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Build track: a newsletter

⏱ 45 min7 steps

A is a regular email for people who care about one topic. My example is Randy's Rack, a mahjong newsletter, designed alongside MahjongCompare and not sent yet.

It's rung 2 on the ladder from What to build: a , a mailing address in every email, and a way to .

An 's settings take some poking around the first time. If a test email goes missing, look under that step.

newsletter A regular email for people who signed up to hear about one topic. All wordsprivacy policy A page that tells visitors what information your site collects about them and what you do with it. All wordsunsubscribe Ask to stop getting someone's emails. A marketing email needs a working way to do it, usually a link at the bottom. All wordsemail service A company that stores your subscriber list and sends your newsletter, and handles unsubscribes for you. All words

Before this, you'll want:

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Steps

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  1. Name it, say what readers get, and pick how often

    1. Write one sentence on what readers get.
    2. Pick how often it goes out. Be honest: monthly is fine.
    That's not what I see
    I want to send it every week.
    Start monthly. A monthly you keep beats a weekly you abandon. You can speed up once three months of issues are behind you.

  2. Start Claude Code in your my-idea folder

    1. Open (Cmd+SpaceWindows key, type Terminal, press Enter).

    2. Go to your my-idea . Type this and press Enter:

      cd ~/Backyard/my-idea

      cd ~\Backyard\my-idea

    3. Check the says my-idea.

    4. Start . Type this and press Enter:

      claude
    Terminal An app on your Mac where you type instructions instead of clicking on things. Claude Code works inside it. All wordsfolder A place on your computer that holds files and other folders, like a drawer in a filing cabinet. All wordsprompt line The line in Terminal that ends with a % sign. The word right before the % is the folder you're in. All wordsClaude Code Claude, working inside Terminal. It can make files and run things on your Mac, with a safety checker watching what it does. All words

    You should see:

    Claude Code's name and version at the top, a line starting with ❯ where you type, and ⏵⏵ on in the bar at the bottom.

    auto mode Claude works without asking, and a separate safety checker blocks anything risky. All words
    That's not what I see
    It says "cd: no such file or directoryCannot find path … because it does not exist".
    The my-idea folder isn't there. It comes from Check the idea first and The three files, so do those first, then come back.
    It says "zsh: command not found: claudeThe term 'claude' is not recognized".
    This Terminal window doesn't know about Claude Code. Close the window with Cmd+WCtrl+Shift+W, open a new one and try again. If it still says that, go back to Claude Code and .install Put a new program on your computer so you can use it. All wordssign in Tell Claude Code which Claude account is yours, so it knows you've paid for it. All words

  3. Add the newsletter part to your PRD

    This has Claude interview you about your newsletter, one question at a time, and add what you say to with a "Done means" list.

    1. Copy the prompt below.
    I'm starting a newsletter. Add a section to PRD.md called "Track: newsletter" and interview me, one question at a time, to fill it in: who reads it and what they get that they can't get elsewhere; how often it goes out; where my first 50 readers come from, naming real groups and people; the email service I'll use; and what "working" looks like after three months: readers, opens, replies. Then add this "Done means" list: a name and one sentence on what readers get; a sign-up form that works, tested with my own email; three issues written before launch; sent from an address on my own domain that can receive replies; a privacy policy; and a mailing address in every email. Show me the section before you save it. Don't build anything yet.
    1. Paste it into Claude Code with Cmd+VCtrl+V and press Enter.
    2. Answer each question, then read the section and tell Claude what to fix.
    prompt What you type to Claude. A good one says what you want, how to work and what never to do. All wordsPRD.md One page on the problem, who it's for, and what "done" looks like. PRD stands for product requirements document. All words

    You should see:

    Claude asks you one question, about who reads it, and waits for your answer. At the end, it shows you the section before it saves it.

    That's not what I see
    Claude says there's no PRD.md.
    Do The three files first, then come back to this step.
    I don't have a domain or a business address.
    For the address, read rung 2 in What to build again: a PO box or a mailbox service works. For the , buy one yourself first. Action 1 of Step 7 and actions 1 to 3 of Step 8 in the comparison-site track show how on Cloudflare. To get replies at that address, look in your domain company's help for email forwarding to your usual inbox.domain Your website's name on the internet, like gethomebydark.com. You rent it by the year from a company called a registrar. All words

  4. Set up the email service and your sign-up form

    Sign up for the email service yourself, on its own site. Claude never sees your card. Check the current price on its pricing page before you pay.

    1. Sign up for the email service in your PRD, with your project email. Turn on .
    2. In its settings, add the mailing address that goes at the bottom of every email.
    3. Set the sending address to one on your own domain, and follow its steps to prove the domain is yours.
    4. Make its sign-up form or sign-up page.
    two-step sign-in Signing in with your password plus a second thing, like a code on your phone, so a stolen password isn't enough. All words
    That's not what I see
    The email service offers a key to connect it to other tools.
    Leave it. Nothing in this track needs Claude connected to your email service, and a key never goes into a chat with Claude.

  5. Have Claude draft your privacy policy

    This prompt has Claude draft a short privacy policy from your PRD, in plain words, and mark what it isn't sure of.

    1. Copy the prompt below, paste it into Claude Code and press Enter.
    Draft a short privacy policy for my newsletter, in plain words, from PRD.md: what I collect (an email address, and anything else my sign-up form asks for), what I use it for, which email service stores it, that every email has an unsubscribe link, and how to reach me. If the email service tracks opens or clicks, say so. Write FILL IN for anything you don't know, and don't say it meets any law. Save it as privacy.md. Mark anything you're unsure of. Say that this isn't legal advice.
    1. Read privacy.md and fix anything that isn't true.
    2. Put it on a page your email service hosts, or in the text of your sign-up page. Search its help for privacy policy to see where it goes.

    You should see:

    Claude saves privacy.md and tells you what it marked as unsure.

    That's not what I see
    I can't find where the privacy policy goes.
    Search the email service's own help pages for privacy policy. Most sign-up forms have a place for a link or a line of text.

  6. Write three issues before you launch

    Three issues in the bank means you're never scrambling. Claude can draft from your notes, but your opinions are what make it worth reading.

    1. Copy the prompt below, paste it into Claude Code and press Enter.
    Read the "Track: newsletter" section in PRD.md. Interview me about my first issue, one question at a time, until you have enough for one short issue. Then draft it in my words, not yours, and save it as issue-1.md. Don't send anything.
    1. Answer each question. Then read the draft and change anything that doesn't sound like you.
    2. Type Now do the same for issue 2. and press Enter. Then do issue 3 the same way.

    You should see:

    Claude asks you one question about your first issue, and waits for your answer.

    That's not what I see
    I don't know what to write about.
    Ask Claude: Interview me about my newsletter's topic in PRD.md for 10 minutes, one question at a time, then suggest five issue ideas from what I said. Your own opinions are the part nobody else has.

  7. Sign up yourself and reply to your own test issue

    1. Sign up with your own email, using your sign-up form.
    2. Open issue-1.md, copy the text, and paste it into a new email in the service. Send it to yourself as a test.
    3. Reply to it, and check the reply reaches you.

    The mistakes I see most: sending from an address that can't get replies, checking every link once and never again, and thinking slow growth means it's failing. Early on, replies matter more than the subscriber count.

    Later: Claude drafts each issue from your notes and you edit and send. After that, a scheduled job checks every link before each issue goes out.

    That's not what I see
    My reply never arrived.
    Readers reply, so this matters. Ask Claude to help you check where replies to your sending address go, and fix it before launch.
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Your challenge

Write the names of the first 20 people or groups you'd invite to read it. If you can't get to 20, pick a narrower topic.

Last checked 2026-10-20

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