What you are building

I built an agent that finds leads while I'm on calls.

Writes emails while I'm having lunch.

Books meetings while I'm asleep.

🦞

AuraLynx Agent

Today at 8:00 AM

          34 leads pulled.

          12 sequences written.

          3 positive replies drafted.

          1 meeting booked.

I hadn't opened my laptop yet.

🦞 OpenClaw — free tool

🖥️ $24/month server

🤖 Connected to Claude

START HERE Overview

This playbook builds
exactly that.

Step by step. Every tool named. Every command shown. By the end your entire outbound runs from Telegram — finding leads, writing emails, handling replies, booking meetings. While you live your life.

📖 What this playbook delivers

The morning report above — "34 leads pulled. 12 sequences written. 3 positive replies drafted. 1 meeting booked." — is the exact output of the system you are about to build. Every step in this playbook is connected to that single outcome. Nothing extra. Nothing missing.

The 4 Things Your Agent Does

The post promised four things. Here is which step in this playbook builds each one.

WHAT THE AGENT DOES	HOW IT WORKS	BUILT IN
Finds leads while you're on calls	Apollo + PhantomBuster pull signal-scored prospects automatically every morning. OpenClaw delivers them to your Telegram.	Steps 3 + 8
Writes emails while you're having lunch	Claude AI generates a personalised 5-email sequence per prospect. Loads directly into Instantly. No copy-pasting.	Steps 6 + 8
Handles replies while you're in meetings	n8n catches every reply, Claude classifies it, drafts a response, sends you the draft on Telegram for 1-tap approval.	Steps 7 + 8
Books meetings while you're asleep	Positive replies get a booking email with your Cal.com link sent automatically. Meeting appears in your calendar.	Steps 7 + 8

The System Map — Everything Connected

OpenClaw sits in the middle. It receives your Telegram commands and tells every other tool what to do. This is what makes the morning report possible.

🗂️

Apollo + Findymail

Finds & researches leads automatically

✍️

Claude API

Writes emails, classifies replies, drafts responses

🚀

Instantly.ai

Sends emails, rotates inboxes, warms domains

🦞

OpenClaw

The cockpit. Connects everything. You command it from Telegram.

⚙️

n8n

Automation glue between every tool

📋

Airtable

Tracks every lead, reply, and meeting

📱

Your only interface. One message runs the whole machine.

✅ The end state you are working toward

Every morning your Telegram says: "34 leads pulled. 12 sequences written. 3 positive replies drafted. 1 meeting booked." You hadn't opened your laptop yet. That is the finish line. Every step below is the path to get there.

STEP 01 Phase 1 — Setup

Get Your Tools
Ready

Before you build anything, you need the right accounts set up. This is your complete tool setup checklist. Tick each one off before moving to Step 2.

Free Tools (Set these up first)

Claude AI account — Go to claude.ai, sign up free. Then go to console.anthropic.com and get an API key. You'll need this to connect Claude to your tools. Cost: $5–20/month depending on usage.
n8n account — Go to n8n.io. Free plan available. This is the automation glue that connects your tools. Think of it like Zapier but more powerful and AI-friendly.
Airtable account — Go to airtable.com. Free plan is enough to start. This is where you track leads, replies, and meetings. It replaces a spreadsheet with a proper database.
Telegram app — Download Telegram on your phone. You'll use this to command your AI agent later via OpenClaw. Takes 2 minutes to set up.

Paid Tools (Start with the cheapest plan)

Apollo.io — Go to apollo.io. The free plan gives 50 leads/month which is enough to start. Upgrade to Basic ($49/month) when you're ready to scale. This is your lead database.
Instantly.ai — Go to instantly.ai. Start with Growth plan ($37/month). This sends your emails, rotates your inboxes, and handles warmup automatically.
Findymail — Go to findymail.com. Starter plan at $49/month. Finds verified emails from LinkedIn URLs in bulk. Perfect for enriching your Apollo export automatically.
PhantomBuster — Go to phantombuster.com. Free trial available, Starter at $56/month. Scrapes LinkedIn profiles, posts, and company data automatically. Use the "LinkedIn Profile Scraper" phantom to pull research for personalisation.
Domain registrar (Namecheap or GoDaddy) — You need to buy 2–3 cheap domains ($10–15 each/year) for cold outreach. Never use your main business domain. We cover this fully in Step 4.

Total Starter Cost

TOOL	PLAN	MONTHLY COST	WHAT IT DOES
Claude API	Pay as you go	~$15/mo	AI brain — writes emails, handles replies
Apollo.io	Basic	$49/mo	Lead database + email finder
Instantly.ai	Growth	$37/mo	Email sending + warmup
Findymail	Starter	$49/mo	Finds verified emails from LinkedIn URLs
PhantomBuster	Trial → Starter	$0–56/mo	LinkedIn scraping — profiles, posts, data
n8n	Free / Cloud $20	$0–20/mo	Automation workflows
Airtable	Free	$0/mo	Lead & reply tracking
Domains (×2)	Annual ÷ 12	~$3/mo	Outreach domains
VPS for OpenClaw	Basic VPS	$6–24/mo	Runs your AI agent 24/7
TOTAL		~$159–253/mo	Full system running

💡 Beginner tip — start smaller

Don't buy everything at once. Start with just: Apollo free + Instantly Growth + Claude API. That's ~$52/month to get your first campaign running. Add Findymail and a VPS once you've booked your first 3 meetings and know the system works for your ICP.

STEP 02 Phase 1 — Setup

Define Exactly
Who to Target

Your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) is the most important thing in this entire playbook. Get this wrong and nothing else matters. Get it right and everything becomes easier.

Tools needed: 🤖 Claude AI 📝 Google Doc or Notion

🤔 What is an ICP and why does it matter?

ICP = Ideal Customer Profile. It's a written description of the exact type of person and company most likely to buy from you. Think of it like a filter. Every lead you contact, every email you write, every campaign you run gets checked against your ICP. If it doesn't match — skip it. If it does — pursue it hard.

Part 1 — Fill in Your ICP (Do this now)

Answer these questions as specifically as possible. The more specific, the better your results. "B2B companies" is NOT specific. "B2B SaaS companies selling to HR teams with 50–200 employees" IS specific.

Your ICP Template — Fill this in

// THE COMPANY Industry: ___________________________ (e.g. B2B SaaS, Digital Marketing Agency, Recruitment Firm) Company size: _______________ employees (e.g. 10–100 employees) Revenue range: ___________________________ (e.g. $500K–$5M annual revenue) Location: ___________________________ (e.g. United States, UK, Australia) Stage: ___________________________ (e.g. Seed-funded startup, bootstrapped, Series A) // THE PERSON YOU EMAIL Job title: ___________________________ (e.g. Head of Sales, Founder, VP Marketing) Seniority: ___________________________ (e.g. Director level and above, decision-maker) Department: ___________________________ // THE PAIN YOU SOLVE Their #1 problem: ___________________________ (e.g. Not enough qualified leads in pipeline) What it's costing them: ___________________________ (e.g. $30K/month in SDR salary with poor results) What they really want: ___________________________ (e.g. Predictable meetings booked without hiring) // YOUR ICP ONE-LINER (write this last) I help [title] at [company type + size] who struggle with [pain] to achieve [outcome] without [what they hate doing].

Part 2 — Use Claude to Sharpen Your ICP

Paste this prompt into Claude with your answers filled in. Claude will help you identify gaps, sharpen your targeting, and give you search queries ready to use in Apollo.

Claude Prompt — ICP Sharpener

I'm building an ICP for my cold email campaigns. Here's my rough ICP: Product/service: [what you sell] Target company: [industry, size, location] Target person: [job title, seniority] Pain I solve: [their problem] My best 2-3 clients so far: [describe them briefly] Please: 1. Identify any gaps or vague areas in my ICP 2. Suggest 3 more specific sub-niches I could test 3. Write 3 Apollo.io Boolean search queries to find these people 4. Write my ICP one-liner in a single sentence 5. List the top 5 "buying signals" that would tell me this person is ready to buy NOW

Part 3 — Who NOT to target (Exclusion List)

Just as important as defining who you want is defining who you don't want. Write this down and use it as a filter when building your lead list.

Companies smaller than your minimum size threshold — they won't have budget
Industries you've tried before that don't convert for you
Titles without budget authority (e.g. coordinators, analysts, interns)
Competitors and competitor clients (if you know them)
Companies that already use a tool you'd replace (if you know from BuiltWith)

✅ You're done with Step 2 when...

You can read your ICP one-liner out loud and it sounds specific enough that a stranger could go find those exact people. If it still sounds vague, go back and narrow it down. A tight ICP turns average campaigns into great ones.

STEP 03 Phase 2 — Build

Build Your Lead List
the Right Way

Now you know who to target. This step shows you how to find them, get their verified email addresses, and research each one so your emails feel personal — not blasted.

Tools needed: 🗂️ Apollo.io 🔍 Findymail (optional) 🤖 Claude API ✅ Millionverifier

Part 1 — Find Leads in Apollo.io (Step by Step)

Step 1: Log into Apollo.io → click "Search" → select "People"
Step 2: Set filters — Job Title (type your ICP titles), then add Company Headcount range (e.g. 10–200)
Step 3: Add Geography filter — select your target countries or cities
Step 4: Add Industry filter — select the industries from your ICP
Step 5: Click "Save Search" — give it a name. Apollo will alert you when new people match.
Step 6: Select 50–100 results → click "Export" → download the CSV with verified emails

Part 2 — The Boolean Search Trick

In Apollo's search bar, you can use special search logic called Boolean to find very specific people. Copy these examples and replace the values with your own:

Apollo Boolean Search — Copy & Paste

// To find Founders & CEOs at small B2B companies: ("Founder" OR "Co-founder" OR "CEO" OR "Managing Director") AND ("SaaS" OR "software" OR "agency") NOT ("student" OR "looking for opportunities") // To find Head of Sales at growing companies: ("Head of Sales" OR "VP Sales" OR "Director of Sales" OR "CRO") AND ("B2B" OR "outbound" OR "pipeline") // To find Marketing decision makers: ("CMO" OR "Head of Marketing" OR "VP Marketing" OR "Growth Lead") AND ("lead generation" OR "demand gen" OR "B2B") NOT "intern"

Part 3 — Clean Your List (Critical Step)

Before you send a single email, verify that every email address on your list is real. Sending to fake or dead emails damages your sending reputation. This is called "email verification."

⚠️ Warning — skipping verification kills your deliverability

If more than 3% of your emails bounce (come back as undeliverable), email providers like Gmail will start marking ALL your emails as spam. Always clean your list before sending. No exceptions.

Step 1: Export your lead list as a CSV from Apollo
Step 2: Go to millionverifier.com → upload your CSV → run verification
Step 3: Download the results. Keep only "VALID" emails. Delete "INVALID" and "UNKNOWN".
Step 4: Your clean list is now ready to load into Instantly.ai

Part 4 — AI Research with Findymail + PhantomBuster (For higher reply rates)

Findymail finds verified emails from LinkedIn URLs in bulk. PhantomBuster scrapes LinkedIn profiles — pulling recent posts, job titles, and company data. This research feeds into your Claude prompts so every email feels written specifically for that person.

Findymail + PhantomBuster Research Workflow

// STEP 1: Export leads from Apollo as CSV (LinkedIn URL column included) Column 1: LinkedIn Profile URL (imported from Apollo export) Column 2: Company Website (PhantomBuster: LinkedIn Company Scraper phantom) Column 3: Recent LinkedIn Post (PhantomBuster: LinkedIn Profile Scraper phantom) Column 4: Company Summary (Claude API prompt: "What does {{company}} do in 1 sentence?") Column 5: Pain Angle (Claude API — n8n HTTP node): Prompt: "What is the #1 challenge a {{title}} at {{company}} faces related to {{your_solution_area}}? Answer in 1 sentence." Column 6: Personalised Opener (Claude API — n8n HTTP node): Prompt: "Write a 20-word cold email opener for {{name}} at {{company}} referencing {{recent_post}} that connects to {{pain_angle}}" // Output: A list of leads where every single row has a unique, // personalised first line ready to drop into your email template

OpenClaw Connection — Step 3

Once OpenClaw is set up (Step 8), you will pull your enriched leads directly from Telegram with one command. No logging into tools. No manual downloading. Just: You: "pull today's leads" Agent: "✅ 34 leads ready. 11 new job changes, 8 funding alerts. Top priority: Acme Corp (Series A, hiring SDR). Queue sequences?"

STEP 04 Phase 2 — Build

Setup Domains
& Inboxes

This is your email sending infrastructure. It's technical but straightforward if you follow these steps exactly. Never skip this — it is the foundation that determines whether your emails land in inboxes or spam folders.

Tools needed: 🌐 Namecheap / GoDaddy 📧 Google Workspace 🚀 Instantly.ai

⚡ Why you MUST use separate domains

Your main domain (e.g. auralynxai.com) is your business identity. If it gets flagged as spam, ALL your emails — including client emails, invoices, team communication — get blocked. Use separate "outreach domains" just for cold email. They look similar to your brand but are completely isolated.

Part 1 — How Many Domains & Inboxes

INBOXES PER DOMAIN (MAX)

25–30

EMAILS PER INBOX PER DAY

75–90

TOTAL EMAILS PER DOMAIN/DAY

⚠️ The "3 inboxes per domain" rule — never break this

Email providers watch how many accounts send from a single domain. If you put 5 or 6 inboxes on one domain, the whole domain gets flagged and ALL inboxes on it get blocked simultaneously. Always stick to a maximum of 3 inboxes per domain. To send more, buy more domains.

SETUP	DOMAINS	INBOXES	EMAILS/DAY	EMAILS/MONTH
Beginner (starting out)	1 domain	3 inboxes	75–90	~2,000
Growth (scaling up)	3 domains	9 inboxes	225–270	~6,000
Agency (full scale)	5 domains	15 inboxes	375–450	~10,000

Part 2 — Step by Step: Buy Your Domain

Step 1: Go to namecheap.com (cheapest option, ~$10/year per domain)
Step 2: Search for a domain similar to your brand. Examples: if your domain is "auralynxai.com" buy "tryauralynx.com" or "getauralynx.com" or "auralynxhq.com"
Step 3: Buy 2–3 domains. Spread them across different registrars for extra safety.
Step 4: Point each domain to Google Workspace (you'll set this up in the next step)

Part 3 — Create Email Inboxes in Google Workspace

Step 1: Go to workspace.google.com → create an account using your new outreach domain (e.g. tryauralynx.com). Cost: ~$6/inbox/month.
Step 2: Create 3 email accounts per domain using real-sounding name variations: tanveer@tryauralynx.com, tanveer.a@tryauralynx.com, t.ahmed@tryauralynx.com
Step 3: Add DNS records — In your domain registrar, add 3 records: SPF record (says "Google can send from this domain"), DKIM record (email signature), DMARC record (spam policy). Google Workspace setup wizard guides you through this.
Step 4: Connect all 3 inboxes to Instantly.ai → Settings → Email Accounts → Connect Gmail → repeat for each inbox

Part 4 — The 3 DNS Records (Plain English Explanation)

Every email domain needs 3 technical records to be trusted by email providers. Here's what each one does in simple terms:

RECORD	WHAT IT DOES (PLAIN ENGLISH)	HOW TO ADD IT
SPF	Tells email providers "Google is allowed to send email on my behalf." Without this, your emails look like they're from a fake sender.	Google Workspace wizard adds this automatically
DKIM	Adds a digital signature to every email you send — like a wax seal that proves the email wasn't tampered with after leaving your server.	Google Workspace wizard adds this automatically
DMARC	Tells email providers what to do if someone tries to fake emails from your domain. Start with "p=none" (monitor only) then change to "p=quarantine" after 4 weeks.	You add this manually — paste the record shown below

DMARC Record — Paste this into your domain DNS

// Add this as a TXT record in your domain registrar // Name/Host: _dmarc // Value (paste exactly): v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:your@email.com; ruf=mailto:your@email.com; fo=1 // After 4 weeks with no issues, change p=none to p=quarantine

OpenClaw Connection — Step 4

Once OpenClaw is running, it automatically monitors your domain health every week and sends you a Telegram alert if anything goes wrong. You never need to manually check your DNS again. Agent (every Monday): "📬 Domain health: tryauralynx.com 96/100 ✅ | getauralynx.com 94/100 ✅ | No blacklists detected."

STEP 05 Phase 2 — Build

Warm Up Your
Inboxes First

A brand new email address has zero reputation. Email providers don't trust it yet. You must "warm it up" for 6 weeks before sending a single cold email. This step explains exactly how.

Tools needed: 🚀 Instantly.ai ⏱️ 6 weeks of patience

🤔 What is "warmup" and why does it take 6 weeks?

Imagine you move to a new neighbourhood. Nobody knows you. If you suddenly start knocking on 100 doors a day, people will report you as suspicious. Email works the same way. A new email address that suddenly sends 100 emails/day looks like a spammer to Gmail and Outlook. Warmup means starting with a tiny amount of emails and slowly increasing over 6 weeks — building a reputation as a trustworthy sender before you send cold outreach.

How Warmup Works in Instantly.ai

Instantly has a built-in warmup feature. When you turn it on, it automatically sends real-looking emails between your inboxes and other Instantly users' inboxes — and those users' inboxes automatically reply and mark your emails as "not spam." This builds your reputation passively in the background.

Step 1: In Instantly, go to each email account → toggle "Warmup" to ON
Step 2: Set warmup daily limit to 5 emails/day for Week 1–2
Step 3: Do NOT touch your cold campaign settings yet. Warmup only.
Step 4: Every week, check your spam score at GlockApps.com (free). Target score: above 90/100
Step 5: Never turn warmup off — even after you start sending cold emails, keep warmup running in the background forever

The 7-Week Warmup Schedule

Follow this exactly. The numbers below are per inbox per day.

Week 1

5 warmup only → 0 cold

Week 2

10 warmup → 0 cold

Week 3

20 warmup → 0 cold

Week 4

30 warmup → 0 cold

Week 5

30 warmup → 10 cold ✅

Week 6

30 warmup → 20 cold

Week 7+

30 warmup → 25–30 cold 🚀

💡 What to do during the 6 weeks of warmup

Warmup runs automatically — you don't need to babysit it. Use these 6 weeks productively: finalise your ICP (Step 2), build your first lead list of 200 people (Step 3), write your email templates (Step 6), and set up OpenClaw (Step 8). By the time warmup finishes, your entire system will be ready to launch the same day.

STEP 06 Phase 3 — Launch

Write Emails
with AI

This is where most cold email systems fail — not because the system is broken, but because the emails are generic. This step shows you exactly how to use Claude to write emails that feel personal, land in context, and get replies.

Tools needed: 🤖 Claude AI / API 🔍 Findymail + PhantomBuster 🚀 Instantly.ai

Part 1 — The 3 Rules of AI Cold Email Copy

Before you write a single word, understand these three rules. Everything in this step is built around them.

Rule 1 — Under 100 words per email

Short emails get more replies than long ones. A short email signals confidence. A long email signals desperation. AI will try to write long emails unless you tell it not to. Always cap at 100 words for the body text.

Rule 2 — Reference something real and specific

Every email must start with something specific to that person — a recent post they wrote, a job change, a company news item, a hiring signal. Generic openers ("I came across your profile") get deleted immediately. Specific openers ("I saw you recently joined [Company] as VP Sales") get read.

Rule 3 — One ask only, at the end

Ask for one thing and one thing only — a short 15-minute call. Never pitch in the first email. Never include multiple questions. One email, one ask.

Part 2 — The Email Formula (ABI)

Every email you write follows the same 3-part formula: Attention → Bridge → Invite. Three sentences. That's it.

The ABI Formula — Example

// Subject: Quick question about [Company]'s outbound A — ATTENTION (1 sentence, specific to them): Saw that [Company] just raised their Series A — congrats. B — BRIDGE (1-2 sentences, connect to your solution): Most sales teams I work with at that stage are dealing with the same problem: lots of funding, not enough predictable pipeline to deploy it properly. I — INVITE (1 sentence, soft ask): Worth a 15-minute call to see if what we built for [Similar Company] could work for you? // Signature: Your name, title, company, phone // Total word count: 58 words ✅

Part 3 — The Master Email Prompt for Claude

Copy this prompt into Claude (or automate it via n8n to run per prospect). Replace the placeholder values with your real information once, and Claude will generate a personalised email for any prospect.

Claude Prompt — Single Email Generator

Write a cold email for this prospect using the ABI framework (Attention-Bridge-Invite). PROSPECT: Name: [First Name] Title: [Job Title] Company: [Company Name] Signal (why I'm reaching out now): [new job / funding / hiring / recent post] One specific thing about them: [something real from their LinkedIn or company] MY CONTEXT: What I do: [describe your service/product in one sentence] Who I help: [your ICP one-liner] Best result I've achieved: [e.g. "2,700 emails → 9 meetings → 2 deals for one client"] RULES: - Maximum 80 words for the body - Start with something specific to THEM — not "I" - Plain text only — no bullet points, no bold text inside the email - One soft question at the end — no hard pitch - Sound like a peer, not a salesperson - Never use: "hope this finds you well", "I wanted to reach out", "circle back" Also write: 1 subject line (max 7 words, no exclamation marks)

Part 4 — The 5-Email Sequence

One email is rarely enough. You need a sequence of 5 emails sent over 18 days. Each one has a different angle. If they don't reply after all 5, you send one final "breakup" message.

EMAIL	SEND DAY	PURPOSE	LENGTH
Email 1	Day 1	Signal reference + soft question	60–80 words
Email 2	Day 3	Drop a case study or useful resource	50–70 words
Email 3	Day 7	Different angle — address a specific pain	50–60 words
Email 4	Day 12	Soft reframe — "last thought"	40–50 words
Email 5	Day 18	Breakup — leaves door open	30–40 words

Email 5 — The Breakup Message (Highest Reply Rate)

Subject: Closing the loop [First Name] — I'll stop reaching out after this. If [their specific pain] ever moves up the priority list, I'd love to be the first call you make. Good luck with everything at [Company]. 🙌 [Your name] // Why this works: it triggers a "wait, I don't want to miss this" response. // 30-40% of prospects who ignored the first 4 emails reply to this one.

OpenClaw Connection — Step 6

Once OpenClaw is set up, you generate entire 5-email sequences from Telegram in seconds. No logging into Claude. No copy-pasting. Just: You: "write sequence for Sarah Chen, VP Sales at Acme Corp, just raised Series A" Agent: "✅ 5-email sequence written. Subject lines generated. Loaded into Instantly campaign. First send tomorrow 9am."

STEP 07 Phase 3 — Launch

Send Emails &
Handle Replies

Your warmup is done. Your emails are written. Now you launch — and you set up the AI system that reads every reply, classifies it, and drafts a response in under 1 second.

Tools needed: 🚀 Instantly.ai 🤖 Claude API ⚙️ n8n 📋 Airtable

Part 1 — Launch Your Campaign in Instantly

Step 1: In Instantly → Campaigns → New Campaign. Name it (e.g. "March-B2B-Founders")
Step 2: Upload your verified lead list CSV
Step 3: Add your 5-email sequence. Set timing: Day 1, +2 days, +4 days, +5 days, +6 days
Step 4: Select your sending accounts (all 3 inboxes). Instantly will rotate between them automatically.
Step 5: Set sending schedule — Monday to Friday only. Between 8am–5pm in your prospect's timezone. Never send on weekends.
Step 6: Set daily limit: 25–30 emails total across all inboxes. Never exceed 30/inbox/day.
Step 7: Click Launch. Monitor for the first 48 hours. Check open rate — it should be above 35%.

Part 2 — The AI Reply Handler (n8n + Claude)

This is what separates a basic cold email setup from an AI-powered system. Every reply gets automatically classified by Claude in under 1 second and routed to the right action.

REPLY TYPE	SIGNALS	AI ACTION
✅ Positive	"Yes interested", "Let's talk", "What availability?"	Draft booking email with Cal.com link → alert Telegram
🤔 Maybe	"Send more info", "Interesting", "Tell me more"	Draft case study follow-up → send to your review queue
⏰ Not Now	"Wrong timing", "Try Q3", "With another vendor"	Log re-engage date → draft polite "understood" reply
👤 Referral	"Talk to our Head of X", "Contact [Name]"	Extract new contact → add to lead list → enrich via Findymail
❌ Unsubscribe	"Remove me", "Stop emailing", "Unsubscribe"	Remove from all campaigns → add to suppression list

Positive Reply Response — Copy-Paste Template

Great to hear, [First Name]! Here's my calendar — grab any slot that works: https://cal.com/auralynxai/45min It's a 45-minute call. I'll come prepped with specific ideas based on what you're building at [Company]. Looking forward to it. Tanveer

Part 3 — Build the Reply Handler in n8n

This workflow runs automatically. Every time someone replies to your cold email, n8n catches it, sends it to Claude for classification, and routes it appropriately.

n8n Workflow — Reply Classification Logic

// NODE 1: Trigger Webhook → receives new reply from Instantly (set up in Instantly → Settings → Webhooks) // NODE 2: Claude AI — Classify the reply Send to Claude API with this prompt: "Classify this email reply as one of: POSITIVE, MAYBE, NOT_NOW, REFERRAL, UNSUBSCRIBE. Reply: {{reply_text}} Output JSON: {category: '...', summary: '...'}" // NODE 3: Router — based on Claude's classification IF category = POSITIVE → Node 4a IF category = MAYBE → Node 4b IF category = NOT_NOW → Node 4c IF category = REFERRAL → Node 4d IF category = UNSUBSCRIBE → Node 4e // NODE 4a: POSITIVE — Draft & send reply Claude API → generate personalised booking email → Send via Gmail API → Telegram alert: "🔔 Positive reply from {{name}} at {{company}}" // NODE 4c: NOT_NOW — Log for later Airtable → create record with re_engage_date → Set reminder in 6 weeks to follow up // NODE 4e: UNSUBSCRIBE — Remove immediately Instantly API → remove from all campaigns → Airtable → add to blacklist

OpenClaw Connection — Step 7

When a positive reply comes in, OpenClaw pings you on Telegram immediately — even before you check your email. You see the draft response and approve it with one word. Agent (11:32am): "🔔 POSITIVE REPLY — James Liu, Head of Growth at TechCo: 'This sounds relevant, tell me more.' Draft ready. Reply 'send' to approve." You: "send" Agent: "✅ Sent. Cal.com link included. Meeting booked if he clicks."

STEP 08 Phase 4 — Automate

OpenClaw —
Your Command Centre

This is where everything connects. OpenClaw is the cockpit of your entire cold email machine. You install it once on a $6/month server, connect it to Telegram, and from that moment — you control your entire outbound system from your phone.

Tools needed: 🖥️ VPS Server ($6–24/mo) 🦞 OpenClaw (free, open source) 📱 Telegram app 🤖 Claude API key

🦞 What is OpenClaw?

OpenClaw is a free, open-source AI agent that you install on your own server. Once installed, it connects Claude AI to messaging apps like Telegram and WhatsApp. Instead of logging into 6 different tools to manage your cold email system, you just message your agent on Telegram. It does the rest. Think of it as a personal assistant who knows how to use every tool in your stack and is available 24/7.

Part 1 — Install OpenClaw (Step by Step)

What you need first: A VPS (Virtual Private Server) — a small computer in the cloud that runs 24/7. The cheapest option is DigitalOcean Droplet or Hetzner Cloud. Start with the smallest plan (~$6/month). You'll SSH into it and run the commands below.

Step 1 — Get a VPS: Go to hetzner.com → Cloud → Create Server → choose CX11 (smallest, cheapest) → Ubuntu 24.04 → Create. You'll get an IP address and root password by email.
Step 2 — Connect to your server: Open Terminal on your Mac or PuTTY on Windows → type: ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP → enter your password
Step 3 — Install Node.js: Run: curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | bash - && apt-get install -y nodejs
Step 4 — Install OpenClaw: Run the commands in the box below one by one
Step 5 — Run setup wizard: OpenClaw will guide you through connecting your Claude API key and choosing Telegram as your channel
Step 6 — Create your Telegram bot: Open Telegram → search @BotFather → /newbot → name it "AuraLynx Agent" → copy the token it gives you
Step 7 — Paste token into OpenClaw config and restart. Your bot is now live.

OpenClaw Installation Commands

# Clone OpenClaw onto your server git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw cd openclaw # Install dependencies npm install -g pnpm pnpm install pnpm build # Run the guided setup wizard # It will ask you for: Claude API key, which channels to connect pnpm openclaw onboard # Start your agent (runs 24/7 in background) pnpm openclaw start # Test it's working — message your Telegram bot and say "hello"

Part 2 — How OpenClaw Connects to Your Cold Email Stack

OpenClaw uses "Skills" — small plugins you build that give your agent specific abilities. You build one skill per tool in your stack. Here are the 5 skills to build for your cold email system:

SKILL NAME	WHAT IT DOES	TELEGRAM COMMAND
Lead Puller	Connects to Apollo + Findymail. Pulls today's signal-scored leads. Shows you a summary on Telegram.	"pull leads" or "today's pipeline"
Sequence Writer	Takes prospect details, sends them to Claude with your email prompt, generates a full 5-email sequence, and loads it into Instantly.	"write sequence for [name]"
Reply Handler	Pulls unhandled replies from Instantly, classifies them, drafts responses, and sends you Telegram alerts for positive replies.	"handle replies"
Stats Reporter	Queries Instantly and Airtable, returns today's open rate, reply rate, meetings booked, and best performing email.	"stats" or "daily report"
Domain Monitor	Runs weekly GlockApps + MXToolbox checks on your domains. Alerts you immediately if a domain gets blacklisted or drops below 90/100 health score.	Runs automatically every Monday

Part 3 — Your Typical Day with OpenClaw

Here is exactly what your morning looks like once this system is fully running. Total time needed from you: under 10 minutes.

A Full Day Running from Telegram

// 8:00 AM — Morning briefing (you send this) You: "stats" Agent: "📊 Yesterday: 270 sent | 43% open | 11% reply | 4 positive replies | 1 meeting booked." // 8:05 AM You: "pull leads" Agent: "✅ 31 new leads scored 7+. Top signals: 9 new jobs, 6 funding alerts, 16 hiring signals. Want sequences?" // 8:08 AM You: "yes write sequences for all" Agent: "✍️ Writing 31 personalised sequences with Claude... Done. Loaded into Instantly. Sending starts 9am." // 11:22 AM — Agent messages YOU (you didn't ask for this) Agent: "🔔 POSITIVE REPLY — Priya Sharma, CMO at NovaTech: 'This is interesting, what does the process look like?' Draft reply ready. Type 'send' to approve or 'edit' to modify." // 11:23 AM You: "send" Agent: "✅ Sent with Cal.com link. She'll see it within minutes." // 4:30 PM — Meeting books itself Agent: "🗓️ Meeting booked! Priya Sharma — tomorrow 3pm. Added to your Google Calendar." // That's your entire workday. Total active time: 8 minutes.

Part 4 — Security (Read This)

Lock your allowFrom setting in OpenClaw config to your personal Telegram username only. Anyone who can message your bot has full control of your agent.
Never make your server publicly accessible without a firewall. Use Tailscale (free) to create a private tunnel if you need remote access.
Store your API keys in .env files — never in config files that could accidentally end up on GitHub.
Run "pnpm openclaw doctor" — this built-in health check flags any security issues with your setup.

STEP 09 Phase 4 — Automate

Measure &
Improve Weekly

The system is running. Now you make it better every single week. You only need to track 5 numbers. When one number is below target, you fix only that thing. This is how the system compounds.

The 5 Numbers That Matter

Ignore everything else. These five numbers tell you the complete health of your system. Check them every Friday.

METRIC	WHERE TO CHECK	TARGET	IF BELOW TARGET
Open Rate	Instantly dashboard	40–55%	Deliverability problem. Check spam score at GlockApps. Don't change your copy yet.
Reply Rate	Instantly dashboard	8–15%	Email copy problem. Rewrite your opening lines. Make them more specific to each prospect.
Positive Reply Rate	Airtable	3–6%	Targeting problem. Your ICP may be off. Check: are you targeting real decision-makers with budget?
Meetings Booked	Google Calendar / Cal.com	5–10/month (per 1 domain)	CTA problem. Try asking for a 15-min call instead of 30. Make it easier to say yes.
Bounce Rate	Instantly dashboard	Under 2%	List quality problem. Reverify your list. Only send to VALID emails from Millionverifier.

The Funnel at Full Scale

100 Sent

100% — your starting point

~45 Opened

45% open rate

~10 Replied

10% reply rate

~4 Positive

4% positive

~2 Meetings

2% → meetings 🎯

The Weekly Improvement Loop

The Rule: One Fix Per Week

Never change multiple things at once. If you change your subject line AND your opening line AND your CTA in the same week, you won't know which change made the difference. Change one thing, wait 7 days, measure. Then change the next thing. This is how you go from 3% reply rate to 15% over 90 days.

WEEK	WHAT TO FIX	HOW TO FIX IT
Week 1	Subject line	Use Claude to generate 10 new variants. A/B test 2 at a time in Instantly.
Week 2	Opening line	Make it 30% more specific. Reference a signal, a post, or a company fact.
Week 3	ICP targeting	Remove bottom 20% of your list (lowest signal scores). Add higher-signal prospects.
Week 4	CTA	If asking for a 30-min call, switch to 15 min. If asking a question, ask a simpler one.
Week 5+	Repeat the loop	Identify lowest metric → fix it → measure → move to next metric.

OpenClaw Connection — Step 9

Every Friday, your OpenClaw agent automatically sends you a weekly performance report on Telegram — no logging in, no pulling dashboards manually. Just numbers in your chat. Agent (every Friday 5pm): "📊 Week 12 Report: 1,890 sent | 44% open | 13% reply | 8 positive | 3 meetings booked | Best subject: 'Quick question about [Company]' (51% open)"

🎉 You've completed the full playbook

You now have a complete AI-powered cold email system: ICP defined → leads built → domains set up → inboxes warmed → emails written by AI → sequences sending → replies handled automatically → meetings booking themselves → OpenClaw controlling everything from Telegram → metrics tracked weekly. This is the exact system that generated 2,700 emails → 47 replies → 9 meetings → 2 closed deals. Now it's yours to run.

Want help building this?

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