Vibecode Woodpecker
track this build5 steps, step by step0%A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For Woodpecker, send a careful low-volume outbound sequence with bounces and replies handled. The hard boundary is deliverability safeguards, inbox connections, agency workflow, and support, plus proprietary data, deliverability, and network effects.
You are building a lean indie version of Woodpecker. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== README.md ===== # Woodpecker indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core Woodpecker workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope Import a permissioned lead list, personalize a careful low-volume outbound sequence, enforce sending limits, and handle bounces and replies without supplying proprietary contact data. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - deliverability safeguards, inbox connections, agency workflow, and support - proprietary contact database - inbox warm-up network - deliverability reputation - large-scale enrichment and compliance tooling If those capabilities are essential, use Mautic instead of pretending the gap is solved. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs". ===== BUILD_PLAN.md ===== # Build plan ## Original build brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for Woodpecker in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and a user-chosen transactional email provider; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: import a permissioned lead list, personalize a careful low-volume outbound sequence, enforce sending limits, and handle bounces and replies without supplying proprietary contact data. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Accept CSV imports only after the user confirms lawful collection and records the source. Provide contact fields, tags, suppression status, consent notes, and a complete change history. Build a short email sequence with delays, business-hour windows, and per-domain rate limits. Use the configured provider for sends and process delivery, bounce, complaint, and unsubscribe webhooks. Stop sequences immediately on reply, bounce, complaint, suppression, or manual pause. Show deliverability warnings, daily send totals, and a mandatory preview before activation. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out scraping protected platforms. Deliberately leave out buying or generating personal contact data. Deliberately leave out automated inbox warm-up networks and evasion of provider limits. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Required capabilities - legally obtained contact list - sending-domain authentication - email provider credentials - PostgreSQL - public HTTPS endpoint ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden. ===== .env.example ===== # Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
You are building a lean indie version of Woodpecker. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== README.md ===== # Woodpecker indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core Woodpecker workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope Import a permissioned lead list, personalize a careful low-volume outbound sequence, enforce sending limits, and handle bounces and replies without supplying proprietary contact data. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - deliverability safeguards, inbox connections, agency workflow, and support - proprietary contact database - inbox warm-up network - deliverability reputation - large-scale enrichment and compliance tooling If those capabilities are essential, use Mautic instead of pretending the gap is solved. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs". ===== BUILD_PLAN.md ===== # Build plan ## Original build brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for Woodpecker in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and a user-chosen transactional email provider; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: import a permissioned lead list, personalize a careful low-volume outbound sequence, enforce sending limits, and handle bounces and replies without supplying proprietary contact data. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Accept CSV imports only after the user confirms lawful collection and records the source. Provide contact fields, tags, suppression status, consent notes, and a complete change history. Build a short email sequence with delays, business-hour windows, and per-domain rate limits. Use the configured provider for sends and process delivery, bounce, complaint, and unsubscribe webhooks. Stop sequences immediately on reply, bounce, complaint, suppression, or manual pause. Show deliverability warnings, daily send totals, and a mandatory preview before activation. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out scraping protected platforms. Deliberately leave out buying or generating personal contact data. Deliberately leave out automated inbox warm-up networks and evasion of provider limits. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Required capabilities - legally obtained contact list - sending-domain authentication - email provider credentials - PostgreSQL - public HTTPS endpoint ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden. ===== .env.example ===== # Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
You are building a production product version of Woodpecker. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== PRODUCT.md ===== # Woodpecker product brief ## Problem A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For Woodpecker, send a careful low-volume outbound sequence with bounces and replies handled. The hard boundary is deliverability safeguards, inbox connections, agency workflow, and support, plus proprietary data, deliverability, and network effects. ## Product outcome Import a permissioned lead list, personalize a careful low-volume outbound sequence, enforce sending limits, and handle bounces and replies without supplying proprietary contact data. ## Target user A serious builder who needs a maintainable product foundation rather than a one-off demo. ## Required capabilities - legally obtained contact list - sending-domain authentication - email provider credentials - PostgreSQL - public HTTPS endpoint ## Explicit non-goals for v1 - deliverability safeguards, inbox connections, agency workflow, and support - proprietary contact database - inbox warm-up network - deliverability reputation - large-scale enrichment and compliance tooling ## Success criteria - The primary workflow is measurable end to end. - Setup is reproducible in a clean environment. - Failure, recovery, and support paths are documented. - Product claims match what the implementation actually guarantees. ===== ARCHITECTURE.md ===== # Architecture ## Starting brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for Woodpecker in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and a user-chosen transactional email provider; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: import a permissioned lead list, personalize a careful low-volume outbound sequence, enforce sending limits, and handle bounces and replies without supplying proprietary contact data. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Accept CSV imports only after the user confirms lawful collection and records the source. Provide contact fields, tags, suppression status, consent notes, and a complete change history. Build a short email sequence with delays, business-hour windows, and per-domain rate limits. Use the configured provider for sends and process delivery, bounce, complaint, and unsubscribe webhooks. Stop sequences immediately on reply, bounce, complaint, suppression, or manual pause. Show deliverability warnings, daily send totals, and a mandatory preview before activation. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out scraping protected platforms. Deliberately leave out buying or generating personal contact data. Deliberately leave out automated inbox warm-up networks and evasion of provider limits. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Boundaries Separate the product into replaceable modules for interface, application logic, persistence, external integrations, and operational concerns. Keep domain logic independent from delivery frameworks and vendors. ## Production baseline - Configuration: validated at startup with safe local defaults where possible. - Security: least privilege, input validation, secret redaction, rate limits on abuse-prone paths, and no invented security primitives. - Data: explicit schema and migrations, transactional writes where integrity matters, backup and restore instructions. - Integrations: adapters around third-party providers, idempotent webhook or job processing, bounded retries, and timeouts. - Observability: structured logs with request or operation IDs, an error-tracking hook, and health/readiness checks where a server exists. - Quality: unit tests for domain rules, integration tests at module boundaries, and one end-to-end critical-path test. ## Decision records For each major dependency, document why it was chosen, its failure mode, and how it can be replaced. Do not introduce infrastructure until a requirement justifies it. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Read `PRODUCT.md` and `ARCHITECTURE.md` before changing code. - Implement milestone by milestone; keep each change reviewable and leave the application runnable. - Treat authentication, payments, encryption, imports, webhooks, and destructive actions as high-risk boundaries when present. - Never invent cryptography or silently weaken a requirement to make a test pass. - Use provider interfaces for external services and deterministic fakes in tests. - Add migrations and rollback or recovery notes for persistent data changes. - Log useful operational context without credentials, tokens, passwords, or personal data. - Update documentation and run all checks before completing a milestone. ===== MILESTONES.md ===== # Delivery milestones ## M0 — Decisions and scaffold - Confirm the runtime, persistence model, threat boundaries, and deployment target. - Create a reproducible local environment and continuous checks. ## M1 — Core workflow - Implement the smallest end-to-end product path with validation and tests. - Keep integrations behind interfaces. ## M2 — Trust layer - Add secure failure behavior, recovery paths, audit-relevant events, and data safeguards. - Test abuse cases and destructive operations. ## M3 — Operability - Add structured logs, error reporting hooks, health signals, backup/restore documentation, and deployment configuration. ## M4 — Release gate - Run a clean-install test, critical-path end-to-end test, dependency review, and documented rollback exercise. - Compare the shipped behavior with `PRODUCT.md` and publish remaining limitations. ===== OPERATIONS.md ===== # Operations ## Before release - Validate configuration and secrets at startup. - Define backup, restore, and rollback procedures and test them. - Document logs, error tracking, health signals, and alert ownership. - Set dependency update and vulnerability review expectations. ## Incident checklist 1. Contain the issue without destroying evidence or user data. 2. Record the timeline and affected scope. 3. Rotate exposed secrets and revoke compromised sessions or credentials. 4. Restore from a verified source when needed. 5. Document the root cause, remediation, and regression test. ## Launch constraint Do not market omitted Woodpecker capabilities as implemented. The v1 non-goals in `PRODUCT.md` remain user-visible limitations until they are deliberately delivered.
# Woodpecker indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core Woodpecker workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope Import a permissioned lead list, personalize a careful low-volume outbound sequence, enforce sending limits, and handle bounces and replies without supplying proprietary contact data. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - deliverability safeguards, inbox connections, agency workflow, and support - proprietary contact database - inbox warm-up network - deliverability reputation - large-scale enrichment and compliance tooling If those capabilities are essential, use Mautic instead of pretending the gap is solved.
# Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs".
# Build plan ## Original build brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for Woodpecker in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and a user-chosen transactional email provider; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: import a permissioned lead list, personalize a careful low-volume outbound sequence, enforce sending limits, and handle bounces and replies without supplying proprietary contact data. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Accept CSV imports only after the user confirms lawful collection and records the source. Provide contact fields, tags, suppression status, consent notes, and a complete change history. Build a short email sequence with delays, business-hour windows, and per-domain rate limits. Use the configured provider for sends and process delivery, bounce, complaint, and unsubscribe webhooks. Stop sequences immediately on reply, bounce, complaint, suppression, or manual pause. Show deliverability warnings, daily send totals, and a mandatory preview before activation. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out scraping protected platforms. Deliberately leave out buying or generating personal contact data. Deliberately leave out automated inbox warm-up networks and evasion of provider limits. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Required capabilities - legally obtained contact list - sending-domain authentication - email provider credentials - PostgreSQL - public HTTPS endpoint ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden.
# Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
# Woodpecker product brief ## Problem A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For Woodpecker, send a careful low-volume outbound sequence with bounces and replies handled. The hard boundary is deliverability safeguards, inbox connections, agency workflow, and support, plus proprietary data, deliverability, and network effects. ## Product outcome Import a permissioned lead list, personalize a careful low-volume outbound sequence, enforce sending limits, and handle bounces and replies without supplying proprietary contact data. ## Target user A serious builder who needs a maintainable product foundation rather than a one-off demo. ## Required capabilities - legally obtained contact list - sending-domain authentication - email provider credentials - PostgreSQL - public HTTPS endpoint ## Explicit non-goals for v1 - deliverability safeguards, inbox connections, agency workflow, and support - proprietary contact database - inbox warm-up network - deliverability reputation - large-scale enrichment and compliance tooling ## Success criteria - The primary workflow is measurable end to end. - Setup is reproducible in a clean environment. - Failure, recovery, and support paths are documented. - Product claims match what the implementation actually guarantees.
# Architecture ## Starting brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for Woodpecker in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and a user-chosen transactional email provider; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: import a permissioned lead list, personalize a careful low-volume outbound sequence, enforce sending limits, and handle bounces and replies without supplying proprietary contact data. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Accept CSV imports only after the user confirms lawful collection and records the source. Provide contact fields, tags, suppression status, consent notes, and a complete change history. Build a short email sequence with delays, business-hour windows, and per-domain rate limits. Use the configured provider for sends and process delivery, bounce, complaint, and unsubscribe webhooks. Stop sequences immediately on reply, bounce, complaint, suppression, or manual pause. Show deliverability warnings, daily send totals, and a mandatory preview before activation. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out scraping protected platforms. Deliberately leave out buying or generating personal contact data. Deliberately leave out automated inbox warm-up networks and evasion of provider limits. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Boundaries Separate the product into replaceable modules for interface, application logic, persistence, external integrations, and operational concerns. Keep domain logic independent from delivery frameworks and vendors. ## Production baseline - Configuration: validated at startup with safe local defaults where possible. - Security: least privilege, input validation, secret redaction, rate limits on abuse-prone paths, and no invented security primitives. - Data: explicit schema and migrations, transactional writes where integrity matters, backup and restore instructions. - Integrations: adapters around third-party providers, idempotent webhook or job processing, bounded retries, and timeouts. - Observability: structured logs with request or operation IDs, an error-tracking hook, and health/readiness checks where a server exists. - Quality: unit tests for domain rules, integration tests at module boundaries, and one end-to-end critical-path test. ## Decision records For each major dependency, document why it was chosen, its failure mode, and how it can be replaced. Do not introduce infrastructure until a requirement justifies it.
# Agent instructions - Read `PRODUCT.md` and `ARCHITECTURE.md` before changing code. - Implement milestone by milestone; keep each change reviewable and leave the application runnable. - Treat authentication, payments, encryption, imports, webhooks, and destructive actions as high-risk boundaries when present. - Never invent cryptography or silently weaken a requirement to make a test pass. - Use provider interfaces for external services and deterministic fakes in tests. - Add migrations and rollback or recovery notes for persistent data changes. - Log useful operational context without credentials, tokens, passwords, or personal data. - Update documentation and run all checks before completing a milestone.
# Delivery milestones ## M0 — Decisions and scaffold - Confirm the runtime, persistence model, threat boundaries, and deployment target. - Create a reproducible local environment and continuous checks. ## M1 — Core workflow - Implement the smallest end-to-end product path with validation and tests. - Keep integrations behind interfaces. ## M2 — Trust layer - Add secure failure behavior, recovery paths, audit-relevant events, and data safeguards. - Test abuse cases and destructive operations. ## M3 — Operability - Add structured logs, error reporting hooks, health signals, backup/restore documentation, and deployment configuration. ## M4 — Release gate - Run a clean-install test, critical-path end-to-end test, dependency review, and documented rollback exercise. - Compare the shipped behavior with `PRODUCT.md` and publish remaining limitations.
# Operations ## Before release - Validate configuration and secrets at startup. - Define backup, restore, and rollback procedures and test them. - Document logs, error tracking, health signals, and alert ownership. - Set dependency update and vulnerability review expectations. ## Incident checklist 1. Contain the issue without destroying evidence or user data. 2. Record the timeline and affected scope. 3. Rotate exposed secrets and revoke compromised sessions or credentials. 4. Restore from a verified source when needed. 5. Document the root cause, remediation, and regression test. ## Launch constraint Do not market omitted Woodpecker capabilities as implemented. The v1 non-goals in `PRODUCT.md` remain user-visible limitations until they are deliberately delivered.
$ choose a build depth, inspect the files, then open the complete pack in your agent · this prompt is generated from the build plan · improve it via PR
People still pay for Woodpecker because the durable value is accurate contact data and deliverability infrastructure; a sequence editor alone is not the product. The recurring cost buys consent records, suppression lists, DNS, bounces, reputation, abuse complaints, provider limits, and changing email rules, not just the visible interface.
xdeliverability safeguards, inbox connections, agency workflow, and support
xproprietary contact database
xinbox warm-up network
xdeliverability reputation
xlarge-scale enrichment and compliance tooling
Don't feel like building it? These folks already made it free.
no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real
Woodpecker pricing
| plan | monthly | annual (per mo) | what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| cold email base | $0/workspace | $0/workspace | Pricing calculator can start at $0 with 16,000 monthly emails, 4,000 stored prospects, 4 warm-ups, 100 Lead Finder credits, unlimited team members and email accounts at the shown selector. |
| contacted prospects | $7/workspace | $0.01/workspace | $7 per 100 contacted prospects monthly; annual selector showed $0.01 per 100 contacted prospects with 99% saving. |
| linkedin outreach add-on | $29/user | — | $29/month per LinkedIn connected account. |
| integrations/api/webhooks/mcp/cli add-on | $20/workspace | — | API, webhooks, MCP, CLI and integrations add-on. |
| agency panel add-on | $27/workspace | — | $27/month per active client; white label $5/month per active client. |
free tier$0 calculator state can include 16,000 monthly emails, 4,000 stored prospects, 4 warm-ups and 100 Lead Finder credits, but contacted prospects/add-ons drive the bill.
billingmonthly + annual; annual selector says save 33%; calculator/usage-based
hidden costsAdd-ons: LinkedIn $29/account/month, extra Lead Finder credits from $10/500, extra warm-ups $5/email account/month, Google/Microsoft inboxes $6/month, Maildoso/Mailforge $4/month, domains ~$1/month billed annually, dedicated servers $59/month, workshops $2,000.
verified 2026-08-10 · source ↗
Vibecode Woodpecker
Not really. Woodpecker's value is not the code: Recheck price before merge. See the honest breakdown above.
How much does Woodpecker cost?
Woodpecker costs about $29/month (Cold Email, checked 2026-07-31), which is $348 per year.
What do I lose by replacing Woodpecker?
Honestly: deliverability safeguards, inbox connections, agency workflow, and support; proprietary contact database; inbox warm-up network; deliverability reputation; large-scale enrichment and compliance tooling. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Woodpecker?
Yes: Mautic (A campaign engine with reply, bounce and unsubscribe handling; careful volume limits are yours to enforce.) The prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.