# Parsly

> Parsly is a free Chrome extension that shows why a creator's posts or a brand's ads took off, and what to post next. Works with Claude.

Parsly is made by matt.blu (https://mattblu.com). Contact: hello@mattblu.com

## What it does

- Learn from a creator: collects their posts on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, X and Facebook with the numbers each got.
- Learn from a brand: collects the ads it runs from the Meta Ad Library.
- Collects communities: a subreddit's posts and comments, a Skool community's posts and a course's lessons, into a spreadsheet.
- Saves videos: a Reel or TikTok as an MP4, and a whole profile's transcripts.
- Spots what broke out: the posts that beat that account's usual numbers, and what they have in common.
- Turns it into what to post next: hooks, formats and ideas built on what worked.
- Works with Claude: connect Parsly and ask in your own words.
- Collects a Loom video from its page (details, chapters and transcript) and downloads it as an MP4, sound included.
- Runs in your own Chrome: it can't see a site until you allow it. Your collections are saved in your browser; Parsly's server reads each page to build them and may keep some of the data.

## Rolling out

- Sources arrive one at a time, so not every site above works yet. Today it collects from YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, X, Reddit, Skool, Loom and the Meta Ad Library.

## Free tools

- [Loom video downloader](https://parsly.to/tools/loom-downloader/): paste a public Loom link to download the video as an MP4 and read or copy its transcript. Free, no sign-in.

## REG by Parsly

Free AI competitor research: ask how any company gets its customers and get its whole funnel back, ads to upsells, with the evidence. Also how any creator grew, and a weekly content plan. Runs in Claude Code today. It's a separate product from the Chrome extension: a Claude Code plugin, free and open source.

- Install in Claude Code: `/plugin marketplace add itsmattblu/reverse-engineer-growth`, then `/plugin install reg@reg`.
- Three skills: `/reg:competitor-funnel` ("How does [company] get its customers? Go deep."), `/reg:creator-growth` (how a creator grew on each platform over time, and a plan to copy) and `/reg:content-plan` (a weekly brief and post drafts for LinkedIn and X). Each asks light, medium or deep first.
- Covers ads (Meta, Google, TikTok, LinkedIn) and where each leads, landing pages, sign-up, follow-up, checkout, delivery, upsells, referrals, the people behind the company, and size estimates labelled as estimates.
- Public evidence only: never signs up, logs in, submits forms or gets past bot checks. Every report ends with what couldn't be seen.
- Page: https://parsly.to/reg/ · Source: https://github.com/itsmattblu/reverse-engineer-growth

## Guides

### Ad libraries

See the ads any brand runs, and get them out.

- [How to use the Meta Ad Library (Facebook Ad Library)](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-use-the-meta-ad-library/): Go to facebook.com/ads/library, pick a country, choose All ads, and type a brand's name or a keyword. You'll see every ad running on Facebook, Instagram and Meta's other apps, with its start date and versions. It's free and works without a Facebook account, but it shows spend only for political and issue ads.
- [How to download ads from the Meta Ad Library](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-download-ads-from-the-meta-ad-library/): The Meta Ad Library has no download button for ordinary Facebook and Instagram ads. You can save one ad's image by right-clicking it, download spend data for political ads from the Ad Library report, or pull ads with the Ad Library API. To get a whole brand's ads as a spreadsheet, use an extension such as Parsly.
- [How to see your competitors' Facebook ads](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-see-competitors-facebook-ads/): Open the Meta Ad Library at facebook.com/ads/library, choose your country and All ads, type the competitor's name and pick their Page from the advertiser list. You'll see every Facebook and Instagram ad they're running. Ads running for months, with many versions, are usually the ones that work. Spend and results stay hidden.
- [Meta Ad Library API: what it covers and how to get access](https://parsly.to/guides/meta-ad-library-api/): The Meta Ad Library API is free and returns ads about social issues, elections or politics from anywhere, plus ads of any kind shown in the EU or UK. To use it, confirm your identity at facebook.com/ID, create a Meta for Developers account and app, and call the ads_archive endpoint with an access token. Ordinary ads outside Europe aren't included.
- [TikTok Ads Library: how to see any brand's TikTok ads](https://parsly.to/guides/tiktok-ads-library/): TikTok's ad library is the Commercial Content Library at library.tiktok.com. It lists every ad shown in the EEA, the UK, Switzerland and Turkey since 1 October 2022, kept for a year after it last ran, with no account needed. Creative Center's Top Ads is different: a curated set of high-performing ads that advertisers chose to share.
- [LinkedIn Ad Library: how to see a company's LinkedIn ads](https://parsly.to/guides/linkedin-ad-library/): LinkedIn's Ad Library at linkedin.com/ad-library lists ads that have run on LinkedIn, worldwide, created on or after 1 June 2023. Search by company, payer or keyword, no account needed. Ads stay for a year after their last impression. Ads aimed at the EU also show impressions, countries and the top targeting choices.
- [Google Ads Transparency Center: how to see any company's Google ads](https://parsly.to/guides/google-ads-transparency-center/): Google's Ads Transparency Center at adstransparency.google.com shows the ads a company has run on Google Search, YouTube, Shopping, Maps and Play in the past year. Search by advertiser name or website, then filter by country, date, platform and format. It's free with no account. Ads shown in Europe and Turkey also show audience selection.
- [Ad libraries compared: Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn and Google side by side](https://parsly.to/guides/ad-libraries-compared/): Meta's Ad Library shows every active ad worldwide; LinkedIn's shows ads worldwide since June 2023; Google's shows verified advertisers' ads worldwide. TikTok's Commercial Content Library covers only the EEA, UK, Switzerland and Turkey. All keep ads about a year after they stop, none show spend for ordinary ads, and none need an account.
- [How to download a video from the Facebook (Meta) Ad Library](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-download-a-video-from-the-facebook-ad-library/): The Meta Ad Library (also called the Facebook Ad Library) has no download button for video ads, and its API returns no video files. Chrome's right-click Save video as works on only some ads. To get a brand's ad videos, use a free Chrome extension such as Parsly, which collects every ad with a link to its video file.

### Transcripts

Get the words out of a video.

- [How to get a YouTube transcript (free, on any device)](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-get-a-youtube-transcript/): On a computer, open the video on youtube.com, click ...more under it, scroll to the end of the description and click Show transcript. The transcript opens beside the video, with a time on each line. It only exists if the video has captions, either the creator's or YouTube's automatic ones.
- [How to get a TikTok transcript (one video or a whole account)](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-get-a-tiktok-transcript/): TikTok makes automatic captions for most videos with speech and shows them on the video, but it has no transcript view or copy button for viewers. To get a TikTok's text, type it from the captions, paste the link into a transcript tool, or use a Chrome extension such as Parsly to collect a creator's videos with their transcripts.
- [How to get an Instagram Reel transcript](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-get-an-instagram-reel-transcript/): Instagram writes automatic captions for Reels with speech and shows them on the video in the app, but there's no transcript view or copy button. To get a Reel's text, type it from the captions, paste the link into a transcript tool, or use a Chrome extension such as Parsly to collect a creator's Reels with their transcripts.
- [How to get a Loom transcript, and download a Loom video](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-get-a-loom-transcript/): On a Loom video, open Transcript in the side panel and click the copy button above it. Loom's own download button is limited: free Starter accounts can't download, and viewers need a paid owner's permission and a Loom sign-in. To save any Loom you can watch as an MP4, use a free tool such as Parsly.
- [TikTok transcript generators compared: free sites, AI and bulk tools](https://parsly.to/guides/tiktok-transcript-generator/): A TikTok transcript generator turns a video's speech into text you can copy. There are four practical kinds: TikTok's own captions (free, but you can't copy them), paste-a-link websites (one video at a time), AI speech-to-text on a saved video (works without captions), and bulk tools such as Parsly for a whole account.
- [How to get an Instagram transcript (videos, Stories, Lives and whole accounts)](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-get-an-instagram-transcript/): Instagram has no transcript feature: it writes automatic captions for Reels and videos and shows them in the app, but you can't copy them. To get the text, type it from the captions, paste the video's link into a transcript tool, or use a Chrome extension such as Parsly, which is adding transcripts for a whole account's videos.
- [How to get a YouTube Shorts transcript (when there's no Show transcript button)](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-get-a-youtube-shorts-transcript/): YouTube's Shorts player has no Show transcript button, even when a Short has captions. On a computer, change youtube.com/shorts/ to youtube.com/watch?v= in the Short's link, keeping the ID after it. The Short opens as a normal video: click ...more under it, then Show transcript. Without captions there's no transcript.

### Learning from creators

Find what took off for an account, and why.

- [How to go viral on TikTok (a method, not a list of hacks)](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-go-viral-on-tiktok/): TikTok says For You ranks videos mostly on how viewers interact with them, including watch time, and that follower count isn't a direct factor. So to go viral on TikTok, study 5–10 accounts like yours, find the videos that beat their own usual views, work out how those open and are built, and make your own versions.
- [How to go viral on Instagram (and work out what to post)](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-go-viral-on-instagram/): Instagram says Reels are ranked mainly on your likely reaction (watching to the end, liking, resharing), and each eligible Reel is first shown to a small audience before reaching more. So to go viral on Instagram, find the Reels that beat their own usual views for accounts like yours, and post your own versions of what worked.
- [How to find your best time to post on Instagram and TikTok](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-find-your-best-time-to-post/): Your best time to post depends on when your own followers are online. Instagram Insights shows the times your followers are most active, and TikTok Studio's analytics show follower activity by hour; both need at least 100 followers. Start there, then test two or three time slots over two weeks and compare views.
- [How to find a YouTube channel's best videos and outliers](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-find-a-youtube-channels-best-videos/): YouTube can sort a channel's videos by all-time views, but it can't show which ones beat the channel's usual. To find those outliers, compare each video with the median views of the uploads around it. Do it in a spreadsheet, or use a Chrome extension such as Parsly to collect and score every upload at once.
- [How to find a TikTok creator's best videos (the ones that beat their usual views)](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-find-a-tiktok-creators-best-videos/): On TikTok, open the creator's profile on tiktok.com: each video shows its view count, and the Popular tab brings their biggest hits to the top. To find breakouts, note the typical views of their last 30 or so videos, then look for videos with several times that. TikTok's analytics only cover your own account.
- [How to find an Instagram creator's best Reels](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-find-an-instagram-creators-best-reels/): Instagram has no way to sort another creator's Reels by views. Open their profile's Reels tab, where each Reel shows its play count in the corner, note the last 30 or so, and find their typical number. The Reels with several times that are their breakouts: the ones worth studying. Parsly can do this for a whole profile.
- [X (Twitter) algorithm 2026: how it ranks posts, how to grow](https://parsly.to/guides/x-algorithm/): The X algorithm ranks For You posts by predicting what each viewer will do and weighting it. In X's 2026 code a reply weighs 5 (20 between mutual followers), a copy-link share 20, a like 0.66, a mute −58.8. To grow, reply early to live posts, make things people share, and avoid bait.
- [How to get more followers on X (Twitter): what works in 2026](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-get-more-followers-on-x/): Small accounts on X get most early followers from replies: early, specific replies under live posts by 10–30 accounts in their niche. The rest comes from the odd post that breaks out, usually short, opinionated or useful. Post daily, measure against your own usual, and skip follow-unfollow, pods and AI reply bots.
- [How to go viral on X (Twitter): what breaks out in 2026](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-go-viral-on-x/): Posts go viral on X when they pick up fast: early replies, shares and time spent in the first hours. Small accounts get a test slot for posts under two hours old. Breakouts are usually short, relatable or argued-over posts, rarely product posts. Measure each post against your own usual and repeat what beats it.

### Saving videos

Keep a copy of a video, or a creator's whole feed.

- [How to save TikTok videos (one video, your own, or a creator's feed)](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-save-a-creators-tiktok-videos/): In the TikTok app, open the video, tap the Share button and tap Save video. The video goes to your phone's gallery. If Save video isn't there, the creator has turned downloads off, or the account is private. You can always save your own posted videos the same way, and turn on Save to device before posting.
- [How to download Instagram Reels (yours, and ones you're allowed to)](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-download-instagram-reels/): In the Instagram app, public accounts' Reels can be downloaded unless the creator turns it off: tap the Share button under the Reel and look for Download. The file carries an Instagram watermark and the creator's username, and Instagram says it can't be used commercially. Private accounts' Reels can't be downloaded. On a computer there's no download option.
- [How to download Facebook videos (your own, and saving others' to watch later)](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-download-facebook-videos/): Facebook only lets you download videos you posted yourself: open your profile's Reels, open the video, tap Options and choose Download reel. Other people's videos and reels can't be downloaded with Facebook's tools; you can only Save them to watch later in Facebook. To get everything you've posted at once, use Export your information.
- [How to download videos from X (Twitter)](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-download-videos-from-x/): X lets paying subscribers download some videos: in the X app, press and hold the video, or open the post's menu, and tap Download video. It only works for videos posted from 25 July 2023 whose poster hasn't turned downloads off. Everyone else can bookmark a post, and you can download your own videos in your X archive.
- [How to download Pinterest videos (and images)](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-download-pinterest-videos/): Pinterest lets you download image Pins from the ellipsis (…) menu with Download image. Video Pins can only be downloaded when they're full-screen (9:16) and the creator has turned on Video Pin downloads; the file carries a watermark of their username. Otherwise you can save the video Pin to one of your boards, which keeps it in Pinterest.
- [How to download Instagram Reels on a computer (PC or Mac)](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-download-instagram-reels-on-a-computer/): Instagram has no download button on a computer: its Reel download is only in the phone app. To save a Reel on a PC or Mac, use a free Chrome extension such as Parsly, which saves it as an MP4 with its sound. Otherwise, download it in the app and send it across, or export your own account's data.
- [Download TikTok videos on a computer without a watermark](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-download-tiktok-videos-on-a-computer/): TikTok's Save video button is in its phone app, its help pages give no way to save on a computer, and app copies can carry a watermark. To get a clean file, use a Chrome extension such as Parsly: open the video, click Collect video, then Download video. You get an MP4 with sound.

### Exporting data

Posts, comments, courses and numbers into a spreadsheet.

- [How to export Instagram comments to a spreadsheet](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-export-instagram-comments/): Instagram has no built-in way to export the comments on other people's posts. Your own comments are in Instagram's Download your information file, and a professional account can read comments on its own posts through Meta's API. For anyone else's posts, you copy by hand or use a tool such as Parsly that reads the comments into a spreadsheet.
- [How to export LinkedIn posts (yours, or a creator's)](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-export-linkedin-posts/): LinkedIn lets you export your own posts: Download your data gives every post you've shared, and your post analytics export to an Excel file for up to the past 365 days. There's no official way to export someone else's posts. Tools like Parsly collect a creator's posts with their reactions and comments as you scroll, but LinkedIn's rules restrict that.
- [How to export posts from X (Twitter): your archive, the API, and a creator's posts](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-export-posts-from-x/): To export your own posts from X, request your archive under Settings and privacy, Your account, Download an archive of your data. To export someone else's, X's API charges per post read ($0.005 a post in October 2026), or a tool such as Parsly collects a creator's posts with their views, likes and reposts as you scroll.
- [How to export a Skool community's posts and courses](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-export-a-skool-community/): Skool has no documented export for a community's posts or classroom. To get them into a spreadsheet, use a Chrome extension such as Parsly: open a community's feed to collect posts with likes, comment counts and categories, or, as a member, open a course to collect every lesson with its section, length and write-up.
- [How to export subreddit posts and comments to CSV](https://parsly.to/guides/how-to-export-a-subreddit-to-a-spreadsheet/): Reddit has no export button for a subreddit: its data request covers only your own account. To get a subreddit's posts and comments into a CSV or spreadsheet, use the Reddit API if you can code, or a Chrome extension such as Parsly, which collects posts with points, flair and top comments, or a post's comments row by row.

### Parsly in Claude

Ask about any account in your own words.

- [Parsly in Claude: ask about any creator or brand in your own words](https://parsly.to/guides/parsly-in-claude/): Parsly in Claude is a connector that lets Claude fetch any public account's posts, transcripts and comments, then answer in your own words: which posts broke out, why they worked, what to post next. You add it in Claude's Customize, Connectors settings with Parsly's address, sign in, and ask. It needs a paid Parsly plan.

### Teardowns

How companies get their customers and creators grow their audience, from public evidence.

- [How AG1 gets its customers: a funnel teardown](https://parsly.to/guides/how-ag1-gets-its-customers/): AG1 sells one greens powder by subscription ($79 a month in the US) and finds customers mostly through paid social at huge volume, half of its US ads run in creators' names, plus Google, podcasts and affiliates. Its site's code sorts each visitor into one of nine groups by where they came from, including people arriving from competitors.
- [How Danny Postma grew HeadshotPro on search, ads and affiliates](https://parsly.to/teardowns/danny-postma/): How Danny Postma grew HeadshotPro through search, ads and affiliates, not his 188k X followers: timeline, funnel, prices, and what is claimed versus checked.
- [How Pieter Levels grew to 983k on X and $165k a month](https://parsly.to/teardowns/pieter-levels/): How Pieter Levels grew to 983k X followers and $165k a month: his timeline, best posts, the podcast before his best stretch, his funnel and revenue by product.
- [How Marc Lou grew to 416k on X and $90k a month](https://parsly.to/teardowns/marc-lou/): How Marc Lou grew to 416k X followers and $90k a month: his timeline, best posts and videos, funnel and revenue by product, from his public posts.

## More

- [Every guide in full](https://parsly.to/llms-full.txt): the guides above as one plain-text file; each guide is also plain Markdown at its own address with .md in place of the last slash (/guides/<name>.md)
- [Home](https://parsly.to/)
- [Add to Chrome](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/parsly/hdnbkllgpjckoiecocnjocligdkajlbh): Parsly on the Chrome Web Store, free
- [Privacy policy](https://parsly.to/privacy/): what the extension and this website read and send
- [Terms](https://parsly.to/terms/): the terms for using Parsly