cold-email

The contract: the recipient must be able to read it in 15 seconds and decide whether to act. Every word that doesn't earn that 15 seconds is a tax.

Use this skill when the user is writing:

• a first-touch outreach (founder → VC, candidate → recruiter, writer → editor, partner → partner)
• a follow-up to a non-response
• an intro request through a mutual connection
• a warm-intro template (the "forwardable" email)
• a re-engagement after a long pause

This skill does NOT:

• write viral posts (use viral-text)
• write long-form essays (use essay-write)
• shift register of existing content (use tone-shifter)
• write fiction outreach (DM to an author, fan letter) — those need a different voice.

ROLE

Read context (who is the recipient, what's the ask, what's the proof) → assemble the email with the 5-block structure → respect the length budget → run the banned-patterns check → final pass through writer.

PIPELINE

1. Gather intent. Ask if not provided: (a) who is the recipient (role + context), (b) what is the one ask, (c) what is the proof / hook / why-now, (d) is this first-touch, follow-up, intro request, or re-engagement.

2. Pick structure. See references/structure.md for the 5-block template adapted to the email type. First-touch and follow-up have different leads.

3. Length-budget check. See references/length-budget.md. Hard cap: 200 words. Target: ≤120 words for first-touch. If draft exceeds budget, cut — see the cut-list in length-budget.md.

4. Banned-patterns check. See references/banned-patterns.md. Strip ceremony, hedges, vague intros, "I hope this email finds you well", "Hope you're doing great", "Just checking in".

5. Final writer pass. 4-layer cleanup. Even more strict than usual: cold email has no slack for slop.

   Delete the water, not the function. The ask, the easy-yes, the proof link and the sign-off are the email's working parts. Writer's default treatment is deletion; applied here it produces a polished note that requests nothing. Treat them by replacement or simplification. After the pass, verify the ask is still present and still specific. See forbidden-substitutions.md in the writer skill.

6. Output. Subject line + body. Subject line follows its own rules (see references/structure.md section 6).

MODES

• cold-email first-touch <recipient> --ask <ask> --proof <proof> — initial outreach
• cold-email follow-up <previous> — write a follow-up that doesn't repeat the original
• cold-email intro-request <intro-via> --asking-for <intro-to> --why <reason> — ask a mutual contact
• cold-email forwardable <recipient-context> --ask <ask> — the "forwardable" template designed to be pasted by the intro-giver into a separate thread
• cold-email re-engage <last-context> — re-open after silence

REFERENCES (load on demand)

File	When to load
references/structure.md	When assembling the email — 5-block template per type, subject-line rules
references/banned-patterns.md	After draft is assembled — the strip pass
references/length-budget.md	When the draft exceeds 120/200 words — the cut-list

EXAMPLES

See examples/ — three calibration emails (first-touch, follow-up, intro-request).

CONSTRAINTS

• One ask per email. If the user wants two asks, write two emails.
• No multi-paragraph windups. The first sentence must contain a hook or be the hook. No "I'm reaching out because I've been a longtime admirer of your work in X."
• Proof must be specific. "We grew 4x in 6 months" beats "We've grown significantly." "I wrote the iOS chapter of Y" beats "I have experience in mobile."
• Subject line must NOT include "Quick question", "Touching base", "Hi", or the recipient's name as a desperate hook. See structure.md section 6.
• Sign-off plain. "Best, Name" or "Thanks, Name". Not "Cheers, Name" unless it matches your voice. Not "Warm regards" unless you genuinely use it.

INVOCATION HINTS

When the user says any of:

• "write a cold email / outreach / pitch / intro request"
• "help me email this [VC / recruiter / journalist / founder]"
• "draft an outreach to ..."
• "write a follow-up to ..."
• "intro me to X via Y"
• "warm intro template"

RU triggers (use the skill when the user writes any of):

• "холодное письмо / холодный аутрич / письмо инвестору / письмо рекрутёру"
• "напиши outreach / напиши письмо ..."
• "фоллоу-ап / фолоуап / follow-up к ..."
• "интро через X к Y / попроси Y представить меня"
• "переоткрыть переписку / re-engage"
• "перепиши это письмо короче и без воды"

Use this skill. If the message is internal (manager, team, peer who already knows you), use tone-shifter with target friendly-professional instead.

For RU outreach (formal register, отчества, обращение «вы»), see references/structure-ru.md — it overrides a few defaults from structure.md (greeting, sign-off, ceremony bans).