Cold Email Template Builder

Design a cold-outreach sequence and commit it to a fixed template set: the actual approved copy for every touch, with {{input_field}} placeholders and variant-routing rules. This skill does the thinking — explore angles, form pain hypotheses, decide the sequence arc, pick proof points — and bakes the result into final copy.

The template is rendered later by email-generation via plain deterministic substitution. There is no runtime LLM writing emails per row.

Architectural Principle

This skill is design-time. It commits to copy; it does not defer decisions to a runtime model.

Older versions of this skill emitted an LLM instruction prompt and let a per-row model write each email. That is retired. Per-row variance is now expressed two ways only: (1) {{input_fields}} filled upstream, (2) discrete variant templates selected by a routing key. Everything else is identical across the batch.

                       DESIGN TIME (this skill)
                       ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
context file ─────────▶│  explore angles, pick hypotheses,    │
research / hypotheses ▶│  decide sequence arc, choose proof   │──▶ template set (sequence.md)
enrichment field list ▶│  → commit to FINAL COPY              │     • real copy per touch
                       └─────────────────────────────────────┘     • {{input_field}} placeholders
                                                                    • variant-routing rules
                                                                    • Input Fields contract

                       FILL TIME (normalization + enrichment skills)
                         contacts ─▶ populate every declared input field

                       RENDER TIME (email-generation skill)
                         template + filled CSV ─▶ deterministic render ─▶ emails CSV

What This Skill Reads (inputs)

All inputs live in the GTM project this skill is invoked on (paths are project-relative; the exact layout is the project's, not this skill's).

| Input | What to extract | |-------|-----------------| | Company context file | Voice, sender, value prop, proof library, key numbers, banned words | | Campaign research | Verified data points, statistics, tool comparisons | | Hypothesis set | Numbered hypotheses with mechanisms and evidence | | Enrichment field list | Which {{input_fields}} will be available, and from which enrichment/normalization step | | Campaign brief | Target vertical, role types, sequence length |

What This Skill Produces (output)

A template set — one sequence file per campaign — containing:

Sequence overview — touches, send cadence, the variable list
Per-touch copy — the FINAL approved text of each email, verbatim, with {{input_field}} placeholders inline. Not rules for writing it — the actual words.
Variant-routing rules — when a touch has variants, the routing key and the condition for each (e.g. Touch 3: segment == "enterprise" → variant A, else → variant B)
Input Fields contract (see below) — every {{field}}, its source, and its fallback
Subject lines — first touch only; follow-ups use empty subject to thread
Notes — why each angle was chosen, voice rules applied, what was deliberately excluded

See references/example-sequence.md for the worked output shape.

The Input Fields contract

Every {{placeholder}} in the template MUST be declared in a table — this is the handshake with the fill + render steps. A render fails loudly if a declared field is missing; an undeclared placeholder is a bug. Describe each source by its role (a normalization step, a classification enrichment column), not by a file path in any specific project.

| Field | Source (by role) | Fallback if missing | |-------|------------------|---------------------| | {{first_name}} | name-normalization step | skip the contact | | {{company_name}} | name-normalization step | skip the contact | | {{industry}} | industry-classification enrichment column | drop the clause that uses it (provide a no-{{industry}} variant) | | {{segment}} (routing key) | segment-classification enrichment column | route to the default variant |

If a field needs genuine per-row writing (e.g. a bespoke one-line opener), it is still an input field — produced by an LLM enrichment column upstream, not by this skill and not at render time.

Building a Campaign Template Set

Step 1: Read upstream data

Read the project's company context file, campaign research, and hypothesis set.

Also confirm the enrichment field list — which {{input_fields}} will actually be available, and from which enrichment/normalization step. Only use fields you can guarantee will be filled.

Check persona spread. If the contact list spans multiple personas (executives + ICs + ops), build a separate template set per role cluster. One template trying to serve all roles produces mush.

Step 2: Explore angles, then commit to copy

This is the real work. There is no runtime model to "figure it out per row" — this skill must commit.

For each hypothesis, work out the sharpest way to land the pain. Explore several angles.
Map angles onto the sequence: each strong angle becomes a touch (Touch 1 = angle A, Touch 2 = angle B, …) or a variant of a touch. Multi-touch sequences let you take the problem from several angles without cramming.
Write the FINAL copy for each touch. Actual sentences, not "write a P1 about X."
Apply voice rules from the context file (tone, constraints, banned words). Do not invent voice.
Place {{input_field}} placeholders only where per-row substitution is genuinely needed. Everything else is fixed copy.

Step 3: Define variants and routing

When a touch should differ by segment/persona, write each variant as separate, complete copy — never one template with "if enterprise, say X" conditionals. Declare the routing key and the condition per variant. Keep variants few (2-3); each is a full email.

Step 4: Write the Input Fields contract

Declare every {{field}} per the table above — source and fallback. A field with no reliable source is not allowed in the template; either add an enrichment step that produces it, or cut the clause.

Step 5: Assemble the sequence file

# Sequence — {campaign}

[overview: touches, cadence, variables]

## Touch 1 — {angle}
[FINAL copy with {{placeholders}}]
**Subject options:** [first touch only]

## Touch 2 — {angle}
[FINAL copy]  **Subject:** empty (threads as Re:)

## Touch 3 — conditional on {{routing_key}}
### Variant A — {condition}
[FINAL copy]
### Variant B — {condition}
[FINAL copy]

## Input Fields contract
[the declared-fields table]

## Notes
[angle rationale, voice rules, what was excluded]

Step 6: Quality check

[ ] Every touch is final copy, not instructions
[ ] Every {{placeholder}} is declared in the Input Fields contract with a source + fallback
[ ] No undeclared placeholders; no {{field}} whose source can't be guaranteed
[ ] Variants are complete separate copy, not conditionals inside one template
[ ] Follow-up touches have empty subject (thread continuation)
[ ] Voice rules + banned words come from the context file
[ ] Formatting rules respected: no signature, -- not –/—, English only
[ ] Framing rules respected: never "we help {{industry}} teams", never describe the prospect's company, never "We're {Company}"
[ ] Anti-patterns below are not present in any touch

Step 7: Save

Save the template set as the campaign's sequence file, in whatever location the GTM project uses for campaign assets (one sequence file per campaign).

Anti-patterns — what NOT to write into any touch

Never repeat the prospect's own info back to them. Don't paraphrase their headline or restate what their product does. They know. It signals a scrape with nothing to say.
Never explain their business to them. If they live it daily, skip it.
No architecture jargon. No "three-tier", "entity resolution", "data mesh". Copy is about outcomes, not internals.
One question per email. Two questions compete and neither gets answered.
Readable on first pass. No nested clauses, no stacked qualifiers. If a sentence needs a second read, rewrite it shorter.
Openers must be legible at first glance. No white-paper-title noun phrases ("the X gap").
Don't paraphrase user-pasted copy. If the user hands you a hook, use it verbatim.

Sequence shape (defaults)

Touches take the problem from different angles, escalating from soft to direct:

Touch 1 — congrats / context hook + the core inherited pain + soft CTA
Touch 2 — a sharper proof or benchmark angle + give-a-doc CTA
Touch 3 — a segment-specific angle (route by {{customer_segment}})
Touch 4 — short "goodbye" / breakup note

Cadence default: 2 days after Touch 1, 3 days between later touches. Override per campaign.

References

references/example-sequence.md — worked template set (the output shape)
references/prompt-patterns.md — copy patterns distilled from past campaigns
references/email-structures.md — structural variants by role/seniority