Smartlead Spintax Skill

Adds Smartlead-compatible spintax to cold email sequences for deliverability.

by growthenginenowoslawski·MIT license·★ 730 Stars on the repo·GitHub ↗

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Smartlead Spintax Skill

Add deliverability-improving spintax to cold email sequences using Smartlead's syntax, without changing the meaning or tone of the original messaging.

Core Concept

Spintax lets Smartlead randomly pick one option per send, so no two emails are identical. This reduces pattern detection by spam filters and improves deliverability.

Smartlead syntax: {option1|option2|option3}

Each option inside the curly braces is separated by a pipe |. Smartlead picks one at random per email send.

Input Handling

HTML Input (preferred workflow)

Users often paste HTML from Smartlead because copy-pasting plain text loses formatting (spaces, line breaks). When the user provides HTML:

Mentally parse the text content from the HTML
Add spintax to the text content
Return the full HTML with spintax baked in, preserving all HTML tags, <br>, <div>, structure exactly as received
Output as a code block so the user can copy-paste straight back into Smartlead

Plain Text Input

If the user pastes plain text, add spintax and return plain text.

The Golden Rule: No Broken Combinations

Every possible combination that Smartlead could randomly assemble MUST read as a natural, grammatically correct, complete sentence. This is the single most important rule.

What "broken combo" means

When spintax options are placed near each other, every possible pairing across adjacent spintax blocks must work together. If option A from block 1 combines with option B from block 2 to form a weird or ungrammatical sentence, that's a broken combo.

How to prevent broken combos

Make each spintax block a self-contained phrase. The options within one block should be interchangeable without depending on what another nearby block picks.

BAD — dependent blocks that can break:

{let me know if|would} {{employeeline}} {would be better to speak to|be a better person to chat with}

Problem: "would" + "would be better to speak to" = "would {{name}} would be better to speak to" — broken.

GOOD — each option is a full standalone phrase:

{let me know if {{employeeline}} would be better to speak to about this?|would {{employeeline}} be a better person to chat with about this?|should I be reaching out to {{employeeline}} about this instead?}

Each option is a complete sentence on its own. No cross-block dependency.

Verification step

After adding spintax, mentally walk through every combination across adjacent blocks. If any pairing sounds off, restructure so each block is independent. When the sentence structure makes independent blocks risky, wrap the entire sentence in one spintax block with full sentence alternatives.

What to Spin

Add 2-3 options per spintax block. Target these elements:

Always spin

Greetings: {Hey|Hi} — simple, always safe
Opt-out / unsubscribe lines: These are repetitive across emails and easy to spin without tone change
CTAs: Different phrasings of the same ask
Transition words and connectors: "just", "also", "actually", etc.

Spin when natural

Verb choices: {help|work with}, {built|made}, {handles|manages|tackles}
Descriptors: {completely free|on us|100% free}
Sentence-level rephrasings: When a line can be said 2-3 different ways without changing meaning

Never spin

Smartlead variables: {{first_name}}, {{company_name}}, {{custom_variable}} — leave these exactly as-is
Signature placeholders: %signature% — never touch
Specific data points: Numbers, stats, brand names, product names, pricing
Technical terms or product descriptions that need to be precise

Tone Preservation

The spintax options must match the tone and register of the original. If the original is casual, all options should be casual. If it's direct, keep all options direct. Don't introduce formality where there was none, and don't add slang where the original was professional.

Original tone: casual/direct

✅ {Worth a shot?|Want to give it a try?|Open to trying it out?}
❌ {Would you be amenable to a trial?|Worth a shot?} — register mismatch

Output Format

For HTML input

Return the spintaxed HTML inside a code block:

{Hey|Hi} {{first_name}}, {open to a free backlink on|interested in a free backlink from} Forbes, WSJ, or Tech Times for {{company_name}}?
<br>
<br>{We work with|We partner with} a network of over 1,200 publishers...

For plain text input

Return the spintaxed text inside a code block:

{Hey|Hi} {{first_name}}, {open to a free backlink on|interested in a free backlink from} Forbes, WSJ, or Tech Times for {{company_name}}?

After each email

State: "All combos clean." — confirming you verified every combination. If you found and fixed something, note what you changed and why.

Then ask: "Next?" or "Drop the next one." to keep the flow moving.

Multi-Email Sequences

When the user is doing a full sequence, process one email at a time. After each:

Output the spintaxed version
Confirm combos are clean
Prompt for the next email

Keep a mental count of which email in the sequence you're on (Email 1, Email 2, etc.) so you can reference them if the user asks.

Flagging Issues

If you spot something in the original copy that's awkward or could be improved (independent of spintax), flag it briefly after the spintax output. For example:

One small flag: "does QA differently" reads a bit awkward — consider swapping to {handles|approaches|tackles} instead.

Keep flags minimal. Only flag things that would actually hurt the email's performance. Don't rewrite their copy unless asked.

Quick Reference

Element	Example
Syntax	`{option1\|option2\|option3}`
Greeting	`{Hey\|Hi}`
Verb swap	`{help\|work with\|partner with}`
Full sentence	`{Is this worth exploring?\|Want to give it a try?\|Open to a quick chat?}`
Opt-out	`{If this isn't relevant, just reply and I won't follow up.\|Not relevant? Just reply and I won't reach out again.}`
Never touch	`{{first_name}}`, `{{company_name}}`, `%signature%`

What to do next

Launch the spintaxed copy via /smartlead-campaign-upload-public — the spintax gets embedded in the variants.yaml body fields and renders per-recipient on send.

Or wait: skip this skill until your copy is final. Spintax complicates later debugging.

/campaign-copywriting — writes the base copy this skill varies
/smartlead-campaign-upload-public — launches the spintaxed campaign

1	---
2	name: smartlead-spintax
3	description: Adds Smartlead-compatible spintax to cold email sequences for deliverability. Use this skill whenever the user asks to add spintax, spin text, add variations, or improve deliverability of email copy — especially when they mention Smartlead, cold email sequences, or paste HTML email content. Also trigger when the user says "spintax", "spin", "variations", "deliverability spintax", or references adding randomized alternatives to email copy. Works with both plain text and HTML input.
4	---
5
6	# Smartlead Spintax Skill
7
8	Add deliverability-improving spintax to cold email sequences using Smartlead's syntax, without changing the meaning or tone of the original messaging.
9
10	## Core Concept
11
12	Spintax lets Smartlead randomly pick one option per send, so no two emails are identical. This reduces pattern detection by spam filters and improves deliverability.
13
14	Smartlead syntax: `{option1\|option2\|option3}`
15
16	Each option inside the curly braces is separated by a pipe `\|`. Smartlead picks one at random per email send.
17
18	---
19
20	## Input Handling
21
22	### HTML Input (preferred workflow)
23
24	Users often paste HTML from Smartlead because copy-pasting plain text loses formatting (spaces, line breaks). When the user provides HTML:
25
26	1. Mentally parse the text content from the HTML
27	2. Add spintax to the text content
28	3. Return the full HTML with spintax baked in, preserving all HTML tags, `<br>`, `<div>`, structure exactly as received
29	4. Output as a code block so the user can copy-paste straight back into Smartlead
30
31	### Plain Text Input
32
33	If the user pastes plain text, add spintax and return plain text.
34
35	---
36
37	## The Golden Rule: No Broken Combinations
38
39	Every possible combination that Smartlead could randomly assemble MUST read as a natural, grammatically correct, complete sentence. This is the single most important rule.
40
41	### What "broken combo" means
42
43	When spintax options are placed near each other, every possible pairing across adjacent spintax blocks must work together. If option A from block 1 combines with option B from block 2 to form a weird or ungrammatical sentence, that's a broken combo.
44
45	### How to prevent broken combos
46
47	Make each spintax block a self-contained phrase. The options within one block should be interchangeable without depending on what another nearby block picks.
48
49	BAD — dependent blocks that can break:
50	```
51	{let me know if\|would} {{employeeline}} {would be better to speak to\|be a better person to chat with}
52	```
53	Problem: "would" + "would be better to speak to" = "would {{name}} would be better to speak to" — broken.
54
55	GOOD — each option is a full standalone phrase:
56	```
57	{let me know if {{employeeline}} would be better to speak to about this?\|would {{employeeline}} be a better person to chat with about this?\|should I be reaching out to {{employeeline}} about this instead?}
58	```
59	Each option is a complete sentence on its own. No cross-block dependency.
60
61	### Verification step
62
63	After adding spintax, mentally walk through every combination across adjacent blocks. If any pairing sounds off, restructure so each block is independent. When the sentence structure makes independent blocks risky, wrap the entire sentence in one spintax block with full sentence alternatives.
64
65	---
66
67	## What to Spin
68
69	Add 2-3 options per spintax block. Target these elements:
70
71	### Always spin
72	- Greetings: `{Hey\|Hi}` — simple, always safe
73	- Opt-out / unsubscribe lines: These are repetitive across emails and easy to spin without tone change
74	- CTAs: Different phrasings of the same ask
75	- Transition words and connectors: "just", "also", "actually", etc.
76
77	### Spin when natural
78	- Verb choices: `{help\|work with}`, `{built\|made}`, `{handles\|manages\|tackles}`
79	- Descriptors: `{completely free\|on us\|100% free}`
80	- Sentence-level rephrasings: When a line can be said 2-3 different ways without changing meaning
81
82	### Never spin
83	- Smartlead variables: `{{first_name}}`, `{{company_name}}`, `{{custom_variable}}` — leave these exactly as-is
84	- Signature placeholders: `%signature%` — never touch
85	- Specific data points: Numbers, stats, brand names, product names, pricing
86	- Technical terms or product descriptions that need to be precise
87
88	---
89
90	## Tone Preservation
91
92	The spintax options must match the tone and register of the original. If the original is casual, all options should be casual. If it's direct, keep all options direct. Don't introduce formality where there was none, and don't add slang where the original was professional.
93
94	Original tone: casual/direct
95	- ✅ `{Worth a shot?\|Want to give it a try?\|Open to trying it out?}`
96	- ❌ `{Would you be amenable to a trial?\|Worth a shot?}` — register mismatch
97
98	---
99
100	## Output Format
101
102	### For HTML input
103	Return the spintaxed HTML inside a code block:
104
105	```html
106	{Hey\|Hi} {{first_name}}, {open to a free backlink on\|interested in a free backlink from} Forbes, WSJ, or Tech Times for {{company_name}}?
107	<br>
108	<br>{We work with\|We partner with} a network of over 1,200 publishers...
109	```
110
111	### For plain text input
112	Return the spintaxed text inside a code block:
113
114	```
115	{Hey\|Hi} {{first_name}}, {open to a free backlink on\|interested in a free backlink from} Forbes, WSJ, or Tech Times for {{company_name}}?
116	```
117
118	### After each email
119	State: "All combos clean." — confirming you verified every combination. If you found and fixed something, note what you changed and why.
120
121	Then ask: "Next?" or "Drop the next one." to keep the flow moving.
122
123	---
124
125	## Multi-Email Sequences
126
127	When the user is doing a full sequence, process one email at a time. After each:
128	1. Output the spintaxed version
129	2. Confirm combos are clean
130	3. Prompt for the next email
131
132	Keep a mental count of which email in the sequence you're on (Email 1, Email 2, etc.) so you can reference them if the user asks.
133
134	---
135
136	## Flagging Issues
137
138	If you spot something in the original copy that's awkward or could be improved (independent of spintax), flag it briefly after the spintax output. For example:
139
140	> One small flag: "does QA differently" reads a bit awkward — consider swapping to `{handles\|approaches\|tackles}` instead.
141
142	Keep flags minimal. Only flag things that would actually hurt the email's performance. Don't rewrite their copy unless asked.
143
144	---
145
146	## Quick Reference
147
148	\| Element \| Example \|
149	\|---\|---\|
150	\| Syntax \| `{option1\\|option2\\|option3}` \|
151	\| Greeting \| `{Hey\\|Hi}` \|
152	\| Verb swap \| `{help\\|work with\\|partner with}` \|
153	\| Full sentence \| `{Is this worth exploring?\\|Want to give it a try?\\|Open to a quick chat?}` \|
154	\| Opt-out \| `{If this isn't relevant, just reply and I won't follow up.\\|Not relevant? Just reply and I won't reach out again.}` \|
155	\| Never touch \| `{{first_name}}`, `{{company_name}}`, `%signature%` \|
156
157	---
158
159	## What to do next
160
161	Launch the spintaxed copy via `/smartlead-campaign-upload-public` — the spintax gets embedded in the `variants.yaml` body fields and renders per-recipient on send.
162
163	Or wait: skip this skill until your copy is final. Spintax complicates later debugging.
164
165	## Related skills
166
167	- `/campaign-copywriting` — writes the base copy this skill varies
168	- `/smartlead-campaign-upload-public` — launches the spintaxed campaign
169