Email Writing Guide

Write emails that look like they came from a real person — not an AI.

Good email hygiene improves deliverability, avoids spam filters, and gets responses.

Subject Lines

• 40-60 characters — long subjects get truncated on mobile
• Be specific — "Q3 metrics review for Acme project" beats "Update"
• No ALL CAPS — spam filters penalize this heavily
• Avoid spam triggers — "free", "act now", "limited time", "click here", "urgent", "guaranteed", "no obligation"
• Match the tone — casual for teammates, professional for external contacts

HTML Body Structure

The --body argument in ravi email compose accepts HTML. Always use semantic tags — never pass plain text.

Note: --subject is only used with the compose command. Reply and forward commands auto-derive the subject from the original message (prepending Re: or Fwd:).

Do this:

\x3Cp>Opening line that states the purpose.\x3C/p>

\x3Cp>Supporting details in a second paragraph.\x3C/p>

\x3Cul>
  \x3Cli>Key point one\x3C/li>
  \x3Cli>Key point two\x3C/li>
\x3C/ul>

\x3Cp>Closing with a clear next step or ask.\x3C/p>

\x3Cp>Best,\x3Cbr>IDENTITY_NAME\x3C/p>

Don't do this:

Plain text with no tags at all

Or this:\x3Cbr>\x3Cbr>Using br chains\x3Cbr>\x3Cbr>instead of paragraphs

Rules:

• Always wrap text in \x3Cp> tags
• Use \x3Ch2> for section headers (not \x3Ch1>)
• Use \x3Cul>/\x3Cli> for lists, not dashes or asterisks
• Use \x3Ca href="...">descriptive text\x3C/a> for links — never bare URLs
• No \x3Chtml>, \x3Chead>, or \x3Cbody> wrapper tags — the email system adds these
• No \x3Cbr> chains — use separate \x3Cp> tags instead
• Get the identity name with: ravi auth status

Recommended Template

Copy-paste starting point for most emails:

ravi email compose \
  --to "[email protected]" \
  --subject "Specific subject under 60 chars" \
  --body "\x3Cp>Hi Alex,\x3C/p>\x3Cp>I'm reaching out about [specific topic]. [One sentence of context.]\x3C/p>\x3Cp>[Core message — what you need, what you're sharing, or what you're asking.]\x3C/p>\x3Cul>\x3Cli>[Key point or action item]\x3C/li>\x3Cli>[Key point or action item]\x3C/li>\x3C/ul>\x3Cp>[Clear next step — what should the recipient do?]\x3C/p>\x3Cp>Best,\x3Cbr>YOUR_NAME\x3C/p>"

Tone and Style

• First person, active voice — "I'll send the report Monday" not "The report will be sent"
• Short paragraphs — 2-3 sentences max per \x3Cp> tag
• Get to the point — state your purpose in the first sentence
• End with an action item — "Can you review by Friday?" not "Let me know your thoughts"
• No filler phrases — cut "I hope this email finds you well", "Just wanted to touch base", "Per our previous conversation"
• No robotic language — cut "I am writing to inform you", "Please be advised", "Kindly note"
• Match the thread tone — if they're casual, be casual. If they're formal, be formal.

Anti-Spam Essentials

These rules help your emails land in the inbox, not spam:

• High text-to-HTML ratio — more words, fewer tags. Don't over-format.
• No link shorteners — use full URLs. Spam filters distrust bit.ly, t.co, etc.
• Max 2-3 links per email — more links = higher spam score
• No ALL CAPS — not even for emphasis. Use \x3Cstrong> instead.
• No image-only emails — always include text content
• One topic per email — don't cram multiple requests into one message
• Don't repeat yourself — saying the same thing in different words triggers spam heuristics

Common Mistakes

Related Skills

• ravi-email-send — CLI commands for compose, reply, reply-all, and forward
• ravi-inbox — Read incoming email to understand what you're replying to
• ravi-identity — Get your identity name for email signatures
• ravi-feedback — Tell the Ravi team if email deliverability could be better