Write a signal-based cold outreach email that earns a reply

Signal-Based Cold Email (2026 benchmarks)

by kami-community · MIT license · ★ 64 on GitHub

Write a signal-based cold outreach email that earns a reply. Use when drafting outbound/SDR email to a prospect with a known recent signal (funding, hiring, exec hire, launch, community post).

---
name: signal_cold_email
description: Write a signal-based cold outreach email that earns a reply. Use when drafting outbound/SDR email to a prospect with a known recent signal (funding, hiring, exec hire, launch, community post).
---

# Signal-Based Cold Email (2026 benchmarks)

Baseline cold reply rate is ~3.4%. Signal-based emails referencing a funding round, leadership change, or hiring surge hit 15–25% — a ~5x lift. The signal IS the email; without a dated signal, do not draft — return `needs_input`.

## Structure (exactly this order)

1. **Hook** — why you are writing, tied to the dated signal. Referencing a post they wrote or a job change last month is personalization; mentioning their company name is not.
2. **One-sentence value** — what you do for someone in their exact situation.
3. **One proof point** — a single number or named customer. One, not five.
4. **Single low-friction CTA** — one question or one 15/20-min ask. Never two asks.

## Hard rules (Reviewer will reject violations)

Overview

Baseline cold reply rate is ~3.4%. Signal-based emails referencing a funding round, leadership change, or hiring surge hit 15–25% — a ~5x lift. The signal IS the email; without a dated signal, do not draft — return needs_input.

Manual install (npx, ZIP)

Claude Codenpx skills add kami-community/kami --skill signal_cold_email -g -a claude-code

Claude Code (degit)npx degit kami-community/kami/skills/signal_cold_email#main ~/.claude/skills/signal-cold-email

Claude.ai / desktopZip the folder and upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

Codex, Cursor, other agentsPoint them at SKILL.md. The other files are plain text.

Connects with Agent Alley MCP · agentalley.io/mcp

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Signal-Based Cold Email (2026 benchmarks)

Structure (exactly this order)

Hook — why you are writing, tied to the dated signal. Referencing a post they wrote or a job change last month is personalization; mentioning their company name is not.
One-sentence value — what you do for someone in their exact situation.
One proof point — a single number or named customer. One, not five.
Single low-friction CTA — one question or one 15/20-min ask. Never two asks.

Hard rules (Reviewer will reject violations)

Plain text. 3–5 sentences. Under 150 words.
Exactly one CTA.
The signal must be real, dated within 30–90 days, with a source_url in signal_ref.
Subject line under 50–60 chars, thesis-fit, no clickbait, no ALL CAPS.
Never send to catch_all / unknown / invalid verification status — only valid or safe_to_send.
Never contact anyone on the do_not_contact list or already sent at the same sequence_step.
Prefer a verified public/role inbox scraped from the company site (or founder-provided email). Never invent an address.
Prioritize recipients by Fit × Intent (high fit + fresh signal first). Personalize from the dated signal and anything verifiable about the person online — relevance beats clever openers.

Follow-up sequencing (real-agency cadence)

Sequence length 4 emails max (first email captures ~58% of replies; diminishing after 4).
Cadence: day 0 → day 3 → day 7 → day 14. Set followup_at accordingly when a send completes.
Each follow-up must add NEW value (new proof point, new angle, or new signal) — never "just bumping this".
Stop the sequence immediately on reply (replied), bounce (bounced), or unsubscribe request (add to do_not_contact).
Respect business_rules.max_sends_per_day (default 35/mailbox).

Output

Return a Draft object with subject, body, cta, signal_ref, sequence_step, and a filled self_check (word_count, cta_count, has_signal). Self-check before returning: if any hard rule fails, fix it before handing back.

1	---
2	name: signal_cold_email
3	description: Write a signal-based cold outreach email that earns a reply. Use when drafting outbound/SDR email to a prospect with a known recent signal (funding, hiring, exec hire, launch, community post).
4	---
5
6	# Signal-Based Cold Email (2026 benchmarks)
7
8	Baseline cold reply rate is ~3.4%. Signal-based emails referencing a funding round, leadership change, or hiring surge hit 15–25% — a ~5x lift. The signal IS the email; without a dated signal, do not draft — return `needs_input`.
9
10	## Structure (exactly this order)
11
12	1. Hook — why you are writing, tied to the dated signal. Referencing a post they wrote or a job change last month is personalization; mentioning their company name is not.
13	2. One-sentence value — what you do for someone in their exact situation.
14	3. One proof point — a single number or named customer. One, not five.
15	4. Single low-friction CTA — one question or one 15/20-min ask. Never two asks.
16
17	## Hard rules (Reviewer will reject violations)
18
19	- Plain text. 3–5 sentences. Under 150 words.
20	- Exactly one CTA.
21	- The signal must be real, dated within 30–90 days, with a `source_url` in `signal_ref`.
22	- Subject line under 50–60 chars, thesis-fit, no clickbait, no ALL CAPS.
23	- Never send to `catch_all` / `unknown` / `invalid` verification status — only `valid` or `safe_to_send`.
24	- Never contact anyone on the `do_not_contact` list or already `sent` at the same `sequence_step`.
25	- Prefer a verified public/role inbox scraped from the company site (or founder-provided email). Never invent an address.
26	- Prioritize recipients by Fit × Intent (high fit + fresh signal first). Personalize from the dated signal and anything verifiable about the person online — relevance beats clever openers.
27
28	## Follow-up sequencing (real-agency cadence)
29
30	- Sequence length 4 emails max (first email captures ~58% of replies; diminishing after 4).
31	- Cadence: day 0 → day 3 → day 7 → day 14. Set `followup_at` accordingly when a send completes.
32	- Each follow-up must add NEW value (new proof point, new angle, or new signal) — never "just bumping this".
33	- Stop the sequence immediately on reply (`replied`), bounce (`bounced`), or unsubscribe request (add to `do_not_contact`).
34	- Respect `business_rules.max_sends_per_day` (default 35/mailbox).
35
36	## Output
37
38	Return a `Draft` object with `subject`, `body`, `cta`, `signal_ref`, `sequence_step`, and a filled `self_check` (word_count, cta_count, has_signal). Self-check before returning: if any hard rule fails, fix it before handing back.
39