Using an existing video as the starting point for a new script. Sandcastles analyzes the base video, extracting its topic, writing style and other components, which you build on with your own ideas. Click Create script on a video to remix it.
- What is the difference between remixing and writing from scratch in Sandcastles?
- Report
- Reports analyze a batch of videos from the channels you choose and turn them into insights you can act on. You can run a report once or put it on a schedule, and each run costs credits.
- How to use the Reports tab
S
- Sandcastles MCP
- MCP stands for Model Context Protocol. The Sandcastles MCP lets you use Sandcastles inside chatbots like Claude and ChatGPT, and you connect it by signing in with your Sandcastles account. It needs a Pro, Visionary or Titan plan.
- How to set up the Sandcastles MCP in any AI assistant
- Saved filter
- A set of Videos tab filters saved under a name so you can apply them again in one click. It also remembers your browsing mode and the Include analyzed switch. Not available on Starter.
- How do I create a saved filter in the Videos tab?
- Script paths
- The three ways to create a script in Sandcastles: Script from Scratch, Remix an Existing Idea, and Fix an Existing Script, where you paste a draft you've already written to refine it.
- What are the 3 different script paths in Sandcastles?
- Starter plan
- A $5/month plan offered once, only to new accounts that have never had a subscription. It includes 10 credits a month and one workspace, but not Global search, Bulk Analyze, Reports, Automations, Persona, Exports or the MCP.
- What are the differences between the Starter, Pro, Visionary, and Titan plans?
V
- Video Detail Page
- The page that shows a video's full analysis: a Summary plus Transcript, Idea Analysis, Hook, Storytelling Format and Visual Layout tabs. From it you can create a script, add the video to a project or save its hook format.
- How to use the Video Detail Page in Sandcastles
W
- Watchlist
- The channels whose videos appear in your Videos feed. You build it on the Channels page and it saves automatically. Each workspace has its own Watchlist, and your plan sets how many channels it can hold.
- How to use the Channels tab
- Workspace
- A separate space for each niche, client or project, with its own Watchlist, saved filters, ideas, scripts, projects, reports, automations and Persona. Your credits are shared across all your workspaces.
- How to use the Workspaces feature
Y
- Your analyzed library
- The browsing mode in the Videos tab that shows only videos you've analyzed. Choose it before exporting to export only analyzed videos.
- How to use the Videos tab
- Your personalized feed
- The default browsing mode in the Videos tab: videos from the channels in your Watchlist, plus any other videos you've analyzed. Turn off Include analyzed to see only videos you haven't analyzed yet.
- How to use the Videos tab