When the user wants to create, write, or improve a newsletter for developer audiences. Trigger phrases include "newsletter," "email marketing," "developer email," "weekly digest," "dev newsletter," "email subscribers," "newsletter growth," or "email list."
Use this skill when you need when the user wants to create, write, or improve a newsletter for developer audiences. Trigger phrases include "newsletter," "email marketing," "developer email," "weekly digest," "dev newsletter," "email subscribers," "newsletter growth," or "email list.".
This skill helps you build and write newsletters that developers actually open, read, and look forward to receiving. Covers content strategy, writing, growth, and deliverability.
Before You Start
Load your audience context first. Read .agents/developer-audience-context.md to understand:
Who you're writing for (role, seniority, tech stack)
What content resonates (problems, interests)
Where else they consume content (to avoid duplicate effort)
Voice & tone (how casual/technical)
If the context file doesn't exist, run the developer-audience-context skill first.
Newsletter Strategy
Define Your Newsletter Type
Type
Description
Example
Product updates
Changelog, new features, tips
Vercel's updates
Curated links
Best content from around the web
TLDR, Bytes
Original content
Your own articles, tutorials
Cassidy Williams
Community digest
What happened in your community
Dev community roundups
Educational series
Teaching a topic over time
Course-style newsletters
Best practice: Pick ONE primary type. You can mix in others, but have a clear identity.
Frequency Matrix
Frequency
Best For
Risk
Daily
Curated links, news
Fatigue, hard to maintain
Weekly
Most newsletters
Sweet spot for most
Bi-weekly
Original content heavy
Can lose momentum
Monthly
Product updates, digests
Easy to forget you exist
Developer preference: Weekly is the sweet spot. Developers are busy and inbox-protective.
Content Mix Framework
The 70-20-10 Rule
Percentage
Content Type
Purpose
70%
Value content
Teach, inform, help
20%
Product content
Updates, features, how-tos
10%
Promotional
CTAs, asks, sales
Content Categories
Build a rotation of these:
Category
Examples
Tutorials
"How to implement X"
News analysis
"What Y announcement means for you"
Tool/library roundups
"5 libraries for handling Z"
Code snippets
"Quick tip: better error handling"
Community highlights
"Best from our Discord this week"
Industry takes
"Why I think X is overhyped"
Behind the scenes
"How we built feature Y"
Q&A
"You asked, we answered"
Writing Developer Emails
Subject Line Framework
What works for developers:
Pattern
Example
Why It Works
Specific benefit
"Cut your build time by 40%"
Concrete value
Technical curiosity
"The JavaScript feature nobody uses"
Triggers curiosity
Direct announcement
"v2.0 is here: async/await support"
Clear, newsworthy
Number + topic
"7 TypeScript tricks senior devs use"
Scannable, specific
Question
"Are you still using callbacks?"
Pattern interrupt
Breaking news
"React 19 is out: what you need to know"
Timely, urgent
What doesn't work:
Avoid
Why
ALL CAPS
Spam signals
"Quick question"
Manipulative
Excessive emoji
Looks like marketing
"You won't believe..."
Clickbait fatigue
No subject line
Just... no
Pre-header Text
The preview text after the subject line. Use it.
Subject
Pre-header
"v2.0 is here"
"Plus: breaking changes to watch for"
"This week in Node.js"
"fetch() drama, npm security, and a cool CLI"
Email Structure
[Short personal intro - 1-2 sentences]
[Main content sections with clear headers]
[Code snippet if relevant]
[Quick links section]
[Sign-off with personality]
Code in Email
Code rendering is tricky in email. Options:
Approach
Pros
Cons
Inline code (backticks)
Works everywhere
No highlighting
Plain text block
Reliable
Ugly
Image of code
Beautiful
Can't copy, accessibility issues
"View in browser" link
Full formatting
Friction
Styled HTML tables
Decent formatting
Complex, can break
Recommendation: Keep code short. Use inline code for small snippets, link to full examples.
