linkedin-first-dm

A writing helper for the first private message sent on LinkedIn after someone accepts a connection request. It produces two short opening-message options based on the reason for connecting.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to write one value-first message and one curiosity-led message, each under 150 characters and ending with an open question. Provide the connection hook and the target's context.
Why use it?
It helps start a real conversation without immediately making a sales request, sending a link, or asking for a meeting. The strict length limit keeps the message brief.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Part of the linkedin-engine plugin — 29 skills, 1 hook, 1 MCP server shipped together

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/styfinity/linkedin-engine/linkedin-first-dm
Any agent
npx skills add styfinity/linkedin-engine --skill linkedin-first-dm
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/styfinity/linkedin-engine

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Or install linkedin-engine, the plugin that ships this one along with the rest of its 29 skills, 1 hook, 1 MCP server.

Per session 38 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 469 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00038 $0.00469
Opus 5 $0.00019 $0.00234
Sonnet 5 $0.00008 $0.00094
Haiku 4.5 $0.00004 $0.00047

Measured 2d ago against content hash 18db231f26b7, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

linkedin-first-dm scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 2d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

skills/linkedin-first-dm/SKILL.md · 32 lines

What it actually says

LinkedIn First DM

The accept is not the win, the conversation is. This skill writes the opener that earns a reply without asking for anything.

Inputs

  • The accepted target and the hook that connected you (a post, a comment thread, a mutual, a shared signal): $ARGUMENTS
  • The brief (persona tone, pains, offer) loads automatically.

Do this

Write two first-DM variants so the operator can pick:

  1. Variant A - value-first. Reference the real hook, give one genuine, specific observation about their world, then end on an open question.
  2. Variant B - genuinely curious. Lead with curiosity about something specific to them, no observation needed, then end on a different open question. Both must be UNDER 150 characters. Count every character. Ask for nothing: no call, no offer, no link, no pitch. End each on an open question they would actually want to answer.

Output

Variant A and Variant B, each labelled with its exact character count. After both, a one-line note: stop-on-reply (do not send a follow-up until they reply). If the operator wants the message smoothed before sending, run /linkedin-humanizer on the draft. When replies land, hand them to /linkedin-reply-triager.

Rules

  • Under 150 characters, counted and shown. If over, cut and recount.
  • No ask, no pitch, no link. Value or curiosity only.
  • Every variant ends on an open question about their world.
  • No em-dashes, no exclamation marks, no "hope you're well", no "I came across your profile".
  • Reads like a text from a peer, references one real, specific hook.
  • Draft only. Claude drafts, the operator approves. Nothing is sent without explicit approval, and sending happens only through the connected CLI/MCP layer wired to your own LinkedIn session or a provider key, hard-capped at 20 actions per day for new accounts.
Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 2d ago First seen · 32 lines · 38 tokens per session scan A 18db231f26b7

Subscribe to this mod's changes

linkedin-first-dm is a skill published in the GitHub repository styfinity/linkedin-engine (7 stars, last pushed 2mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 38 tokens to every session and 469 once invoked, about $0.0002 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.

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