Before you start
The Reach is a single HTML file. There's nothing to install and no account to create with me. Double-click the file and it opens in your web browser. Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Firefox all work. Saving to a folder on your computer works best in Chrome or Edge.
You need three things:
- An Anthropic API key. This is how the tool talks to Claude. Section 02 shows you how to get one.
- An internet connection while you generate emails.
- One specific client in mind, and fifteen minutes spent learning about them. The tool can only write as well as what you tell it.
Your settings, your API key, and your saved projects are stored in the browser and tied to where the file lives. If you move the file to a different folder, you may need to add your key again. Pick a home for it (a "Tools" folder works) and open it from there each time.
Getting your API key
An API key is a long password that lets software use Claude on your account. You pay Anthropic directly for what you use. For a tool like this, that usually comes to a few cents per sequence.
- Go to console.anthropic.com and create an account. This is separate from a claude.ai chat subscription, even if you already have one.
- Add a payment method and buy a small amount of credit under Billing. Five dollars goes a long way here.
- Open Settings → API Keys and click Create Key. Name it something like "The Reach."
- Copy the key. It starts with
sk-ant-. Anthropic shows it only once, so paste it somewhere safe, like a password manager. - In The Reach, click 🔑 Add API Key, paste the key, and click ✓ Save Key.
Once the key is saved, the model list loads on its own and the key note disappears.
Anyone with your key can spend your credit. Don't paste it into emails, screenshots, or shared documents. If you use a shared computer, click ✕ Remove Key when you're done. If you think a key leaked, delete it in the Anthropic console and create a new one.
Choosing a model and cost
The Model dropdown lists the Claude models Anthropic currently offers. The list comes straight from Anthropic and refreshes once a day, so when new models come out they appear here without any update to the tool. To check for new ones right now, click ⟳ Refresh.
The tool picks a Sonnet model by default. The families differ in speed, cost, and how carefully they write:
| Family | Best for |
|---|---|
| Haiku | Fast and cheapest. Good for trying out a few angles on a client before you commit to one. |
| Sonnet | The everyday choice. Solid writing at a reasonable cost and speed. |
| Opus | The most careful writer. Use it for clients you really want, or when Sonnet's drafts feel flat. It takes longer. |
| Others | Anthropic sometimes adds new families. If you see a name you don't recognize, try it on a test client and compare. |
Your choice is remembered. If a model you picked is later retired, the tool switches to a current one and tells you so under the dropdown.
The cost line
Under the model dropdown, the tool shows an estimate of what one series will cost on the model you've picked, based on the length of your prompt and the emails it will write. It's an estimate built from published list prices, so treat it as a ballpark. The number moves as you fill in the form, and it is not a bill. Your actual spending is in the Anthropic console under Usage.
Fast rewrites
Tick Use the fastest model (Haiku) for single-email rewrites if you want ⟳ Rewrite This Email to use Haiku while the full series stays on the model you chose. Rewrites are quicker and cheaper that way. Leave it off if you want every email written by the same model. If your account doesn't have a Haiku model, the rewrite uses your chosen model.
About You
Everything in this section is saved in your browser, so you fill it in once. To wipe it, click Clear saved info next to the section heading.
How you sign your emails.
Be as specific as you'd be with a stranger at a party who asked. "Photographer" is weak. "Food and product photographer for restaurants and specialty brands" gives the emails something to work with. The same goes for any service: "web designer" versus "Squarespace sites for architects and interior designers."
City and state. When you and the client are in the same area, the emails can use that.
Where you want them to go. Your portfolio is the usual choice. A booking page works if you want calls. If you have a page built for this kind of client, use that.
Sets the tone. New sounds eager and specific without pleading. Established writes peer to peer. Specialist sounds calm and selective, like someone deciding whether the client is a fit. Pick the one that's true; clients can tell.
Goes in your signature. US law requires a physical address in commercial email (see section 10). A PO box or a registered business address is fine. The pre-send check flags it if it's missing from a signature.
One real project and what came of it, in a sentence or two. If you fill this in, the Proof email is built around it. If you leave it blank, the Proof email gets a highlighted [INSERT: …] placeholder for you to fill in by hand. Either way, the tool never makes up past work for you.
Results make proof work. "Shot their spring menu" is fine. "Shot their spring menu; they used it for the reopening campaign and catering inquiries doubled that quarter" is much better, as long as it's true.
Paste an email you wrote and were happy with. A real one to a client works best. The tool copies your rhythm, formality, and habits, not your content. This is the fastest way to get emails that sound like you instead of like software.
Adds a short closing line to each email such as "If this isn't a fit, tell me and I'll stop writing." It lowers the pressure, which tends to get more replies, and it gives people a plain way to opt out. The pre-send check flags an email that's missing it.
About the client
These fields clear after each sequence because each client is different. Anything you wrote for a client is kept in that client's saved project, so you can reopen it later (see section 08).
The company or the person. If you know who makes the decision, use the company name here and mention the person in your notes.
Narrow beats broad. "Specialty coffee roaster" tells the tool more than "food and beverage."
A specific, small first project. "A half-day shoot for their fall catalog" is easier to say yes to than "photography services." Your Close email builds its ask around this.
This field decides how good your emails are. The tool can't visit websites and won't invent facts about the client, so everything specific in the emails comes from here or from the next field. Write at least a few sentences. A paragraph is better.
Paste text from their website: the About page, a product description, or a recent post. The emails may use facts from this text, and only from this text, alongside your notes. It's the quickest way to get details right, like their product names and what they say about themselves. Read the text first and remove anything you don't want in an email.
What to put in your notes
- What they sell and who buys it.
- What their current marketing looks like, and what you think is missing or weak.
- Anything that changed recently: a new location, a rebrand, a new product line, a hire.
- Why you want this client in particular.
- Any connection: you're a customer, you know someone there, you met at an event.
Local bakery. Their photos could be better. I'd like to work with them.
Family bakery in Tempe, two locations, opening a third in Gilbert this spring. Their Instagram is phone photos under fluorescent light, and the wedding cake gallery on their site is eight years old. I've bought their sourdough for years. They're starting to sell to cafes wholesale and have nothing to show buyers.
The second version gives the tool a reason you're writing now, a problem you can solve, and a personal connection. It turns into emails the bakery owner would actually read.
The tool treats your notes and pasted text as fact and uses them freely. If you write a guess as a fact ("they're unhappy with their photographer"), it may show up in an email as a claim. Mark guesses as guesses ("I suspect…") or leave them out.
Setting up the sequence
Number of emails
| Option | Emails | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| 3 emails | Introduction, Value, Close | You don't have relevant proof yet, or you want a lighter touch. |
| 4 emails | Introduction, Value, Proof, Close | The standard choice. Works for most clients. |
| 5 emails | Adds The Idea before the Close | A client you really want. The Idea email proposes one specific first project. |
What each email does
- The Introduction says who you are and why you're writing to them specifically, then asks for something small.
- The Value gives them a useful observation about their situation. They should get something from it even if they never hire you.
- The Proof shows you've done this before and connects that work to them.
- The Idea (5-email sequences only) lays out a specific first project sized to be an easy yes.
- The Close makes one clear, final ask and leaves the door open without guilt.
Each email is written to make sense alone, because most people won't remember the earlier ones.
Send days
When you change the number of emails, the send days reset to a sensible default. You can edit them: type whole numbers separated by commas, one per email, in increasing order. Day 1 is the first send. 1, 7, 14, 21 means one email a week for four weeks.
Spacing emails a week apart is a good starting point. Closer than four days can feel pushy. Farther apart than two weeks and they've forgotten you.
Day 1 date
Pick the date you plan to send email one. The tool uses it to place each email on a calendar (see section 07). It defaults to today. Change it before you write the series if your send date is later.
Working with the results
Click Write My Email Series →. The emails appear on screen as they're written, one card at a time. Sonnet usually finishes in under a minute; Opus takes longer. To cancel, click ■ Stop. Anything already written stays on screen and is saved.
Pre-send check
Under each email, the tool runs a quick check and tells you what to look at. It is not a judge of quality. It catches the mechanical things:
- Em dashes and exclamation points. The tool is told to avoid both. Any that slip through are flagged.
- Banned wording. Stock phrases such as "touching base" or "game changer," and the list of overused words the tool avoids.
- Length. A note if the email runs well past its target word count.
- Placeholders. An
[INSERT]that still needs a real project. - Signature. Your name and mailing address should appear in the email.
- Opt-out. The easy way out line should be there when you've turned it on.
A green note reading "all clear" means those checks passed. It doesn't mean the email is right for this client. You still read it.
Status
Each card has a Status menu: Not sent, Sent, Replied, Booked, or No reply. Set it as you go. Statuses are saved with the project, so when you reopen a series from last month you can see where each email stands. Use the pattern over time: if Introductions get replies and Proofs don't, that tells you something about your proof.
Subject lines A and B
Every email gets two subject lines. Click the one you like and it's highlighted; that's the one used when you copy or export. The other is kept as an alternate in exports. If you send to several similar clients, try A on half and B on the other half and see which gets more opens.
The [INSERT] placeholder
If you left Proof blank, one email contains a highlighted [INSERT: …] line. Replace it with a real project before you send. A warning above the buttons reminds you.
Rewrite one email
If one email is weak, click ⟳ Rewrite This Email on that card. The tool writes a fresh version with a different angle while keeping the rest of the sequence in mind. If the rewrite fails for any reason, the previous version comes back. Its pre-send check updates when it's done.
Word counts
Each card shows its word count in the header. Short cold emails get read. If one runs long after your edits, trim it.
Copying and exporting
- Copy Email on a card copies the chosen subject line and the body, ready to paste.
- ☰ Copy All copies the whole sequence with send days and the strategy note.
- ↓ Download .txt saves the sequence as a plain text file you can keep with your client notes.
- ↓ Download .csv saves a spreadsheet with one row per email: number, name, send day, subject, alternate subject, body. Most mail and CRM tools can import it.
- 📅 Calendar (.ics) creates one all-day calendar event per email, on its send date, with the subject line in the notes. Open the file and your calendar (Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, Outlook) adds the events. This needs a Day 1 date. If the date is blank, the tool asks you to set one.
Deployment strategy
Below the emails you'll find a short note with timing and approach advice for this particular client. Read it. It often catches something worth acting on, like a seasonal window.
Starting the next one
↺ New Series clears the client fields and takes you back to the top. Your own details stay filled in. The series you just finished is already saved under Recent Projects, so you don't lose it.
Recent projects and saving
Every series you write is saved as a project. The tool keeps the last five. When you write a sixth, the oldest drops off the list. Projects appear under Recent Projects at the top of the page, with the client name, the number of emails, and the date.
Open
Click Open to load a project back into the form and the results. You'll see the emails, subject lines, and statuses exactly as you left them. Change anything in the form, then click Rewrite This Email on a card, or Write My Email Series to create a fresh series. Writing a new series from an opened project saves it as a new project. The original stays on the list.
Download as JSON
Click ↓ JSON on any project to download it as a file. The file holds the full form, the emails, the statuses, and the strategy note. Keep these files with your client notes, or send one to a colleague.
Import
Click ↑ Import JSON and choose a project file you downloaded earlier. The project loads into the form and results, ready for tweaking, and it's added to your list. If the file isn't a Reach project, the tool tells you and changes nothing.
Save to a folder (Chrome and Edge)
Click 📁 Save to a Folder and pick a folder on your computer. From then on, each of your five projects is also written there as a JSON file, and when a project drops off the list its file is removed from the folder. This keeps a set of files on your computer that matches the list in the tool.
- The first time, the browser asks you to pick the folder. The tool remembers it.
- If the browser asks again for permission to the folder, click the button and allow it. The button label shows which folder is in use.
- Removing a project in the tool removes its file from the folder too. Download anything you want to keep first.
- This option isn't available in Safari or Firefox. Use ↓ JSON there instead.
Remove
Click Remove to take a project off the list. The tool asks you to confirm. Download it first if you may need it again.
Projects are saved in the browser on this computer, so they're there when you come back to the file. They are not stored on a server, and they don't follow you to another computer or browser. To move them, download the JSON files and import them where you need them.
Before you hit send
The tool gives you a strong draft. You're the one sending it. Read every email out loud once and check:
- Every fact about the client is true. AI can still get things wrong, even with their own words pasted in.
- Every claim about you is true. No results you can't back up.
- No [INSERT] placeholders remain. The pre-send check flags any that are left.
- Names are right. The client's name, the contact's name, and their spelling.
- It sounds like you. Change any sentence you wouldn't say in person.
- Your link works. Click it.
Sending well
- Send from your own business address, one email at a time, not a mass-mail blast. Twenty well-researched clients beat five hundred generic ones.
- Add the send dates to your calendar the day you send email one. The Calendar (.ics) file does this for you.
- Reply in the same thread for later emails if you can, so the history travels with it. The emails still work if you can't.
- If they reply, stop the sequence. Even a "not right now" means you write back by hand, not with email three. Set the status to Replied.
- If they ask you to stop, stop, and take them off your list for good.
Cold email rules
Cold business email is legal in the United States, with conditions. Under the CAN-SPAM Act, commercial email needs to:
- Use honest "From" information and a subject line that isn't misleading.
- Include a valid physical postal address (the Mailing Address field handles this).
- Give the recipient a clear way to opt out (the "easy way out" line handles this), and honor opt-out requests promptly.
Rules elsewhere are stricter. The UK, the EU, and Canada all limit unsolicited commercial email, and the details depend on whether you're writing to a business or a person. If your client is outside the US, check the rules for their country before you send.
This section is a summary to point you in the right direction. If cold email is a large part of how you find work, it's worth a short conversation with someone who knows the law where you and your clients are.
Troubleshooting
"Your API key was rejected"
The key was mistyped, copied incompletely, or deleted in the Anthropic console. Open 🔑 API Key, click Show, and make sure the whole key is there with no spaces at either end. If it still fails, create a new key in the console and save that one.
The model dropdown says "Add your API key" or "Models unavailable"
The tool needs a working key to load the list. Save your key first. If it's saved and the list still won't load, check your internet connection and click ⟳ Refresh. If the tool loaded models before, it falls back to that saved list when Anthropic can't be reached.
An error mentions the model, or says it wasn't found
The model you picked was probably retired. Click ⟳ Refresh to load the current list, choose a model, and try again.
"Rate limit reached" or "servers are busy"
Either you sent several requests quickly or Anthropic is under heavy load. Wait a minute and try again. Switching to a different model often works right away.
An error about credit, billing, or balance
Your Anthropic account is out of credit. Add more under Billing at console.anthropic.com.
One email came back empty, or a warning says it "didn't come back in the expected format"
Occasionally the model formats its answer in a way the tool can't split into cards. Click ⟳ Rewrite This Email on the empty card. You can also open Show the full response from Claude under the cards; the text is usually all there and you can copy what you need.
"The response hit its length limit before finishing"
Rare, but it happens with very long notes, pasted text, or voice samples. Rewrite the missing emails one at a time, or shorten the pasted text or voice sample and generate again.
The emails feel generic
Almost always a notes problem. Add specifics from section 05: what changed recently, what's missing from their marketing, why you care about this client. Pasting their own words helps too, and so does a voice sample. Then try Opus.
The calendar file asks me to set a Day 1 date
The calendar needs a start date to place the events. Set the Day 1 date in The Sequence section, then write the series again. The file uses the date the series was written with.
"Permission to the folder was lost" or the folder isn't saving
The browser sometimes asks again for access to a folder you chose earlier. Click the 📁 Saving to … button and allow access. If the button still does nothing, pick the folder again with the same button.
"Could not import that file"
The file isn't a Reach project, or it was edited in a text editor and no longer matches the format. Import only files downloaded with ↓ JSON from this tool. Nothing changes in your list when an import fails.
My saved info, key, and projects disappeared
Settings and projects live in your browser. They're lost if you clear your browsing data, use a private or incognito window, switch browsers, or move the HTML file to a new folder. Add your key again and re-enter your details. Keep JSON copies of projects you care about so you can import them back.
Copy buttons don't do anything
Some browsers block clipboard access for files opened from your computer. Use ↓ Download .txt instead, or select the text on the card and copy it the usual way.
Privacy and cost
Where your information goes
The Reach has no server. When you generate emails, your browser sends your form entries straight to Anthropic and gets the emails back. Nothing passes through me or anyone else. Your API key and your settings are stored only in your browser on your computer.
Saved projects are stored the same way, in your browser on your computer. That means your client notes, pasted client text, and emails are kept there, in the five-project list. Clear them with Remove on each project. If you choose a folder, the same five projects are also written to that folder as JSON files, so treat the folder like any other client file.
Anthropic's handling of what you send is covered by its commercial terms and privacy policy, available on anthropic.com.
What it costs
You pay Anthropic per use, based on how much text goes in and comes out. A sequence is a small job. Haiku costs the least and Opus the most. The estimate under the model dropdown gives a ballpark for each series. You can see exactly what you've spent under Usage in the Anthropic console, and you can set a monthly spending limit there if you want a hard cap.