Install the email quality gates (draft gate, angle ledger, link law, rhythm check, structure)
Ready nowMachine checks that run before any email draft appears in chat: pacing read from real swipe emails, named technique, angle ledger to stop repeats, link law enforcing the canonical URL, send rhythm, voice fingerprint, and the Ed Lawrence structure derived from the corpus.
Kit
email-engine
You need
| Account | Why | Free or paid | Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code (Anthropic Claude Pro or Max) | The AI operator every system runs through. Skills, hooks, memory, MCP servers and the Brain plugin all load inside Claude Code. | Paid | Claude Pro (20 USD/mo) works for light use; Max (100 USD or 200 USD/mo) for daily multi-hour sessions. Anthropic terms require each user to hold their own subscription; never share a login. |
| Python 3.12 + uv | Runs every pipeline script (video gates, library export, research cache, Brain export, PDF generator, MIDI tools) inside per-project virtual environments. | Free | Free. |
| Node.js 24 (npm, npx) | Runs Claude Code, the Vercel CLI, HyperFrames renders, Playwright, the MCP servers and every serverless function locally. | Free | Free. Node 24 LTS (the Brain MCP server and Vercel functions target Node 24). |
| ActiveCampaign | Email list, broadcasts, automations and tags. The email engine drafts into a dashboard queue and sends through the AC API; funnels subscribe leads via the API; replies come back through an AC webhook. | Paid | Marketing Lite or Plus (from about 15 USD to 49 USD/mo at 1,000 contacts). API access is on every plan. Webhooks (for reply tracking) need automations, which Lite has. |
What you bring
- Your one canonical CTA link
- A swipe file of 10 emails you admire
The steps
- Measure the swipe file so the rhythm rule is numbers, not taste
- Fill the link registry and install the lint module
- Write the repetition ledger and wire it to fire before any drafting
- Write the rhythm check and block the send tool on it
- Write the link gate on write commands
- Write the draft gate with the visible proof line
- Derive the structure checklist from the corpus, not from memory
- Add the merge-tag check and the copy-only reply rule
Goes further if you have already built Install hooks and gates so your rules enforce themselves. You can build this without it.