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The last30days bot researches posts about a topic from the past 30 days. It searches sources including Reddit, X, YouTube, TikTok, Hacker News and the web, then brings the findings together with links.
You can use it to find active discussions, compare posts by engagement and collect quotes from YouTube transcripts.
This guide turns those searches into a repeatable workflow: discover a topic, investigate it, save a content brief and schedule a Monday update.
The last30days template is free. The setup described here requires Grok Bot access through The X Subscription Premium plan at $30 a month, a free ScrapeCreators account and a niche to research. Some sources have separate usage charges after their free allowance.
Step 1: Add the last30days bot. Import the template and confirm its skill is installed.
Step 2: Connect your sources. Set up platform access and check what works.
Step 3: Find rising topics. Look for recent discussions attracting attention.
Step 4: Research one topic. Build a brief with posts, quotes and questions.
Step 5: Schedule a weekly sweep. Review usage and arrange a Monday brief.
Step 1: Add the last30days bot
Open the last30days template in the Grok Bot Marketplace. The listing is by Matt Van Horn, who developed the skill. Importing the template adds no template fee to your plan.
Choose Import Bot, then Add Bot in the app. Use a separate bot to keep its research setup and files together.
Open its chat and send:
Check that you're set up as the last30days bot. Tell me your Python version, whether the last30days skill is installed in ~/.agents/skills/last30days, and list your skills and routines.
The skill requires Python 3.12 or later. If the reported version is older, ask the bot to use python3.13.
If the skill is missing, send:
Install last30days with npx skills add mvanhorn/last30days-skill -g, register it as a Grok Bot skill, and confirm it shows in your skills list.
Confirm that last30days appears in the installed skills before continuing. The supplied setup also includes a monthly routine to check GitHub for skill updates.
Step 2: Connect your sources
Some sources need no credentials. Others require a local tool or an API key.
Source | Setup | Cost described in the guide |
Reddit, Hacker News, Polymarket, GitHub | No credentials required | Free |
YouTube | Install yt-dlp through setup | Free |
X | xAI API key, with built-in X search as a fallback | Fallback included; API usage billed separately |
TikTok, Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn | ScrapeCreators API key | 10,000 free calls, then pay as you go |
Run the setup:
Run the last30days first-run setup. Connect X with your built-in X tools, install yt-dlp for YouTube, and walk me through getting a ScrapeCreators key with my GitHub account for the free credits. Don't overwrite ~/.config/last30days/.env if it already exists.
For a new setup, the bot provides a ScrapeCreators sign-in link. The template recommends signing in through GitHub to receive the full free allowance. Provide the API key only in your private setup chat when requested.
If credentials already exist, the setup should reuse them and preserve ~/.config/last30days/.env.
For X, the research engine uses an xAI API key when available. Without one, the bot can supplement limited results through its built-in X search.
Threads and LinkedIn are disabled by default in the described setup. To include them, send:
Turn on Threads and LinkedIn for last30days.
Review the source table. If something is unavailable, ask:
Which sources are off, and what does each one need?Reddit’s keyless check may also fail, prompting a ScrapeCreators fallback. You can begin with working sources while resolving the others.
Step 3: Find rising topics
Discovery mode helps you choose what to research. Give it a niche and ask it to rank the discussions drawing attention.
Run last30days in discovery mode: what's growing fastest in AI tools for content creators? Give me 5 to 10 topics ranked by how fast they're growing, with the numbers behind each one and one content angle per topic.
Replace “AI tools for content creators” with your niche.
Look for supporting numbers, evidence from different platforms and a follow-up command for investigating each topic.
Treat growth labels as the bot’s interpretation of recent activity. They are not measured growth rates.
Choose a topic supported by posts on at least two platforms. One popular post on one platform gives you less evidence of a broader discussion.
Step 4: Research one topic
Pick a topic and request a full brief:
Run last30days on [TOPIC]. Then turn the results into a content brief with: 1. The 5 posts people engaged with most, with platform, engagement numbers and link 2. 3 quotes I can use, with who said them and where 3. The questions people keep asking in the comments 4. 3 angles nobody has covered yet Save the brief as a markdown file and tell me where it is.
The workflow searches connected sources in parallel and combines posts covering the same story.
Open two or three source links before writing. Confirm who posted them, check quoted wording and compare the reported engagement with the live post.
Treat “angles nobody has covered yet” as suggestions based on the retrieved material. A search cannot establish that an angle has never appeared elsewhere.
The default save location is ~/Documents/Last30Days/ on the bot’s computer. Ask it to send the Markdown file if you want your own copy.
Step 5: Schedule a weekly sweep
Review usage before creating a recurring job.
Open Settings → Usage & Billing and check the weekly meter. Leave Additional usage credits off if you want to prevent extra spending through that setting. Separate API services still have their own billing.
The guide describes a shared weekly usage pool across Grok, Grok Bot and Cursor. A weekly research run leaves more of that allowance available for other work.
Create the routine:
Create a routine that runs every Monday at 8:00 AM my time. Run last30days in discovery mode on [NICHE], research the top topic, and save a content brief in the same format as last time. Send me the topics list and the brief in this chat. Don't publish or post anything.
Check the confirmation for the routine name, Monday schedule, time and timezone. The described scheduling window allows runs to begin up to 15 minutes before or after the selected time.
Test the routine manually:
Run this routine now.
Review the delivered brief against Step 4. Adjust missing sections before relying on the recurring version.
Use cases
Use case #1: Turn the brief into hooks
Ask for hooks tied to specific findings:
Read the content brief you saved last. Write 5 hooks for a short video, one per angle, each under 15 words. Next to each hook, name the post or quote it comes from.
Compare every hook with its source. Remove wording that makes a stronger claim than the evidence supports.
Use case #2: Research a competitor
Review a creator’s recent posts before planning your own coverage:
Run last30days on [CREATOR NAME OR HANDLE]. List their posts from the last 30 days that got the most engagement, the topics they covered, and the comments people left most often.
Open the top three links and verify the account identity. Similar names can produce unrelated results.
Use case #3: Compare two tools
Collect recent user feedback before preparing a review:
Run last30days on [TOOL A] vs [TOOL B]. Give me a side-by-side table with what people praise, what they complain about, and pricing mentions, with a link for each row.
Use official product pages to verify prices and versions before including them in your content.
The same workflow can help you prepare for a podcast guest or review reactions to a product launch.
Limitations
The template is free, but this workflow requires paid Grok Bot access. The guide lists The X Subscription Premium at $30 a month, with access also available through some older plans. Research runs use your weekly allowance.
ScrapeCreators supplies TikTok, Instagram, Threads and LinkedIn access. Its described free allowance is 10,000 calls, followed by usage charges. An xAI API key is billed separately from your subscription.
Hacker News, Polymarket, GitHub and YouTube are listed as free sources in this setup.
Source access determines what the bot can retrieve. The title does not mean every post on every platform is available through this workflow.
Engagement measures attention. It does not establish whether a claim is correct. Growth labels also reflect the bot’s judgment rather than a measured trend.
The bot installs and executes code on its own computer. Its API credentials are stored there in ~/.config/last30days/.env. Keep those credentials out of group conversations and unrelated bots.
The original guide records testing on November 9, 2026. Plans, prices, platform support and setup behavior may change.
Closing
Run one discovery search and build one brief first. Check the links, quotes and supporting numbers before using the findings.
Once the format works, schedule the Monday sweep. Refine the sections until each brief gives you enough evidence to begin writing.
See you in the next one :)