Use Claude to Create Self-Testing How-To Videos for Software

I build an office platform for small nonprofits, and every week users ask how to do something. I also keep changing features they have already learned, so written instructions go stale quickly. Screen recordings take an afternoon each and can be out of date by Friday. I use Claude Code in my project to turn each user question into both a software change and a how-to video. The video runs against a throwaway copy of the app filled with a made-up organization, so no real data appears on screen. It performs the task as a person would—clicking, typing, and waiting—while displaying captions one step at a time and moving a yellow pointer to each button before clicking it. There is no voice. I tried narration but dropped it because captions can be paused and read, and they never mispronounce anything. The important part is that the script also tests what it films. After each step, it confirms that the screen did what the caption says and prints PASS or FAIL. If anything fails, there is no video yet; I fix the bug first. In one day, the videos found four real defects that our automated tests had missed, so the video is also the test. `ffmpeg` turns the recording into an MP4 and a poster image. I watch and approve the result, then publish it on our videos page and inside the app’s Help box, next to the instructions for that screen. When the screen changes, I run the same script again and get a new video in minutes. The first videos were too fast. I am not as fast as Claude, and the person watching is trying to learn something new. Now each caption stays on screen long enough to read—about 1.5 seconds plus a third of a second per word—before the next click. The workflow produced 35 how-to videos in five days, most of them one to three minutes long. The checking in step 4 started on day four, after the videos kept finding problems. Every video since then has checked itself. Step-by-step: 1. I take a user’s email question or request and use Claude Code in my project to make the requested software change. 2. In the same session, I have Claude write a short script for a how-to video of the task. 3. The script starts a throwaway copy of the app, fills it with a made-up organization, and performs the task by clicking, typing, and waiting. 4. The script displays captions one step at a time and moves a yellow pointer to each button before clicking it. I use captions instead of narration so viewers can pause and read them without hearing mispronunciations. 5. After each step, the script confirms that the screen did what the caption says and prints PASS or FAIL. If anything fails, I fix the bug before producing the video. 6. I use `ffmpeg` to create an MP4 and a poster image from the recording. 7. I watch and approve the video, then publish it on our videos page and in the app’s Help box next to the relevant screen instructions. 8. When the screen changes, I run the same script again to create an updated video in minutes. 9. I keep each caption on screen for about 1.5 seconds plus a third of a second per word before the next click.