Agent skill

Cold Outbound Optimizer

by ericosiu in ericosiu/ai-marketing-skills

Design, analyze, and optimize cold outbound email campaigns for Instantly.

MITAuto-check passedSales & Support

Install Cold Outbound Optimizer

skills CLI
$ npx skills add ericosiu/ai-marketing-skills --skill cold-outbound-optimizer -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install ericosiu/ai-marketing-skills cold-outbound-optimizer --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ericosiu/ai-marketing-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/outbound-engine .claude/skills/cold-outbound-optimizer && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
cold-outbound-optimizer
GitHub stars
3.6k
Used in
1 other repo
Token cost
~1.7k tokens
SKILL.md length
716 words
Files
13 (incl. scripts, references)
Skills in repo
21
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Design, analyze, and optimize cold outbound email campaigns for Instantly.

  • Works in 3 steps: Discovery & Audit → Expert Panel Recursive Scoring → Deliverables
  • Asked to build cold outbound sequences
  • SKILL.md covers Preamble (runs on skill start), Startup: Determine Mode, Phase 1: Discovery & Audit and Phase 2: Expert Panel…, plus 5 more sections
  • Runs Python scripts from its folder; calls python3

What it does

Cold Outbound Optimizer is an agent skill from ericosiu/ai-marketing-skills. Design, analyze, and optimize cold outbound email campaigns for Instantly. Handles end-to-end ICP definition, expert panel scoring (recursive to 90+), sequence copywriting, infrastructure audit, capacity planning, and implementation docs. Use when asked to build cold outbound sequences, optimize cold email, analyze outbound campaigns, build sales sequences, build Instantly sequences, create cold outbound strategies, or design email campaigns. Supports both "start from scratch" and "optimize existing" modes.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.7k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 14 other files, including scripts and reference files (for example `README.md`, `references/copy-rules.md` and `references/expert-panel.md`).

It sits in Sales & Support, covering Cold outreach. The repository describes itself as: Open-source AI marketing skills — growth experiments, sales pipeline, content ops, outbound, SEO, and finance automation. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Asked to build cold outbound sequences
  • Optimize cold email
  • Analyze outbound campaigns
  • Build sales sequences

Example prompts

  • “start from scratch”
  • “optimize existing”
  • “/cold-outbound-optimizer”

Requirements

  • Python 3

Workflow steps

3 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Discovery & Audit
  2. Expert Panel Recursive Scoring
  3. Deliverables

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 8088e1a. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Ships 5 files in scripts/ (Python), which the agent can run.

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • python3

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Cold Outbound Optimizer loads about 1.7k tokens when it runs, and up to ~5.7k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 134 tokens; SKILL.md has 716 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~134
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.7k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~5.7k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); the scripts in this folder are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from ericosiu/ai-marketing-skills at commit 8088e1a, republished under its MIT licence (© ericosiu). 716 words, ~1,717 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/cold-outbound-optimizer/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 12 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
cold-outbound-optimizer
description
Design, analyze, and optimize cold outbound email campaigns for Instantly. Handles end-to-end ICP definition, expert panel scoring (recursive to 90+), sequence copywriting, infrastructure audit, capacity planning, and implementation docs. Use when asked to build cold outbound sequences, optimize cold email, analyze outbound campaigns, build sales sequences, build Instantly sequences, create cold outbound strategies, or design email campaigns. Supports both "start from scratch" and "optimize existing" modes.

Preamble (runs on skill start)

bash
# Version check (silent if up to date)
python3 telemetry/version_check.py 2>/dev/null || true

# Telemetry opt-in (first run only, then remembers your choice)
python3 telemetry/telemetry_init.py 2>/dev/null || true

Privacy: This skill logs usage locally to ~/.ai-marketing-skills/analytics/. Remote telemetry is opt-in only. No code, file paths, or repo content is ever collected. See telemetry/README.md.


Cold Outbound Optimizer


Startup: Determine Mode

Ask the user:

  1. Do you have an existing Instantly account with campaigns to audit, or are you starting from scratch?
  2. Do you have an Instantly API key? (Required for audit mode.)

If API key provided → run scripts/instantly-audit.py to pull campaigns, account inventory, and warmup scores before proceeding.


Phase 1: Discovery & Audit

1A — Infrastructure Check (if API key available)

Run python3 scripts/instantly-audit.py --api-key <KEY> and report:

  • Active campaigns (name, status, reply rate, open rate)
  • Sending accounts (count, warmup score, daily limit)
  • Domain inventory
  • Warmup gaps: any account with score <80 or <14 days warmup → flag as NOT ready
1B — Performance Data
  • Pull campaign analytics from Instantly
  • Ask: "Do you have a spreadsheet with historical outbound data?" If yes, request link.
1C — ICP Definition

If no ICP defined, collect:

  • Titles: Who are you targeting? (e.g., VP Marketing, Head of Growth)
  • Industries: Which verticals?
  • Company size: Employee count or revenue range?
  • Revenue floor: Minimum ARR/revenue to qualify?
  • Anti-ICP: Who to explicitly exclude?

Use references/icp-template.md as the collection template.

1D — Business Context

Collect:

  • What do you sell? (One sentence, no jargon)
  • What's the primary offer? (Free trial, audit, demo, consultation)
  • Real URLs to reference (pricing page, case studies, relevant content)
  • Any proof points? (Client results, stats, social proof)
1E — Expert Panel Config

Default: 10 experts (see references/expert-panel.md). Ask: "Any industry-specific experts to add, or panelists to swap?" Confirm roster before scoring.


Phase 2: Expert Panel Recursive Scoring

Target: 90/100. Non-negotiable. Iterate until reached.

Round Structure

Each round produces:

  1. Score table — all 10 panelists, individual score (0-100), one-line rationale
  2. Aggregate score — average of all 10
  3. Top weaknesses — ranked list of what's holding the copy back
  4. Changes made — specific edits addressing each weakness
  5. Updated copy — full revised sequence after changes
Scoring Criteria (per panelist's lens — see references/expert-panel.md)
  • Subject line curiosity / open rate potential
  • First sentence pattern interrupt
  • Body clarity and brevity
  • CTA softness and specificity
  • Sequence flow and follow-up logic
  • Deliverability risk signals (spam words, link density)
  • Personalization believability
Rules
  • Scores must be brutally honest. No padding to 90 without earning it.
  • If round score < 90: identify top 3 weaknesses, revise copy, run next round.
  • If round score ≥ 90: finalize copy and proceed to deliverables.
  • Show every round in the final doc — the iteration trail is part of the value.

Phase 3: Deliverables

Show full SKILL.md (296 more words)Show less
Strategy Doc

Create a document (Google Doc, Notion, or markdown) with:

  1. Pre-Analysis / Brutal Truth — what the existing campaigns are doing wrong (or baseline if starting from scratch)
  2. ICP Summary — confirmed targeting parameters
  3. Infrastructure Status — account inventory, warmup readiness, capacity math
  4. Scoring Rounds — full panel vote tables for every round
  5. Final Email Copy — all steps for all campaigns, Instantly-ready format
  6. Implementation Plan — step-by-step setup instructions
  7. Capacity Math — accounts × daily send rate = pipeline projections
  8. Weekly Metrics Targets — open rate, reply rate, positive reply rate, meetings booked
  9. STOP List — what to kill immediately
  10. START List — what to launch first
Format Rules for Final Copy

Follow all rules in references/instantly-rules.md and references/copy-rules.md.

Human Review Gate

Do NOT push anything to Instantly automatically. The doc is for human review. Get explicit approval before any API writes.

Iteration

After review, collect feedback and re-run scoring on revised copy if needed.


Capacity Math Formula

Accounts ready (score ≥80, ≥14 days warmup) × 30 emails/day = conservative daily volume
Accounts ready × 50 emails/day = aggressive daily volume
Daily volume × 22 working days = monthly send capacity
Monthly sends × expected reply rate = expected replies
Expected replies × qualification rate = pipeline opportunities

Weekly Metrics Targets (Baselines)

MetricGoodGreat
Open rate40%+60%+
Reply rate3%+7%+
Positive reply rate1%+3%+
Meeting rate0.5%+1.5%+

Adjust targets based on niche and offer. Cold traffic to a free audit converts differently than a paid trial.


Add-On Recommendations (mention but don't build)

  • LinkedIn automation: HeyReach or similar for multi-channel sequences. Separate workflow.
  • Lead enrichment: Clay or Apollo for personalization data before upload.
  • Lead pipeline: Use scripts/lead-pipeline.py for Apollo → LeadMagic → Instantly automation.

Reference Files

FilePurpose
references/instantly-rules.mdVariable syntax, sequence structure, deliverability rules
references/expert-panel.mdDefault 10-expert roster with scoring lenses
references/copy-rules.mdEmail copy rules (first sentence, CTA, stats framing)
references/icp-template.mdICP data collection template
scripts/instantly-audit.pyPulls campaigns, accounts, warmup scores via Instantly v2 API
scripts/lead-pipeline.pyEnd-to-end lead sourcing pipeline
scripts/competitive-monitor.pyCompetitor tracking and intelligence
scripts/cross-signal-detector.pyMulti-source signal detection
scripts/cold-outbound-sender.pySend approved outbound emails

© ericosiu, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 12 other files (scripts, references) in outbound-engine of ericosiu/ai-marketing-skills.

  • SKILL.md
  • .env.example
  • README.md
  • references/copy-rules.md
  • references/expert-panel.md
  • references/icp-template.md
  • references/instantly-rules.md
  • requirements.txt
  • scripts/cold-outbound-sender.py
  • scripts/competitive-monitor.py
  • scripts/cross-signal-detector.py
  • scripts/instantly-audit.py
  • scripts/lead-pipeline.py

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 8088e1a

Used in 1 other repository

We found 1 copy of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 1 other GitHub owner. This page covers the copy in ericosiu/ai-marketing-skills, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

Compare with similar skills

Cold Outbound Optimizer next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Cold Outbound Optimizer compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Cold Outbound Optimizer this skillericosiu/ai-marketing-skills3.6k1 repos~1.7kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Sales OsromangojiberryAI/gojiberryai-sales-os138—~2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
ProspectingCesarjoquin/Marketing-Skills1991 repos~3.8kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Cold Outreach Personalizeraiskilloftheweek/claude-ai-skill-of-the-week145—~2.6kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Business Email Extractorgmapsscraper/google-maps-agent-skills131—~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Auto Research Publicgrowthenginenowoslawski/coldoutboundskills740—~2.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Categories

Questions about Cold Outbound Optimizer

What does Cold Outbound Optimizer do?

Design, analyze, and optimize cold outbound email campaigns for Instantly. Cold Outbound Optimizer is an agent skill from ericosiu/ai-marketing-skills. Design, analyze, and optimize cold outbound email campaigns for Instantly.

When should I use Cold Outbound Optimizer?

Cold Outbound Optimizer fits situations like: asked to build cold outbound sequences; optimize cold email; analyze outbound campaigns; build sales sequences.

How do I install Cold Outbound Optimizer in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add ericosiu/ai-marketing-skills --skill cold-outbound-optimizer -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (outbound-engine in ericosiu/ai-marketing-skills) into .claude/skills/cold-outbound-optimizer in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Cold Outbound Optimizer in Codex?

Run `npx skills add ericosiu/ai-marketing-skills --skill cold-outbound-optimizer -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (outbound-engine in ericosiu/ai-marketing-skills) into .agents/skills/cold-outbound-optimizer in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Cold Outbound Optimizer in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add ericosiu/ai-marketing-skills --skill cold-outbound-optimizer -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/cold-outbound-optimizer, .gemini/skills/cold-outbound-optimizer, .github/skills/cold-outbound-optimizer and .opencode/skills/cold-outbound-optimizer in your project.

What does Cold Outbound Optimizer need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Cold Outbound Optimizer needs Python for the scripts in its folder and the command-line tools its instructions call (python3). Our summary lists: Python 3.

Does Cold Outbound Optimizer access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Cold Outbound Optimizer safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. The check reads SKILL.md only: the scripts in the folder are not scanned, so read them before running anything.

What licence does Cold Outbound Optimizer use?

Cold Outbound Optimizer is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Cold Outbound Optimizer use?

About 1.7k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 6.9k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 3.9k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Cold Outbound Optimizer?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Cold Outbound Optimizer: Sales Os (romangojiberryAI/gojiberryai-sales-os, 138 stars), Prospecting (Cesarjoquin/Marketing-Skills, 199 stars), Cold Outreach Personalizer (aiskilloftheweek/claude-ai-skill-of-the-week, 145 stars) and Business Email Extractor (gmapsscraper/google-maps-agent-skills, 131 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Cold Outbound Optimizer?

ericosiu (a GitHub user) maintains it in ericosiu/ai-marketing-skills, which has 3,611 GitHub stars. The repository holds 21 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 22, 2026.

Source: ericosiu/ai-marketing-skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.