Courier Notification Skills

Guidance for building deliverable and engaging notifications across all channels.

How to Use This Skill

1. Identify the task — What channel, notification type, or cross-cutting concern is the user working on?
2. Read only what's needed — Use the routing tables below to find the 1-2 files relevant to the task. Do NOT read all files.
3. Check for live docs — For current API signatures and SDK methods, fetch https://www.courier.com/docs/llms.txt
4. Synthesize before coding — Plan the complete implementation (channels, routing, error handling) before writing code.
5. Apply the rules — Each resource file starts with a "Quick Reference" section containing hard rules. Treat these as constraints, not suggestions.
6. Check universal rules — Before generating any notification code, verify it doesn't violate the Universal Rules below.

Handling Vague Requests

If the user's request doesn't clearly map to a specific channel, notification type, or guide, ask clarifying questions before reading any resource files. Don't guess — a wrong routing wastes time and produces irrelevant code.

Ask these questions as needed:

1. What channel? — "Which channel are you sending through: email, SMS, push, in-app, Slack, Teams, or WhatsApp?"
2. What type? — "Is this a transactional notification (triggered by a user action, like a password reset or order confirmation) or a marketing/growth notification (sent proactively, like a feature announcement)?"
3. New or existing? — "Are you starting from scratch, or do you have existing Courier code? If existing, what SDK packages do you have installed?"
4. What language? — "Are you using TypeScript/Node.js, Python, or another language?"

You don't need to ask all four — just the ones needed to route to the right 1-2 files. If the request is clearly about a specific topic (e.g., "help me with SMS"), skip the questions and go directly to the relevant resource.