Cold Outbound Skills

Open-source Claude Code skills for cold email infrastructure, lead sourcing, copywriting, and operations. Built by GrowthEngineX from patterns across 1,000+ real B2B campaigns.

28 skills that work together. Clone the repo, bring your API keys, point Claude Code at it, go from zero to a running campaign.

New here? Invoke /cold-email-kickoff — it's the guided entry point that orchestrates ICP + lead magnet + strategy + plan in one flow.

What's in here

29 skills organized in 5 tracks.

New to cold email? Start with /cold-email-kickoff. It orchestrates ICP → lead magnet → campaign strategy → plan in one guided flow.

Track 1 — Strategy (before you send anything)

• cold-email-kickoff — single "start here" orchestrator (recommended entry point)
• icp-onboarding — conversational intake that produces a client-profile.yaml (scrapes website first)
• lead-magnet-brainstorm — figure out what to offer for free in your cold emails
• campaign-strategy — generates 15-25 campaign ideas with AI strategies + value props
• campaign-copywriting — stepwise copy writer (direction → subject → body → final YAML)

Track 2 — Infrastructure

• zapmail-domain-setup-public — buy .com/.co domains on Dynadot, provision inboxes on Zapmail
• smartlead-inbox-manager — warmup settings, signatures (name/title/company/address), active/insurance tagging
• email-deliverability-audit — diagnostic tool (SPF/DKIM/DMARC, spam placement, 1% rule)
• deliverability-incident-response — triage playbook for spam, bounces, blacklists, warmup blocks

Track 3 — List Building

• prospeo-full-export — title-first lead search (paginated, 25K+)
• prospeo-search-api — Prospeo filter reference
• blitz-list-builder — domain-first contact discovery
• google-maps-list-builder — scrape Google Maps for local SMB lists
• disco-like — lookalike company discovery (seed domains or NL ICP text)
• competitor-engagers — find people engaging with competitor LinkedIn posts
• icp-prompt-builder — required qualification step invoked by every list-building skill
• list-quality-scorecard — grade a lead CSV across 8 dimensions before uploading

Track 4 — Copy & Send

• cold-email-starter-kit — the 14-step end-to-end tutorial (alternative to /cold-email-kickoff)
• csv-to-campaign — start here if you already have a lead list — read any CSV, research companies, personalise with Claude, upload as DRAFT Smartlead campaign
• spam-word-checker — scan copy for deliverability-killing phrases
• smartlead-spintax — add spintax variations to emails
• smartlead-api — Smartlead API reference
• smartlead-campaign-upload-public — DRAFT-upload leads.csv + variants.yaml to Smartlead (always DRAFT, you hit Start manually)

Track 5 — Iterate & Automate

• positive-reply-scoring — the metric that matters (positive replies / total sent)
• experiment-design — single-variable experiment framework
• auto-research-public — autonomous campaign launcher (scrape → ICP → leads → personalize → upload)
• personalization-subagent-pattern — reusable pattern for per-lead Claude sub-agent personalization
• deliverability-test-public — compare reply/bounce by inbox type
• cold-email-weekly-rhythm — Monday/Wednesday/Friday operational playbook — what separates hobbyist from top-1%

Getting started

1. Install Claude Code

This repo is designed for Claude Code. Install from https://claude.com/claude-code.

2. Clone and configure

git clone <this-repo-url> ~/cold-email-ai-skills
cd ~/cold-email-ai-skills
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your API keys (you don't need all of them — only the skills you'll use)

3. Install dependencies

npm install -g tsx
cd skills/cold-email-starter-kit
npm install

4. Verify credentials

npx tsx skills/cold-email-starter-kit/scripts/verify-credentials.ts

5. Start with the kickoff orchestrator

If you've never run cold email before, invoke the kickoff skill from Claude Code:

/cold-email-kickoff

It asks whether you have infrastructure already, then orchestrates ICP + lead magnet + campaign strategy + plan in a single guided flow. Produces a campaign-plan.md and hands you off to the right next skill based on your current state.

Alternative: /cold-email-starter-kit — the longer manual 14-step tutorial. Use this if you want to learn each piece deeply rather than move fast.

API keys required (bring your own)

Service	Env var	What it's for	Skills that use it
Smartlead	SMARTLEAD_API_KEY	Send emails, manage inboxes	inbox-manager, starter-kit, auto-research, audit, scoring
Prospeo	PROSPEO_API_KEY	List building (title-first)	prospeo-*, auto-research
Dynadot	DYNADOT_API_KEY	Buy domains	zapmail-setup
Zapmail	ZAPMAIL_API_KEY	Create inboxes	zapmail-setup
MillionVerifier	MILLIONVERIFIER_API_KEY	Validate emails before sending	waterfall, auto-research
Blitz	BLITZ_API_KEY	Domain-to-contacts lookup	blitz-list-builder
RapidAPI	RAPIDAPI_KEY	Google Maps scraping, LinkedIn data	google-maps-*, competitor-engagers
Instantly	INSTANTLY_API_KEY	Alternative sending platform	starter-kit (09)
OpenWebNinja	OPENWEBNINJA_KEY	Company news enrichment	starter-kit (07)
OpenRouter	OPENROUTER_API_KEY	AI company analysis enrichment	starter-kit (07), competitor-engagers

The minimum viable setup for your first campaign is: Dynadot + Zapmail + Prospeo + Smartlead. Start there, add more as you need them.

Recommended path

If you've never run cold email:

1. /cold-email-kickoff — one guided flow: ICP → lead magnet → strategy → plan → next-skill menu
2. Follow the menu's recommended next skill (infra setup OR list building, depending on your current state)
3. After campaign launch, wait 21 days, then /positive-reply-scoring
4. Add /cold-email-weekly-rhythm to your calendar for ongoing ops

If you already have a lead list (CSV):

1. /smartlead-inbox-manager — tag inboxes as active if not done yet
2. /csv-to-campaign — read CSV → research companies → personalise → upload DRAFT campaign

If you have experience but no automation:

1. /icp-onboarding — lock down your ICP
2. /smartlead-inbox-manager — configure your existing inboxes properly
3. /email-deliverability-audit — fix any domain/inbox issues before scaling
4. /auto-research-public — daily automated campaign launches

If you're debugging a broken campaign:

1. /email-deliverability-audit — find the infrastructure issue
2. /positive-reply-scoring — see if replies are positive or hostile
3. /deliverability-test-public — compare across inbox types
4. /spam-word-checker — scan copy for banned phrases

Directory layout

cold-email-ai-skills/
  README.md                    # this file
  .env.example                 # template for your API keys
  skills/
    <skill-name>/
      SKILL.md                 # the skill definition (required)
      scripts/                 # runnable code
      references/              # deeper docs
  profiles/                    # YOUR client profiles + experiment logs (gitignored)
    <business-slug>/
      client-profile.yaml
      experiments/
      scores/

Cost expectations

First campaign (2,000 leads, 20 domains, 40 inboxes):

• Domains: ~$240 one-time (20 × $12 .com). Fall back to .co ($8-30) if .com is taken.
• Zapmail: ~$60/mo for 40 inboxes
• Prospeo: ~$20 for 2,000-lead export
• Smartlead: ~$39/mo starter plan
• MillionVerifier: ~$5 for 2,000 validations
• Month 1 total: ~$360. Recurring: ~$130/mo.

See skills/cold-email-starter-kit/references/00-getting-started.md for full breakdown.

A note on ethics

Cold email is legal when done right, but it's a privilege. Don't spam. Don't email consumers. Honor unsubscribes instantly. Include a real physical address. Be the kind of sender you'd want to receive email from.

The best cold emails are the ones the recipient is glad they got.

Contributing

This repo is a collection of patterns refined over thousands of real campaigns. Improvements welcome — PRs should include:

• Real-world test results (not theoretical changes)
• Generalizable insight (not hyper-specific to one industry)
• Keep beginner-friendliness as the north star

License

MIT — use it, fork it, profit from it. Attribution appreciated but not required.