/smartlead-campaign-upload-public

name: smartlead-campaign-upload-public
description: Upload a CSV of leads + a variants YAML (produced by /campaign-copywriting) to Smartlead as a DRAFT campaign. Handles tag-scoped inbox selection, A/B/C variant assembly, custom field mapping, schedule config, and batch lead upload. ALWAYS creates in DRAFT — you review in Smartlead UI and hit Start manually. Use after /campaign-copywriting, just before the campaign goes live.

Smartlead Campaign Upload

Takes a `variants.yaml` (written by `/campaign-copywriting`) and a `leads.csv` (from your list-building skills) and creates a DRAFT campaign in Smartlead. You review the result in the Smartlead UI and press Start manually.

**This skill does NOT ship any email copy.** Copy comes from `/campaign-copywriting`. This skill is the mechanical upload layer — API calls only.

Why DRAFT only

Cold email launches should never happen from a script. You hit Start in the Smartlead UI after reviewing:

• Subject lines + body previews
• Inbox assignments (correct tag? correct count?)
• Lead count and a few random lead rows
• Schedule (timezone + hours + throttle)

The script sets all of this up in DRAFT so the review is trivial — verify and click Start.

Inputs

`leads.csv`

Required columns:

• `email`
• `first_name`
• `last_name`
• `company_name`

Optional columns (passed through to Smartlead as custom fields):

• `company_domain`
• `title`
• `linkedin_url`
• `situation_line` (AI-generated per-lead context)
• `value_line` (AI-generated value mapping)
• `cta_line` (AI-generated CTA angle)

Additional AI variable columns produced by `/campaign-copywriting` or `/personalization-subagent-pattern` — named fields only. The script does NOT accept arbitrary columns; this is intentional. If you need to add a field, update this skill.

`variants.yaml`

Produced by `/campaign-copywriting`. Schema is in `references/variants-schema.yaml`.

Minimum required: `name`, `schedule`, `inbox_selection`, `sequences` with at least one step.

Usage

export SMARTLEAD_API_KEY=xxx
npx tsx scripts/upload.ts \
  --leads=profiles/<slug>/campaigns/<campaign-slug>/leads.csv \
  --variants=profiles/<slug>/campaigns/<campaign-slug>/variants.yaml

Output:

✓ Campaign created: #12345678
✓ Sequence saved (3 steps, 3 variants on step 1)
✓ 20 inboxes attached (tag=active, LRU by daily_sent_count)
✓ 1,847 leads uploaded (20 batches)
✓ Schedule set (M-F 08:00-17:00 EST, 30/day/inbox)

Campaign is in DRAFT. Review + Start:
→ https://app.smartlead.ai/app/email-campaign/12345678

Script flow

1. Load env (`SMARTLEAD_API_KEY` required) 2. Parse `leads.csv` — validate required columns, count rows 3. Parse `variants.yaml` — built-in minimal parser (~30 lines, no external dep) 4. `POST /campaigns/create` → get campaignId 5. `POST /campaigns/{id}/sequences` with all A/B/C variants 6. Query `/email-accounts?limit=100`, filter by `tag`, sort by `daily_sent_count` ASC (LRU), attach top N 7. Batch-upload leads (100 per batch) with standard custom fields mapped from CSV 8. `POST /campaigns/{id}/settings` (track off, stop on reply) 9. `POST /campaigns/{id}/schedule` with YAML values 10. Print campaign URL. **Do NOT activate.**

Gotchas

• **Tag must exist and be applied to inboxes first.** Use `/smartlead-inbox-manager` to tag inboxes as `active` before running this upload.
• **Inbox count.** If `inbox_selection.count` exceeds tagged inboxes, the script attaches all available and warns.
• **Leads CSV size.** Tested up to 10K rows; larger runs may hit API rate limits. Script has built-in retry with exponential backoff.
• **Variants.yaml mismatch.** If `/campaign-copywriting` didn't produce the exact schema, the script fails fast with a clear error pointing at the offending field.
• **Email duplicates.** Smartlead deduplicates per campaign server-side. Still, dedupe your CSV first with `/list-quality-scorecard`.

What to do next

**Open the Smartlead URL printed at the end. Review the campaign. Hit Start when satisfied.** The script deliberately does not auto-activate.

After Start:

• Wait 21 days, then run `/positive-reply-scoring` on the campaign to measure.
• Every Monday: run `/email-deliverability-audit --days=7` (see `/cold-email-weekly-rhythm`).

**Or wait:** if the best-practice check flagged issues, go back to `/campaign-copywriting` and revise before uploading.

Related skills

• `/campaign-copywriting` — produces `variants.yaml`
• `/smartlead-inbox-manager` — required prep: inboxes must be tagged `active` before upload
• `/list-quality-scorecard` — dedupe + verify leads.csv before upload
• `/positive-reply-scoring` — run 21 days post-launch to measure
• `/cold-email-weekly-rhythm` — operational cadence after launch

Files

• `scripts/upload.ts` — the upload script
• `references/variants-schema.yaml` — blank schema reference (no example copy content)
• `references/leads-csv-schema.md` — column spec