Skip to content
NewSee how

Warm-up score stuck or blocked

Your warmup score won't climb, or the mailbox shows Blocked/Paused. Read the phase, give it time, fix the mailbox connection and DNS, and let the ramp finish.

Tutorials
Email Warm-up
min read
6 min
steps
7 · Intermediate

  1. Read the symptom: score still low after a couple of days

    You enabled warmup two days ago and the score is still low. Most of the time nothing is wrong — warmup builds reputation gradually over days, so a flat or slow-climbing score early on is expected, not broken. The real problems worth acting on are: an unverified mailbox, a disconnected mailbox, missing DNS authentication, or an explicit Blocked/Paused status.

    Read the symptom: score still low after a couple of days

  2. Read the phase label on the Warm Up tab

    Open Mailbox → Warmup and find the phase line:

    • Ramping up — Day N — normal, keep waiting.
    • Maintenance mode — done; the score plateaus by design.
    • Placement pending — scheduling active.
    • Paused — {reason} or Blocked — {reason} — something needs fixing.

    The label tells you whether to wait or act.

  3. If it says “Ramping up” — give it time

    A climbing ramp is working as intended. Don’t disable and re-enable warmup to try to speed it up — that pauses progress instead. A Healthy score (80+) takes days, not hours.

  4. If the mailbox is unverified

    The tab will say “Verify this connector before enabling warmup.” Warmup cannot run at all until the mailbox is verified — finish verification first, then the toggle becomes available.

  5. If it says Blocked or Paused — read the reason

    A red banner reads “Warmup blocked: {reason}” and names the cause. The two common fixes are reconnecting a disconnected mailbox and fixing DNS authentication.

  6. Reconnect the mailbox

    If the connection dropped, go to Mailbox → details and use Reconnect (OAuth). A dead connection stalls both sending and warmup, so this often clears a Blocked status by itself.

  7. Fix DNS authentication

    Confirm SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are all verified on the Email Authentication screen. Unauthenticated mail can’t reliably reach the inbox, which caps the warmup score no matter how long you wait. Once auth is green, let the ramp continue.

Pro tips

  • Flat on day 1–2 is normal

    Warmup is a multi-day ramp. The worst thing you can do is toggle it off and on, which resets progress instead of accelerating it.

  • 80+ is Healthy, the plateau after is by design

    Maintenance mode after reaching Healthy isn't a stall: it's the finished state. You don't need to push the score to 100.

  • Always read the status reason

    Blocked and Paused both print exactly why right on the tab: reconnect or DNS authentication is usually the answer.

  • Fix the two gates, then be patient

    Warmup can't start until the mailbox is Verified and can't climb past a ceiling until SPF/DKIM/DMARC are green. Handle those first.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my warmup score stuck?

Usually it isn’t stuck — it’s ramping and just needs more days. If it’s genuinely blocked, the tab shows a Blocked/Paused status with the reason, often a disconnected mailbox or unverified DNS.

How long until the score is Healthy?

A Healthy score (80+) builds over days of consistent warmup activity, not hours. The phase line shows “Ramping up — Day N” so you can track progress.

What does “Maintenance mode” mean — is it broken?

No, that’s the finished state. The score plateaus by design once warmup reaches maintenance.

My tab says “Verify this connector before enabling warmup.”

The mailbox isn’t verified yet. Verify it first — warmup cannot run on an unverified connector.

It says Blocked — what do I do?

Read the reason in the red banner. Reconnect the mailbox if the connection dropped, and confirm SPF/DKIM/DMARC are verified.

Should I turn warmup off and on to jump-start it?

No. Disabling warmup pauses your reputation progress (the app warns you of this). Leave it running.

Can I speed up the ramp or send more warmup email manually?

No — the ramp is automatic and there’s no manual volume or speed control on this tab. Fix any blockers and let it run.

Email Warm-up

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 ↗