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Getting Started: Your First-Run Checklist

Go from empty workspace to a live campaign. Set up your org, connect a mailbox, warm it up, add offerings and a knowledge base, then launch.

Tutorials
Getting Started
min read
8 min
steps
7 · Beginner

  1. The first-run path at a glance

    New to FirstSales? The real sequence is: create your org and workspace → connect a mailbox → warm it up → add offerings and a knowledge base → launch your first campaign. If you're an owner or admin, the workspace dashboard's Get started panel tracks four of these steps for you with an “{n} of 4 steps complete” progress bar.

    The first-run path at a glance

  2. Create your organization & workspace

    An organization holds billing and your team; a workspace holds campaigns, contacts, and mailboxes. New signups get a default org and workspace automatically, so most people skip straight to connecting a mailbox. See Manage Organizations & Workspaces if you need a second one.

  3. Connect a mailbox

    “Connect an email account to start sending.” This is the highest-leverage first action: the checklist highlights it. Both Google/Microsoft OAuth and SMTP/IMAP are supported. Full walkthrough: How to Connect a Mailbox.

  4. Warm up the mailbox before you send

    A new sending domain has no reputation yet. Turn on warm-up, let it run for roughly two weeks in the background, then point real cold campaigns at the mailbox. See How to Set Up Email Warm-up.

  5. Add offerings and a knowledge base

    “Give the AI context about your product.” A Knowledge Base is the checklist's first item: it grounds AI drafts in real facts about what you sell. Add Offerings so the AI knows exactly what to pitch. See Create Offerings and Build a Knowledge Base.

  6. Add credits / billing

    “Add credits to unlock sending.” Sending and AI drafting consume credits, so this is a required checklist item. Subscribe to a plan or buy a one-off top-up: see Credits, Plans & Billing and Buy Credits: One-Off Top-Ups.

  7. Launch your first campaign

    With a mailbox, offerings, and a knowledge base in place, you're ready to build and launch. The Get started panel automatically closes once all four of its items are done or skipped. See Your First Campaign in 15 Minutes for the fast path.

Pro tips

  • The checklist is owner/admin only

    Invited teammates with manager, member, or viewer roles won't see the Get started panel: that's expected, not a bug.

  • You can skip any item

    Skipped items disappear and the panel closes once everything is done or skipped. Skipping billing or mailbox setup doesn't unlock sending, though.

  • Connect the mailbox first, then warm it

    The roughly two-week warm-up runs quietly in the background while you build out offerings, a knowledge base, and your first campaign.

  • A tracking domain is optional but worth it

    You can launch your first send without one, but setting a custom tracking domain improves open/click accuracy and inbox placement: worth doing before you scale.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the getting-started checklist?

On your workspace dashboard, in the Get started panel: visible to owners and admins only.

Why don't I see the checklist?

Either you're an invited member (manager, member, or viewer role), or all four items are already done or skipped.

Do I have to do the steps in order?

No, but connecting a mailbox, warming it up, and adding billing before your first real send is the safe order.

Is warm-up required?

It's not a checklist item, but it's strongly recommended for new domains: see Email Warm-up Setup.

What's the difference between an org and a workspace?

An organization holds billing and your team; a workspace holds campaigns, contacts, and mailboxes.

Can I send without adding credits?

No: sending and AI drafting both consume credits. Add billing or a top-up first.

Do I need a tracking domain to launch?

No, it's optional for your first send, but recommended before you scale volume.

What comes after the checklist?

Warm-up, offerings and a knowledge base, then your first campaign: see the linked tutorials in each step above.

Getting Started

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.

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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 ↗