36 Cold Email Prompts for ChatGPT & Claude
A cold email is only as good as the research behind it. These cold email prompts make Claude or ChatGPT read the prospect’s website, news, job posts, and public work through Context before writing, so every first line points to something real.
Cold Email prompts
Research first, then write
Research [prospect name] at [company domain]: their role, recent public posts, company news, and hiring. Then write a cold email under 90 words offering [our offer]. The first line must reference something specific you found, with the source link below the email.
Uses: People Enrich, Scrape, News Search. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
First lines for a whole list
For each company in this list [domains], find one recent, specific fact from their website, blog, or news, and write a first line that connects it to [our value prop]. Return a table with company, fact, source, and first line, and write “no hook found” rather than forcing a weak one.
Uses: Scrape, News Search, Web Search. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Trigger-based email
Find a recent trigger at [company]: funding, a key hire, a launch, or an expansion. Write a cold email under 90 words that opens with the trigger without saying “congrats”, explains the pressure it creates that [product] relieves, and ends with one question.
Uses: News Search, Web Search. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Four-step sequence
Write a four-email sequence to [persona] at [company] for [offer]. Research the company first. Email 1 is the hook, email 2 a relevant proof point, email 3 a useful resource, and email 4 a polite breakup. Keep each under 80 words.
Uses: Scrape, Web Search, Brand. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
The job post angle
Read [company]’s open job posts for [role or team]. Use the responsibilities and tools they mention to write a cold email showing how [product] helps that team hit its goals faster.
Uses: Web Search, Scrape. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Competitor displacement email
[Company] appears to use [competitor]. Confirm it from their website, docs, or job posts. Then write a respectful email under 90 words that names one known limitation of [competitor] from public reviews and how we handle it.
Uses: Scrape, Web Search. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Agency partnership pitch
Visit [agency website] and review their services, clients, and recent work. Write a partnership email proposing [offer] that mentions two of their clients or projects by name.
Uses: Scrape. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Local business pitch
Look at [business]’s website and listings. Find one concrete improvement we can deliver with [service], such as adding online booking. Write a friendly email under 70 words built on that observation.
Uses: Scrape, Web Search. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Founder to founder
Read [founder]’s recent posts, interviews, and company site. Write a short founder-to-founder email from me, [my name and company], that mentions a shared interest or belief and asks for 15 minutes.
Uses: Web Search, Scrape, People Enrich. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Investor cold email
Research [investor] at [firm]: their thesis, recent investments, and posts. Write a cold email pitching [startup one-liner] that ties it to a pattern in their portfolio or their stated thesis, with traction in one line.
Uses: Web Search, Scrape. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Podcast guest pitch
Find the last ten episodes of [podcast]. Identify topics they haven’t covered that I can speak to, based on [my expertise]. Write a pitch to the host with three episode ideas.
Uses: Web Search, Scrape. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Co-marketing pitch
Pull [partner company]’s brand description, audience, and product line. Write a co-marketing pitch that explains the audience overlap with [our company] and proposes one concrete joint campaign.
Uses: Brand, Scrape. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Follow-up that adds value
I emailed [prospect] at [company] a week ago with no reply. Find something new since then: news, a post, or a product update. Write a follow-up under 60 words that leads with it.
Uses: News Search, Web Search, Scrape. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Reply to “not interested”
A prospect replied: “[reply]”. Research their company’s current priorities and write a respectful reply that keeps the door open with one useful insight and no pushback.
Uses: Scrape, News Search. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Subject lines from the research
Based on what you can find about [company] and [persona], write ten lowercase subject lines of two to five words that read like a colleague wrote them. No clickbait, no first names, and no fake “Re:”. Note which research point each one uses.
Uses: Scrape, Web Search. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Event follow-up
[Company] exhibited at [event]. Find their booth announcement, talks, or posts about it and write a follow-up email that references the event, without pretending we met.
Uses: Web Search, News Search. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Cold email from a case study
Read our case study at [URL]. Find five companies similar to the customer in it, and write a cold email for each that cites the relevant result and why it applies to them.
Uses: Scrape, Company Search, Web Search. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Recruiting outreach
Research [candidate name]’s public work: projects, talks, posts, or code. Write a recruiting email for [role] at [company] that references their work specifically and states the salary range.
Uses: People Enrich, Web Search, Scrape. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Ecommerce brand pitch
Visit [store URL]. Check the product range, prices, reviews, and checkout flow. Write a pitch for [service] that names one product and one specific opportunity on the store.
Uses: Scrape. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Audit-led email
Run a quick audit of [prospect website] for [area: SEO, speed, accessibility, or copy]. Pick the single most valuable issue and write a cold email under 80 words that shares it as a free tip, with no link, and offers to send two more findings. List the page and evidence for me below the email.
Uses: Scrape, Crawl & Batches. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Multi-thread one account
For [company], find three stakeholders in these roles: [roles]. Write a separate short email for each, tailored to their responsibilities, all pointing to the same business problem.
Uses: People Search, Scrape. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Rewrite my template for one prospect
Here’s my cold email template: [template]. Rewrite it for [prospect domain] using real details from their site. Cut it to under 90 words, remove filler, and keep my offer and CTA.
Uses: Scrape, Brand. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Spam word and claim check
Review this cold email: [email]. Flag spammy words, unverifiable claims, and generic lines. Check every claim about the prospect against their website and fix what’s wrong.
Uses: Scrape, Web Search. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Win back a past customer
[Company] churned [months] ago because [reason]. Find what changed for them since: new leaders, new products, or growth. Write a win-back email that addresses the reason they left.
Uses: News Search, People Search, Scrape. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
LinkedIn note plus email
Research [prospect] and write a LinkedIn connection note under 280 characters and a matching cold email to send two days later. Both must reference the same specific, real detail.
Uses: People Enrich, Web Search. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Lead with the strongest signal
Find every current signal at [company]: open roles, funding, launches, leadership changes, and tools on their site. Rank them by recency and relevance to [offer], open a cold email under 90 words with only the strongest one, and save the rest as follow-up hooks, each with its source.
Uses: News Search, Web Search, Scrape. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Match the right case study
Read our case studies at [URL] and research [prospect domain]. Pick the customer story closest to them in industry, size, and use case, explain the match in one line, and write a cold email under 90 words built on that customer’s result.
Uses: Scrape, Map URLs. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Three frameworks, one prospect
Research [prospect] at [company] and pick the single most relevant fact. Write three versions of a cold email for [offer] using it: problem-agitate-solve, before-after-bridge, and a two-sentence observation with a yes-or-no question. Keep each under 90 words and say which you’d send.
Uses: People Enrich, Scrape, News Search. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Is this you or a colleague
Find two other people at [company] who could own [problem], with their titles. Write an email under 70 words to [prospect] that says why I’m reaching out and asks whether they or one of those two, named, is the right person to talk to.
Uses: People Search, People Enrich. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Three ideas for their business
Read [company domain], including product pages and recent launches. Write a cold email under 120 words with three short bullet ideas for how they could use [product], each tied to something specific on their site, and list the page behind each idea for me.
Uses: Scrape, Map URLs. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Email someone new in the role
[Prospect] recently became [title] at [company]. Confirm their start date and previous role, check what the company has announced since, and write an email under 80 words about a likely first-90-days priority that [offer] helps with. Skip “congrats”.
Uses: People Enrich, News Search, Scrape. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Reply to “we already use X”
A prospect at [company] replied that they already use [competitor]. Check [competitor]’s docs, pricing, and recent reviews, then write a reply under 70 words that grants what it does well, names one difference that matters to [company], and asks one question. Cite your sources for me.
Uses: Web Search, Scrape. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Find genuine common ground
Compare my background [my bio or profile link] with [prospect]’s public profile, company, and work. List real overlaps, such as a past employer, school, city, investor, event, or open-source project, with sources, and write an opening line from the strongest one. Say so if there’s none.
Uses: People Enrich, Web Search. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Personal video script
Screenshot and read [prospect website]’s homepage and [one key page]. Write a 60-second video script that shows their page on screen, points out three specific things, and ends with one question, plus a two-line email to send with the video.
Uses: Scrape. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Cold email a hiring manager
Read the job post at [URL] and find the likely hiring manager at [company], with title and profile link. Then write a cold email under 120 words from me, [my background], that maps two of my results to the post’s top requirements and asks for a short call.
Uses: Scrape, People Search. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
Pitch a journalist
Find three reporters who covered [topic] in the last 90 days. For each, summarize their two most recent relevant articles and write a pitch under 120 words for [our story or data] that explains why it fits their beat, with links to the articles you used.
Uses: News Search, Web Search. Install the Context.dev MCP if you haven’t already.
How to use these prompts
Install the Context.dev MCP
Add the Context.dev MCP server to Claude, Cursor, or another agent, or install the ChatGPT app. This gives the assistant live web search, scraping, and data tools.
Pick a prompt
Copy it, or open it straight in Claude or ChatGPT. Every copied prompt tells the assistant to use Context.dev, links the MCP install page, and asks it to cite sources.
Fill in the brackets
Replace every [bracket] with your details, such as a company domain, a competitor, or a file, then run it.
Context APIs behind these prompts
The tools your assistant calls when it runs these prompts.
Cold Email prompt FAQ
What makes a good cold email prompt?
It gives the assistant your offer, your proof, and one prospect, then asks it to research before writing. The best prompts cap the length, ban generic flattery, and require every personalized line to cite a real source.
Can ChatGPT write personalized cold emails at scale?
Yes, if it can read about each prospect. With Context connected, the assistant researches a list of companies one by one and writes a tailored email for each, with the source behind every personalized line so you can check it.
How long should a cold email be?
Short. Emails under about 100 words with one clear ask are easier to read on a phone and easier to answer. Several prompts here set a word limit so the assistant doesn’t pad.
How do I install the Context.dev MCP in Claude or ChatGPT?
Add the Context.dev MCP server to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client with the MCP setup guide, or install the Context app in ChatGPT for web search and page reading. Then paste a prompt and the assistant picks the right Context tools.
Do these prompts work without Context?
They run, but without live web tools the assistant answers from its training data and can’t open the pages, files, or searches the prompt asks for. Expect older information and more guesses.
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- File Parsing promptsPDFs, contracts, invoices, spreadsheets, slides, and scans.28 prompts
- News promptsCompany news, competitor alerts, briefings, and media monitoring.31 prompts
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- Recruiting promptsCandidate sourcing, research, pay benchmarks, and outreach.30 prompts
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