Guide · Agent skill
How to use the Referral & Affiliate Programs agent skill
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
The referrals skill is a set of instructions that teaches an AI agent to work like a growth marketer focused on referral and affiliate programs. It is part of the coreyhaines31/marketingskills collection and is released under the MIT licence. After reading this guide you will know what the skill does, how to install it, how to phrase requests so it triggers, and what to check before relying on its output.
Referral & Affiliate Programscoreyhaines31/marketingskills · MIT Download the skill Quick start
- 1Download the ZIP. Get the ZIP for skills/referrals from the directory page.
- 2Unzip into a skills folder. Place the referrals folder in ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use, or in a project's .claude/skills/ folder.
- 3Or upload it in the Claude apps. Open Settings → Capabilities → Skills and upload the skill there.
- 4Describe your goal. Ask in plain language, using words like referral, affiliate or review campaign.
- 5Answer the context questions. Give the agent your product type, customers, lifetime value, acquisition cost and budget, or point it to your product marketing context file.
- 6Review and test the plan. Check the suggested loop, incentives and A/B tests against your own data before launching.
What is an agent skill and what does this one do?
An agent skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file and optional reference files. When a request matches the skill's description, the agent loads those instructions and follows them for that task.
Once installed, this skill makes the agent act like a growth marketer for referral and affiliate programs. It asks about your product, customers and budget, then helps design a referral loop with well-timed triggers, share mechanisms and incentives. It also suggests A/B tests and metrics to track.
- Customer referral programs, where existing users bring in new customers
- Affiliate programs for partners, creators and bloggers, with commission structures and tool guidance
- Review campaigns, including G2 reviews and responding to bad reviews
- Checks on whether a product can build virality into the product itself
How do you install the referrals skill?
Download the ZIP for skills/referrals from the directory page, then unzip it. You can install it for yourself or for a single project.
For personal use, unzip the folder into ~/.claude/skills/. For one project, unzip it into the project's .claude/skills/ folder. If you use the Claude apps instead, open Settings → Capabilities → Skills and upload the skill there.
- Personal install: ~/.claude/skills/
- Project install: .claude/skills/ inside your project
- Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills
How do you trigger the skill with a natural request?
You do not need a special command. Describe what you want in plain language and include words the skill watches for, such as referral, affiliate, ambassador, word of mouth, refer a friend, affiliate payout, G2 reviews or respond to a bad review.
The skill's description says it applies whenever someone wants existing users or partners to bring in new customers. For launch-specific virality, the skill points you to a different skill called launch.
- "Help me design a refer-a-friend program for my note-taking app."
- "Set up an affiliate program for newsletter writers who review tools."
- "How do I get more G2 reviews from happy customers?"
- "Draft a reply to this bad review and suggest how to respond."
What should you prepare before asking?
The skill asks questions before it recommends anything. It checks for product marketing context in .agents/product-marketing.md, or .claude/product-marketing.md, and reads it first if present. Otherwise it asks for the details below.
Having these answers ready produces more useful output: whether the program is for customers or affiliates, B2B or B2C, average customer lifetime value, current acquisition cost from other channels, any existing program and its referral rate, and the tools and budget you have available.
- Program type and audience (customer, affiliate, or both; B2B or B2C)
- Customer lifetime value and current acquisition cost
- Existing program, referral rate and incentives already tried
- Whether the product is shareable and has network effects
- Tools you use and budget for incentives
What does the skill check and produce?
The skill places your product on a Viral Potential Spectrum. Collaboration, communication and user-facing output tools are treated as natural fits for built-in virality. Backend, internal-only and infrastructure products are marked as limited, and the skill advises investing in referral programs, content and partnerships instead.
For referral programs it walks through a loop of trigger moment, share action, conversion, reward and repeat. It recommends sharing methods ranked from in-product sharing down to referral codes, and it suggests presenting rewards at the aha moment or a milestone rather than at signup.
- A launch checklist covering goals, incentives, tracking, fraud rules and terms
- Post-launch steps for the first 30 days
- Email templates for a launch announcement and a nurture sequence
- Common problems with fixes, such as low share rate or fraud and abuse
- Metrics such as active referrers, referral conversion rate and CAC via referral
What do the reference files add?
The main skill file points to supporting references that the agent loads when a task needs them. These cover affiliate partner operations, program design and tools, incentive examples, the viral mechanisms, and review campaigns and platform rules.
Affiliate operations guidance covers economics before setting a rate, partner recruitment and activation, executable terms and reconciliation. Review guidance covers legitimate review campaigns and responding to negative reviews, and it stays within platform rules.
- references/affiliate-operations.md: economics, activation, terms and reconciliation
- references/affiliate-programs.md: commission structures, cookie duration, recruitment and tools
- references/program-examples.md: examples such as Dropbox, Uber/Lyft, Morning Brew and Notion
- references/viral-mechanisms.md: viral potential spectrum and product-embedded mechanisms
- references/review-programs.md, review-program-operations.md and review-platform-rules.md: review campaigns and platform rules
What are the safety notes and requirements?
The skill lists no required tools or packages. It does not run scripts and does not use the network, so it only supplies written guidance to the agent. You still review any drafts, emails or terms before you publish them.
The skill is explicit that its review guidance is for legitimate campaigns only. Buying or faking reviews or referrals can violate platform rules and laws, and the skill's fraud guidance is about prevention, such as verification and limits.
- Requires: nothing listed
- Runs scripts: no
- Uses network: no
- Do not use it to buy, fake or incentivise dishonest reviews or referrals
What people use it for
- Designing a customer refer-a-friend program with a double-sided reward for a SaaS product
- Planning an affiliate program with commission structures and partner recruitment for content creators
- Choosing a share mechanism and reward timing inside an existing app
- Building a checklist and post-launch review plan for a referral program
- Running a legitimate review-collection campaign and drafting replies to negative reviews
Frequently asked questions
How do I install the referrals agent skill?
Download the ZIP for skills/referrals from the directory page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder. In the Claude apps, you can instead upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
Does the referrals skill require anything else to run?
The skill lists no required dependencies. It runs no scripts and uses no network access, so it works as written guidance for the agent.
Is the referrals skill free to use?
The skill is released under the MIT licence, as listed on the item page. Check the licence file included with the download for the exact terms.
Can it help with G2 reviews and bad reviews?
Yes. Its description includes G2 reviews, review campaigns and responding to a bad review, and it has reference files on review campaigns and platform rules. The guidance covers legitimate campaigns only.
Is this skill the same as the launch skill?
No. The skill says launch-specific virality belongs to a different skill called launch. Use referrals for existing users or partners bringing in new customers.
Will it work for a backend or internal tool?
The skill warns against forcing virality on limited-potential products such as backend, infrastructure and internal tools. For those it suggests referral programs, content and partnerships instead.
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Our verdict
The referrals skill is a good fit for founders, growth leads and marketers who want a structured way to design, launch and measure customer referral or affiliate programs, or to plan a legitimate review campaign. It is less useful for launch-specific virality, for products with little viral potential, or for anyone wanting to buy or fake reviews or referrals.
Download the skill