Skip to content
NewSee how

Auto-pause unengaged contacts

Automatically pause a contact's sequence after a set number of emails with no opens, clicks, or replies. So you stop spending sends on cold contacts.

Tutorials
Inbox & Replies
min read
5 min
steps
6 · Intermediate

  1. Open campaign Settings

    In the campaign builder, go to the Settings tab and find the Contact Engagement section.

  2. Enable auto-pause

    Tick Auto-pause unengaged contacts.

  3. Set the threshold

    In Unengaged emails before pause, enter how many consecutive cold emails to allow before pausing (minimum 1; the field defaults to 3 if left blank).

    Set the threshold

  4. Understand 'unengaged'

    A contact is considered cold once they've had N consecutive emails with no opens, clicks, or replies.

  5. Know it needs manual resume

    “Paused contacts stay paused until manually resumed.” They don't restart on their own.

  6. Track paused contacts

    Paused contacts still read as Active on their Inbox row, but the conversation shows a Paused journey card.

Pro tips

  • Match the threshold to your sequence length

    Pausing after 3 cold emails on a 5-step sequence saves the last two sends on contacts who'll never engage.

  • Not the same as delivery-protection auto-pause

    This is engagement-based auto-pause, separate from the setting that watches bounce/spam rates: you can run both.

  • Manual resume is intentional

    It forces a human decision on whether a cold contact is worth re-approaching, rather than silently retrying forever.

  • A rising pause count is a list-quality signal

    Growing cold segments usually need better targeting or cleaning: not more emails.

Frequently asked questions

Where is auto-pause?

Campaign Settings → Contact Engagement, the “Auto-pause unengaged contacts” checkbox.

What counts as unengaged?

N consecutive emails with no opens, clicks, or replies: you set N.

What's the minimum threshold?

1. The field defaults to 3 if left blank.

Do paused contacts resume automatically?

No: they stay paused until you manually resume them.

Is this the same as delivery-protection auto-pause?

No. This pauses individual cold contacts based on engagement; delivery protection pauses on bounce/spam-rate thresholds.

Where do I see paused contacts?

In the Inbox they still show as Active, but the conversation shows a Paused journey card.

Inbox & Replies

Outreach that keeps going after you log off.Leads, emails, follow-ups and replies, handled.

Connect unlimited mailboxes and let AI agents find leads, write each email and follow up. Or send your own templates in manual mode. From $29/mo.

Start your $1 trial See pricing

$1 for 3 days · Cancel anytime · No contract

Install with AI

Your coding agent sets up the FirstSales CLI and skills for you.

Prompt for Claude Code

I'm setting up FirstSales (https://firstsales.io), an AI outbound sales platform: campaigns, contacts, a reply inbox, deliverability and lead signals. Help me get my workspace sending real, good emails end to end, from Claude Code.

Read these first so you know how FirstSales works:
- Developer docs and API: https://developer.firstsales.io
- CLI: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@firstsales.io/cli
- Skills for coding agents: https://github.com/firstsalesio/firstsales-skills (read README.md and GUIDE.md)

Setup
1. Install the CLI: npm install -g @firstsales.io/cli
2. Install the FirstSales skills:
   claude plugin marketplace add firstsalesio/firstsales-skills
   claude plugin install firstsales@firstsales
3. Ask me if I already have a FirstSales account. If not, send me to https://app.firstsales.io to sign up.
4. Ask me to create an API key under Settings → API → API Keys, with only the scopes we need.
   Never ask me to paste the key into this chat. Tell me to run this in my own terminal, so the key stays hidden:
   read -rs FS_KEY && firstsales auth login --api-key "$FS_KEY"; unset FS_KEY
5. Run `firstsales whoami` and tell me which workspace and organisation we are connected to.

Then ask me about my business: what I sell, who I sell to (roles, company size, countries), my best customers, and what I use today for outbound (tools, lists, mailboxes). Walk me through:
1. Teaching FirstSales my business: website, offer, proof points and case studies in the knowledge base, so the AI writes like someone who knows the product.
2. Connecting my sending mailboxes and checking my sending domain: SPF, DKIM, DMARC and warm-up. If anything is unhealthy, tell me the exact DNS record to add.
3. Bringing in contacts: import my CSV or CRM export into a clean list, remove duplicates and bad emails, and block domains I must never email (customers, competitors, my own).
4. Building my first campaign: the right list, senders, steps and timing. Write the sequence with me, show me the drafts, and do not launch until I say yes.
5. Setting up Signals if it fits: find people engaging with LinkedIn posts about topics my buyers care about, and turn them into leads.
6. Inviting my team and giving each person the right access.

Once campaigns run, show me how to work the reply inbox from here: which replies need an answer, draft responses in my voice, and move good conversations into deals. If I use Cal.com, connect it so follow-ups can offer my booking link (not the first email).

Throughout, as you learn about my business, proactively suggest and help create:
- Reply templates for the questions and objections my prospects are likely to raise, based on my product, site and codebase if you can see them.
- Campaign ideas and segments worth testing, with the reason for each.

Safety rules:
- Show every change as a dry run (--dry-run) first and wait for my yes. Never send emails, launch campaigns or delete anything without my yes.
- Tell me before anything that spends credits, and how many.

Be opinionated. If the docs give a sensible default, just use it. Don't make me choose between five options.
Developer docs ↗npm: @firstsales.io/cli ↗GitHub: firstsales-skills ↗