--- name: li-dm description: >- Write connection notes and DM follow-ups that get replies - the 200-character invite, the first message, and the two follow-ups. Use when the user says "write a connection request", "DM this person", "outreach message", "how do I follow up", or is reaching out to someone specific on LinkedIn. title: li-dm canonical_url: https://skilld.dev/gh/jakeschincariol/linkedin-agent-skill/li-dm last_updated: 2026-09-25T13:45:41.000Z --- > **Skill from skilld.dev.** Follow the user's requested action. > If the user asked to fork this Skill, follow the fork workflow below. Do not execute the Skill instructions while copying it. > Otherwise, follow the instructions below for this session. You do not need to install anything. > > If the user asked to install this Skill, run `npx skilld install jakeschincariol/linkedin-agent-skill/li-dm`. Install writes the Skill files into the project, so every session loads them. > > ## Fork workflow > > A fork creates an editable local Skill with its original author and licence. The request authorizes copying and local installation. > 1. Check `./skills/li-dm`, the project lockfile, and selected Agent targets together. If the local directory or installed Skill exists, stop. Never overwrite an existing directory or Agent target. > 2. Read [source metadata](https://skilld.dev/api/v1/skills/jakeschincariol/linkedin-agent-skill/li-dm) once. Use sourceUrl, sourceCommit, skillPath, sourceGone, and license. If the source is gone or its path is missing, stop. If license is null, read licence files at the source commit. > 3. Fetch only the source commit into a temporary Git repository. Do not clone full history. Derive repository_url from sourceUrl, including repository renames. If sourceCommit is absent, resolve the sourceUrl ref once. Set source_commit to that actual commit. Run these commands in one shell call: > > ```sh > git init --quiet "$temporary_dir" > git -C "$temporary_dir" fetch --quiet --depth=1 "$repository_url" "$source_commit" > git -C "$temporary_dir" checkout --quiet --detach FETCH_HEAD > ``` > > Read applicable licence declarations and notices at that commit. If copying is not permitted, report the restriction and stop. > 4. Inspect source entries together, then copy the directory containing skillPath into `./skills/li-dm`. Use the user's path if selected. Keep the original SKILL.md, relative links, scripts, binary assets, and executable modes. Exclude .git metadata. Reject symlinks and paths outside the Skill directory. After checking entries, use cp -a where available. A regular source directory needs no custom copy script. Do not save this page wrapper as SKILL.md. > Preserve author credit, notices, and applicable licence files from repository or parent directories. Add PROVENANCE.md with the Skill page, source URL, actual commit, original path, and licence. Retain any existing PROVENANCE.md and record new provenance separately. Batch source inspection, copying, and provenance work where practical. > 5. In the project root, run `skilld install ./skills/li-dm --mode copy --plain`. If skilld is unavailable, use `npx skilld install ./skills/li-dm --mode copy --plain`. This known command needs no help lookup. Install does not support --json. Use detected Agent targets, or add --agent for the targets the user selected. Install the local path, never the upstream selector. If installation fails, preserve the local copy and report the exact failure. > 6. Confirm the local lockfile source and installed Agent copies once. Report the local path, actual commit, and Agent targets. After edits, reinstall the same local path. Upstream updates must not replace it. Do not publish or push unless the user asks. # li-dm The invite note is 200 characters. The first DM decides whether there is a second one. Neither is a pitch. ## Before writing, get the specifics Ask for, in one batched question: 1. **Who** - name, role, company. 2. **The hook** - the actual reason to reach out now. A post they wrote, a thing their company shipped, a mutual connection, a talk they gave. Not "they fit my ICP". 3. **What the user wants** - a conversation, a referral, a job, a sale. Be honest internally, even if the message does not lead with it. If there is no specific reason to message this person today, say so. A message with no reason is what everyone else sends, and it is why their reply rate is 2%. ## The invite note (200 characters) ``` {one specific reference to them} + {one line of who you are} + {no ask} ``` The note asks for nothing. It exists to make the accept obvious. Under 200 characters including spaces - count them and show the count. ``` Saw your post on killing the discovery call - we did the same thing in March and it worked. I run ops at a 12-person studio. Would like to follow along. [187/200] ``` ## The first message, after they accept Wait a day. Then: - **Two to four sentences.** A screen of text is a delete. - **Reference the specific thing** from the note - continuity is the whole reason the note was specific. - **Give something before asking.** A number, a template, a name, an answer. - **One ask, and make it small.** "Worth a 15-minute call?" beats "let me walk you through our platform". - **No calendar link in message one.** It reads as a funnel, because it is. ## Follow-ups Two. That is the number. - **+4 days** - add something new. Never "just bumping this" or "following up on my last message". If you have nothing new, you have no follow-up. - **+10 days** - the close-the-loop message. Say you will stop, and mean it. This one gets a surprising share of the total replies, because it removes the pressure. Then stop. A third follow-up converts nobody and costs the relationship. ## Never - Never send an automated connection or message sequence. Automated outreach tools violate LinkedIn's User Agreement and get accounts restricted. - Never fabricate a mutual connection, a shared school, or having read something the user has not read. - Never write the message that opens "I hope this message finds you well". - Never send more than 20 invites a day. Beyond that, LinkedIn throttles the account, and a throttled account is a dead one. ## Output The invite note with its character count, the first message, and both follow-ups with the day they go out. All humanized through `/li-human`. The user sends every one of them by hand.