Winnr Claude Code Skills add cold email operational expertise on top of the MCP server. 6 slash commands — /winnr setup, /winnr health, /winnr troubleshoot, /winnr scale, /winnr export, and /winnr status — that turn Claude into an email infrastructure expert. Free, open source, and installed in 30 seconds. View on GitHub.
What Are Claude Code Skills?
Claude Code Skills are slash commands that give Claude domain-specific expertise. When you type /winnr setup in Claude Code, you're not just calling an API — you're activating a guided workflow that knows the right order of operations, the best practices, and the edge cases for cold email infrastructure.
Skills are different from MCP tools. MCP tools are individual API calls — "create a mailbox," "check DNS," "enable warming." Skills are the operational knowledge that ties those calls together into something useful: "set up 50 mailboxes across the right number of domains with professional names, verify DNS, enable warming, and generate a report."
Think of it this way: the MCP server gives Claude hands. Skills give it a brain.
MCP Tools vs. Skills: Plumbing vs. Expertise
The Winnr MCP server gives Claude 36 API tools — raw capabilities for managing domains, mailboxes, warming, and inbox. Skills layer cold email operational knowledge on top of those tools, turning individual API calls into guided multi-step workflows.
Here's the difference in practice:
| MCP Tool (Raw API Call) | Skill (Guided Workflow) | What Changes |
|---|---|---|
winnr_search_domains | /winnr setup | Searches, purchases, creates mailboxes, verifies DNS, enables warming — entire infrastructure in one command |
winnr_get_warming_metrics | /winnr health | Scores every mailbox 0-100, flags problems, gives prioritized recommendations |
winnr_get_dns_status | /winnr troubleshoot | Runs diagnostic decision trees across DNS, warming, and deliverability |
winnr_list_email_users | /winnr scale | Calculates optimal ratios, suggests domains, handles the math |
winnr_export_credentials | /winnr export | Runs readiness checks before export — blocks if health is too low |
winnr_get_account | /winnr status | Quick snapshot with utilization percentages and warnings |
You can use MCP tools without skills — Claude will still help manage your infrastructure. But skills encode the expertise that separates a good setup from a great one: the right domain-to-mailbox ratios, TLD selection strategy, warming timelines, and readiness thresholds that experienced cold email operators know by heart.
The Six Commands
/winnr setup — Full Infrastructure Wizard
The flagship skill. Tell Claude how many mailboxes you need and a keyword, and it handles everything: account capacity check, domain search and purchase (with your confirmation), DNS verification, mailbox creation with professional naming conventions, warming activation, and a final summary report. One command replaces 30 minutes of dashboard clicking.
/winnr health — Traffic-Light Health Report
Generates a scored health report for every mailbox in your account. Each mailbox gets a 0-100 score based on four weighted factors: DNS configuration (30%), warming performance (40%), utilization (15%), and infrastructure diversity (15%). Color-coded output flags critical issues in red, warnings in yellow, and healthy metrics in green. Includes prioritized action items.
/winnr troubleshoot — DNS and Deliverability Diagnostics
When something's wrong, this skill runs systematic diagnostic decision trees. It checks DNS records (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC), warming health, inbox placement rates, and infrastructure distribution. Instead of dumping raw data, it walks through the problem step by step and tells you exactly what to fix and in what order.
/winnr scale — Scale Up or Down with Best-Practice Ratios
Need more mailboxes? Fewer? This skill calculates the optimal number of new domains based on 3-5 mailboxes per domain, suggests TLDs that avoid spam-associated extensions, and handles the provisioning. Scaling down? It identifies which mailboxes to decommission based on health scores and warming age.
/winnr export — Export to 15+ Sequencer Formats
Exports your mailbox credentials to Smartlead, Instantly, Snov, Lemlist, Woodpecker, Reply, Mailshake, GMass, and more. But first, it runs readiness checks: account health must be above 75, inbox rate above 85%, and mailboxes must have been warming for at least 14 days. If any check fails, it tells you why and what to fix before exporting.
/winnr status — Quick Account Snapshot
A fast overview of your account: total domains, mailboxes, warming status, plan utilization, and any immediate issues. Takes seconds and gives you the numbers you need without digging through dashboards.
Real Example: Setting Up 50 Mailboxes
Here's what a real /winnr setup session looks like:
> /winnr setup — I need 50 mailboxes for cold outreach. My keyword is "revfront".
Claude checks your account first:
Account check: Growth plan
Domains: 12/100 used (88 remaining)
Mailboxes: 36/500 used (464 remaining)
✓ Capacity sufficient for 50 new mailboxes
Then it calculates the infrastructure needed:
Plan: 50 mailboxes across 13 new domains (3-4 per domain)
Domain search: "revfront" keyword across .com, .io, .co, .xyz, .dev
Found 18 available domains:
revfront.io $14.99
revfront.co $11.99
getrevfront.com $10.99
revfrontapp.com $10.99
tryrevfront.com $10.99
revfronthq.com $10.99
userevfront.io $14.99
revfront.xyz $5.99
revfrontmail.com $10.99
gorevfront.com $10.99
revfront.dev $12.99
meetrevfront.com $10.99
revfrontteam.com $10.99
Purchasing 13 domains... confirm? (y/n)
After you confirm, Claude purchases the domains, waits for DNS propagation, creates mailboxes with professional names (first.last format), enables warming on each one, and generates a summary:
Setup complete:
✓ 13 domains purchased and DNS verified
✓ 50 mailboxes created (3-4 per domain)
✓ Warming enabled on all 50 mailboxes
Next steps:
- Warming will ramp up over 14-21 days
- Run /winnr health in 7 days to check progress
- Run /winnr export when ready to load into your sequencer
The entire process takes about 5 minutes of your time, most of it waiting for DNS propagation. Without the skill, you'd be clicking through domain searches, mailbox creation forms, and warming toggles for an hour or more.
Installation in 30 Seconds
Skills require the MCP server (for the API tools) and the skill files (for the workflow knowledge). Two commands:
# Step 1: Add the MCP server (if you haven't already)
claude mcp add winnr -- env WINNR_API_TOKEN=wnr_xxx uvx winnr-mcp
# Step 2: Install skills
curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/winnr-app/winnr-claude-skills/main/install.sh | bash
The install script copies 6 skill files to ~/.claude/skills/. That's it — no build step, no dependencies, no configuration. Open Claude Code and type /winnr to see all available commands.
If you set up the Winnr MCP server from our previous post, you only need the second command. Skills layer on top of your existing MCP installation.
What's Built Into Each Skill
Skills aren't just convenience wrappers. Each one encodes cold email operational knowledge that would otherwise live in your head (or in a forgotten Notion doc):
- Domain-to-mailbox ratios: 3-5 mailboxes per domain. Too many and you concentrate risk; too few and you waste money on domains.
- TLD strategy: Avoid
.info,.biz, and.club(spam-associated). Prefer.com,.io,.co,.xyz, and.devfor cold outreach. - Professional naming conventions:
first.lastformat with realistic names. Nosales@,info@, or random strings that trigger spam filters. - Warming timelines: 14-21 days of warming before sending any campaigns. Skills enforce this automatically.
- Health scoring rubric: DNS configuration (30%), warming performance (40%), utilization (15%), infrastructure diversity (15%). Weighted to reflect what actually impacts deliverability.
- Diagnostic decision trees: DNS issues → Warming problems → Deliverability flags. Checked in order because upstream issues cause downstream symptoms.
- Readiness checks before export: Account health above 75, inbox rate above 85%, warming age 14+ days. These thresholds exist because exporting undercooked mailboxes to a sequencer is the fastest way to burn a domain.
This knowledge is encoded in the skill Markdown files, not in the MCP server. That means you can read it, modify it, or extend it. Fork the GitHub repo and adjust the thresholds to match your operation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need both the MCP server and skills?
Yes. Skills are the brain, the MCP server is the hands. Skills contain the workflow logic — what to do and in what order. The MCP server provides the 36 API tools that actually execute each step (create domains, enable warming, check DNS, etc.). Install both: the MCP server for the tools, the skills for the expertise.
Can I use skills with Cursor or Windsurf?
Not yet. Claude Code Skills are specific to the Claude Code CLI. Cursor and Windsurf support MCP servers (so you can use the 36 winnr-mcp tools), but they don't support the slash command / skills format. If your IDE adds skills support in the future, Winnr skills will work there too.
What happens if I don't have enough plan capacity?
Skills check your account capacity before creating any resources. If you ask for 50 mailboxes but only have room for 30, the skill tells you exactly what's available and suggests options: upgrade your plan, reduce the request, or proceed with what you have. No surprise failures or partial setups.
How do skills handle errors?
Each skill has built-in error handling and recovery logic. If a domain purchase fails, it moves to the next one and reports what happened. If DNS verification times out, it tells you which records are missing and suggests fixes. If warming fails to activate, it retries and explains the issue. Skills never silently fail — they explain what went wrong and what to do about it.
Are skills updated automatically?
Skills are installed as local Markdown files in your ~/.claude/skills/ directory. To update, re-run the install script:
curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/winnr-app/winnr-claude-skills/main/install.sh | bash
It overwrites existing files with the latest versions. You can also git clone the repo and pull updates manually.
Can I customize or extend the skills?
Absolutely. Skills are plain Markdown files — no compiled code, no binary dependencies. Open any skill file in your editor, adjust the thresholds, add steps, or change the workflow logic. You can also create entirely new skills by following the same format. Fork the GitHub repo to maintain your own version.
Get Started
Winnr Claude Code Skills are live and ready to use:
- GitHub repository — skill source files, install script, documentation
- Skills landing page — full command reference and examples
- MCP Server documentation — the 36 API tools that skills call under the hood
- MCP Server on GitHub — source code for the MCP server
- Sign up for Winnr — free tier available, create an API token in Settings
Related Reading
- Winnr MCP Server: Let AI Agents Manage Your Cold Email Infrastructure — deep dive into the 37 MCP tools that skills build on top of
- How to Embed Email Infrastructure in Your App with the Winnr API — developer guide for direct REST API integration
- Vibe-Code Your Own Email Sequencer — build a custom outreach tool with AI-assisted development
- Getting Started with Winnr — 5-minute quickstart for domains, mailboxes, and warming
- Cold Email Best Practices — deliverability guide covering sending limits, authentication, and content