Demand Check — free search-demand signals
Two jobs, one tool:
- Verify — given an idea or keyword(s), find out whether real people are searching for it, and whether interest is rising, steady, cooling, or below the noise floor.
- Ideate — given a seed space, mine autocomplete long-tails and Trends "rising related queries" for demand that exists but isn't served.
The tool
Everything runs through one CLI. Paths are relative to this skill's directory (the folder containing this SKILL.md); set SKILL_DIR to it first:
SKILL_DIR=<directory containing this SKILL.md> # e.g. ~/.claude/skills/demand-check
PY=$SKILL_DIR/.venv/bin/python
CLI=$SKILL_DIR/scripts/demand.py
$PY $CLI suggest "fl studio mcp" # autocomplete long-tails (google+youtube), instant, unlimited
$PY $CLI suggest "ableton" --deep # + a-z expansion (~27 requests, still instant-ish)
$PY $CLI trend "fl studio mcp" # 12-mo interest-over-time, sparkline + verdict
$PY $CLI trend "suno" --timeframe "today 5-y" --geo US
$PY $CLI explore "ableton mcp" # trend + RISING/top related queries + regions ← ideation goldmine
$PY $CLI compare "suno" "udio" # 2-5 terms; see Known issues
$PY $CLI --json trend "x" # raw JSON for any subcommand
If the venv is missing (fresh machine): cd "$SKILL_DIR" && python3 -m venv .venv && .venv/bin/pip install -q trendspyg.
Workflow
Verify mode (idea/keyword given):
suggest the core term(s) first — it's free, instant, and unlimited. Autocomplete presence is itself a demand signal; a specific repo/brand name appearing in autocomplete means demand with thin supply.trend (or explore) the 1-3 terms that matter. Read the verdict line; quote the sparkline and peak date in your answer.- Translate to a call: RISING/STEADY + rich autocomplete tail = demand verified. BELOW NOISE FLOOR + no autocomplete = no search demand (which kills SEO plays but NOT community/agent-distribution plays — say which applies). Feed the evidence into /idea-check (or whatever scorecard the project keeps) as dated facts.
Ideate mode (seed space given):
suggest --deep on the seed → harvest the long-tail list.explore the seed and 2-3 strongest tails → collect rising related queries (the "Breakout"/"+N%" rows are unserved demand in motion).- Cluster what comes back; present 3-5 candidate demand pockets with their evidence, not a firehose.
Reading the data honestly
- Trends values are Google's relative 0-100 index, scaled to each term's own peak — never absolute volume, and not comparable across separate pulls. For absolute volume ranges: Google Ads Keyword Planner (free with an Ads account). For your own sites: Search Console or your analytics.
- Niche terms:
explore often returns no related queries below a volume threshold — that's expected, not an error. The trend line and autocomplete still work at that size.
- A "Breakout" rising query = >5000% growth, usually from near-zero. Exciting but verify the base isn't trivia (song lyrics, a news spike).
Known issues & rate limits (as of 2026-07)
- Trends pulls are headless-browser loads, not API calls. Do a handful per session, spaced out. If a call that worked minutes ago starts throwing
BrowserError ("did not render the chart"), Google is soft-blocking — stop, wait 15-60 min. Don't burn retries; confirmed live 2026-07-22.
compare (shared-scale) is broken upstream in trendspyg 1.1.0 — the multi-term page never renders headless. The CLI auto-falls back to per-term pulls and warns that magnitudes aren't comparable. Check for a trendspyg fix occasionally (pip install --upgrade trendspyg); upstream: github.com/flack0x/trendspyg/issues.suggest (autocomplete) has no such limits — lean on it freely.- Background: pytrends is archived (Apr 2025); Google's official Trends API is still an allowlisted alpha. trendspyg is the maintained free path.
Answer-engine (AEO) caveat
There is no free query-level trend data for ChatGPT/Perplexity/Claude usage — the visibility trackers (Profound, Peec, Otterly) are paid SaaS (skip them for a free pass). Free proxies: the signals above + Reddit/HN mention velocity + GitHub star velocity + AI-referral traffic in your analytics or Search Console.
1---2name: demand-check3description: Pull free search-demand signals (Google/YouTube autocomplete + Google Trends) to verify an idea has real demand or to mine rising queries for new ideas. Trigger with /demand-check <idea, keyword(s), or seed space>, or when the user asks "is anyone searching for X", "is X trending", "what's trending around X", or wants demand evidence for an idea-check or a demand score.4---56# Demand Check — free search-demand signals78Two jobs, one tool:91. **Verify** — given an idea or keyword(s), find out whether real people are searching for it, and whether interest is rising, steady, cooling, or below the noise floor.102. **Ideate** — given a seed space, mine autocomplete long-tails and Trends "rising related queries" for demand that exists but isn't served.1112## The tool1314Everything runs through one CLI. Paths are relative to this skill's directory (the folder containing this SKILL.md); set `SKILL_DIR` to it first:1516```bash17SKILL_DIR=<directory containing this SKILL.md> # e.g. ~/.claude/skills/demand-check18PY=$SKILL_DIR/.venv/bin/python19CLI=$SKILL_DIR/scripts/demand.py2021$PY $CLI suggest "fl studio mcp" # autocomplete long-tails (google+youtube), instant, unlimited22$PY $CLI suggest "ableton" --deep # + a-z expansion (~27 requests, still instant-ish)23$PY $CLI trend "fl studio mcp" # 12-mo interest-over-time, sparkline + verdict24$PY $CLI trend "suno" --timeframe "today 5-y" --geo US25$PY $CLI explore "ableton mcp" # trend + RISING/top related queries + regions ← ideation goldmine26$PY $CLI compare "suno" "udio" # 2-5 terms; see Known issues27$PY $CLI --json trend "x" # raw JSON for any subcommand28```2930If the venv is missing (fresh machine): `cd "$SKILL_DIR" && python3 -m venv .venv && .venv/bin/pip install -q trendspyg`.3132## Workflow3334**Verify mode** (idea/keyword given):351. `suggest` the core term(s) first — it's free, instant, and unlimited. Autocomplete *presence* is itself a demand signal; a specific repo/brand name appearing in autocomplete means demand with thin supply.362. `trend` (or `explore`) the 1-3 terms that matter. Read the verdict line; quote the sparkline and peak date in your answer.373. Translate to a call: RISING/STEADY + rich autocomplete tail = demand verified. BELOW NOISE FLOOR + no autocomplete = no search demand (which kills SEO plays but NOT community/agent-distribution plays — say which applies). Feed the evidence into /idea-check (or whatever scorecard the project keeps) as dated facts.3839**Ideate mode** (seed space given):401. `suggest --deep` on the seed → harvest the long-tail list.412. `explore` the seed and 2-3 strongest tails → collect **rising related queries** (the "Breakout"/"+N%" rows are unserved demand in motion).423. Cluster what comes back; present 3-5 candidate demand pockets with their evidence, not a firehose.4344## Reading the data honestly4546- Trends values are Google's **relative 0-100 index**, scaled to each term's own peak — never absolute volume, and **not comparable across separate pulls**. For absolute volume ranges: Google Ads Keyword Planner (free with an Ads account). For your own sites: Search Console or your analytics.47- Niche terms: `explore` often returns **no related queries** below a volume threshold — that's expected, not an error. The trend line and autocomplete still work at that size.48- A "Breakout" rising query = >5000% growth, usually from near-zero. Exciting but verify the base isn't trivia (song lyrics, a news spike).4950## Known issues & rate limits (as of 2026-07)5152- **Trends pulls are headless-browser loads, not API calls.** Do a handful per session, spaced out. If a call that worked minutes ago starts throwing `BrowserError` ("did not render the chart"), Google is **soft-blocking** — stop, wait 15-60 min. Don't burn retries; confirmed live 2026-07-22.53- **`compare` (shared-scale) is broken upstream** in trendspyg 1.1.0 — the multi-term page never renders headless. The CLI auto-falls back to per-term pulls and warns that magnitudes aren't comparable. Check for a trendspyg fix occasionally (`pip install --upgrade trendspyg`); upstream: github.com/flack0x/trendspyg/issues.54- `suggest` (autocomplete) has no such limits — lean on it freely.55- Background: pytrends is archived (Apr 2025); Google's official Trends API is still an allowlisted alpha. trendspyg is the maintained free path.5657## Answer-engine (AEO) caveat5859There is **no free query-level trend data for ChatGPT/Perplexity/Claude usage** — the visibility trackers (Profound, Peec, Otterly) are paid SaaS (skip them for a free pass). Free proxies: the signals above + Reddit/HN mention velocity + GitHub star velocity + AI-referral traffic in your analytics or Search Console.
davemaynard