linkedin-dm

name

linkedin-dm

description

Send personalized LinkedIn direct messages to a list of existing 1st-degree connections via browser automation. Use when the user wants to message LinkedIn connections with AI-personalized outreach — e.g. nurturing leads, following up after events, reconnecting with contacts, or announcing something. Takes a data file (CSV/TSV) or plain list with connection names and companies, asks for outreach context/goal, generates a tailored message per person, and sends each one via browser automation. Handles message compose flow, character limits, and incremental status tracking.

LinkedIn DM

Sends personalized LinkedIn messages to existing 1st-degree connections. Each message has:

• A personalized opening unique to each person (based on their profile + relationship to the sender)
• A consistent product/pitch section confirmed once by the user and reused for all messages

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⚠️ Pre-flight Checklist — Confirm Before Starting

1. Connection List

Ask the user for their data file or list. Must include (or be added):

• Person Name — full name
• Company/Role — their current company or role
• LinkedIn URL — optional but helpful
• Message Status — column for tracking (add if missing)

If only a plain list is provided, offer to convert to TSV.

2. Read Sender's LinkedIn Profile (mandatory)

Before writing any messages, navigate to /in/me/ and read the sender's profile:

• Name and current role/company
• Career history — companies, roles, years
• Education — college, degree, batch years
• Location

Store these facts. They are used to identify relationship hooks with each connection.

3. Confirm the Pitch (once, upfront)

Ask the user:

"What's your pitch / product message? This will be the consistent part of every message. Describe it in 1–2 sentences."

Then draft a polished pitch section (2–4 sentences max, punchy and clear). Show it to the user and get explicit approval. Do not start sending until the pitch is confirmed.

Example prompt: "Here's the pitch I'll use for everyone — confirm or edit:

'I'm building an AI calling agent — you give it a phone number + context, and it handles the call end-to-end. Think customer follow-ups, research calls, vendor coordination — anything phone-based that eats into your day. Happy to show you a demo if this sounds useful.'"

4. Browser Setup

• Option A — Chrome Browser Relay (profile="chrome"): extension attached to LinkedIn tab (badge ON) — recommended for flagged accounts
• Option B — OpenClaw Isolated Browser (profile="openclaw"): openclaw-managed Chrome, LinkedIn logged in

5. CRM Sheet

Ask the user for a Google Sheet ID/URL to log outreach results. If they don't have one, offer to set one up (create tab + write headers). Confirm gog is authenticated (gog auth list).

If the user skips this, fall back to local linkedin_dm_progress.json but remind them the follow-up skill needs the sheet.

6. Ready Check

Only proceed once:

• ✅ List is ready
• ✅ Sender profile has been read
• ✅ Pitch is confirmed by user
• ✅ Browser is open with LinkedIn logged in
• ✅ Sheet ID confirmed (or sidecar fallback acknowledged)

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Relationship Analysis (per person)

Before writing a message, compare the connection's profile against the sender's profile to find the strongest hook. Use this hierarchy — pick the highest that applies:

Priority	Hook	Example opener
1	Same company (current or past)	"You and I both spent time at CRED…"
2	Same college + overlapping years	"Fellow BITS Goa 2018 batch here…"
3	Same college (different years)	"BITS connect here — saw your journey from…"
4	Same industry/function	"Both been in fintech/product for a while…"
5	Mutual connection	"We're both connected to [Name]…"
6	Their work context (no personal hook)	"Seen what you've built at [Company]…"

Combine the hook with a line about their current work to show you know what they do.

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Message Structure

Send as two separate messages per person, back to back:

Message 1 — Personalized opener (unique per person)

[Relationship hook — 1 sentence]
[Acknowledgement of their work/role — 1 sentence]

Target: 100–180 chars. Feels like a genuine reach-out from someone who knows them.

Message 2 — Pitch (identical for everyone, confirmed upfront)

[Product description — 1–2 sentences]
[Relevant use case for their role — 1 sentence]
[Soft CTA — 1 sentence]

Target: 150–250 chars. Clear, punchy, no filler.

Why two messages?

• Opener lands first — they see it before the pitch, feels more personal
• Pitch is clearly a separate thought, not buried at the end
• Mirrors how a human would actually message a connection

Fallback: If sending two messages is technically difficult (e.g. bubble re-focusing issues), use Shift+Enter twice between the opener and pitch to create a paragraph break within a single message.

Do not:

• Open with "I hope you're well" or "I came across your profile"
• Use the same opening for multiple people
• Change the pitch section per person

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Batch Preview Before Sending

Generate messages for the entire list first. Present them in a table:

Name	Company	Relationship Hook Used	Message Preview
Shorya Saini	Razorpay	Same BITS batch	Hey Shorya, BITS Goa 2018 batch…

Get user approval on the full batch before opening the browser. Allow edits per row.

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Sending Flow (Per Person)

1. Navigate to /feed/ — mandatory, no exceptions, no skipping
2. Wait 3–5 seconds
3. Search connections at linkedin.com/mynetwork/invite-connect/connections/ — type name in "Search by name"
4. Handle results:
   • 1 match → confirm name + headline → click to open profile
   • Multiple matches → show user, ask which one
   • 0 matches → mark Not a Connection, skip
5. Read their profile if not already done (for personalisation)
6. Click Message button on their profile
7. Send Message 1 — personalized opener only, send it
8. Send Message 2 — pitch only, send it immediately after
9. Confirm both delivered
10. Log to CRM sheet — append row via gog sheets append with all fields (see CRM Tracking section)

See references/browser-workflow.md for exact browser automation steps.

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Status Values

Status	Meaning
Sent	Message delivered this session
Already Messaged	Recent conversation exists — skip
Not a Connection	No Message button or not in connections search
Profile Not Found	Could not identify the right person
Skipped	User chose to skip
Failed	Browser error — retry next session

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Anti-Detection Rules

• /feed/ before every single profile — non-negotiable
• 3–5 second wait after feed loads
• Max 15–20 messages per session
• Stop immediately if LinkedIn warns about messaging rate — tell the user

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CRM Tracking — Google Sheet

After each message is sent, append a row to a Google Sheet. This sheet is the source of truth for all outreach — current session and future follow-up.

Sheet Setup

Ask the user for a Google Sheet ID or URL at the start of the session (or offer to create a new one). The sheet should have a tab named Outreach with these columns:

Col	Field	Notes
A	Date Sent	ISO date, e.g. 2026-02-13
B	Person Name	Full name
C	Role / Title	Their current headline from LinkedIn
D	Company	Current company
E	LinkedIn URL	Profile URL
F	Relationship Hook	What hook was used (e.g. "Same batch BITS Goa 2018", "Both at CRED 2022–23")
G	Opener Sent	Exact text of Message 1
H	Pitch Sent	Exact text of Message 2
I	Campaign	Short label for this batch (e.g. "AI Calling - Feb 2026")
J	Status	Always Sent when first logged — updated by follow-up skill
K	Notes	Anything notable (prior conversation, context, mutual connection used)
L	Last Updated	Timestamp of last status change

Column I (Status) lifecycle — only Sent is written by this skill. The follow-up skill will update to: Replied · Call Scheduled · Demo Done · Follow Up Sent · No Response · Closed Won · Closed Lost

Appending a Row

After each message pair is sent, run:

gog sheets append <SHEET_ID> "Outreach!A:L" \
  --values-json '[["<date>","<name>","<role>","<company>","<url>","<hook>","<opener>","<pitch>","<campaign>","Sent","<notes>","<timestamp>"]]' \
  --insert INSERT_ROWS

First-Time Setup

If no sheet exists yet, tell the user:

"I'll need a Google Sheet to track outreach. Share an existing sheet ID/URL, or I can create one with the right columns."

To create a new sheet, use Drive (or ask user to create one and share the ID). Then write the header row:

gog sheets update <SHEET_ID> "Outreach!A1:L1" \
  --values-json '[["Date Sent","Person Name","Role / Title","Company","LinkedIn URL","Relationship Hook","Opener Sent","Pitch Sent","Campaign","Status","Notes","Last Updated"]]' \
  --input USER_ENTERED

Local Sidecar (fallback)

If Google Sheets is not set up, fall back to a local linkedin_dm_progress.json:

{
  "campaign": "AI Calling - Feb 2026",
  "pitch": "confirmed pitch text",
  "rows": [
    {
      "date": "2026-02-13",
      "name": "Shorya Saini",
      "role": "Senior Analytics Specialist",
      "company": "Razorpay",
      "url": "https://linkedin.com/in/shorya-saini",
      "hook": "Same batch BITS Goa 2018",
      "opener": "Hey Shorya...",
      "pitch": "I'm building...",
      "status": "Sent",
      "notes": ""
    }
  ]
}