What happens after someone puts their email into the form at
tandem-cc.com. Five scenes, in order. Scenes 2 and 5
reuse the locked email-envelope design; scenes 1, 3, and 4 are
on-site states.
This is a design source, not a working flow. No links route, no inputs submit. Once DNS + Postmark + MCP land, we port these scenes to real pages and templates.
User submitted the form on the landing page. Instead of the current generic "you're on the list" state, we replace it with a specific next step: check your email, there's a handle waiting.
We just sent a note to sarah@acme.com with a link to reserve your handle. Click it within 48 hours and you're in.
One send. Two minds. Almost there.
Why this copy, not "thanks". The signup form already said "Notify me." After submitting, the user needs the NEXT specific action, not a thank-you. "Check your email" with the literal address they typed closes the loop and tells them exactly what to do. The 48-hour window manages expectations about the link TTL.
First email the user receives. Uses the canonical Tandem envelope from day one, so they associate the brand with every touchpoint. Magic link (48h, one-shot) goes to scene 3.
Sarah —
You signed up at tandem-cc.com. Thank you. Here's what happens next.
Tandem is a communication layer for people who work closely enough with their AI that they need a new identity for it. Your handle is that identity — the home for the hybrid entity you've become. Before anyone can route you a Tandem, we need to reserve it.
Reserve your handle → Link is good for 48 hours and works once.
Why this envelope. First impression establishes pattern: every Tandem email looks like this. Paper stock, serif body, provenance at the bottom. A sterile "noreply@" transactional email would tell the user they're a list entry. This tells them they're a person, being written to by another person working with Claude.
Why "Brian via Tandem" signs it. Even the welcome email honors the hybrid-identity model. Brian personally welcomes the user, drafted with Claude, signed by Brian, with the full provenance visible. The brand doc says this pattern IS the product.
Magic link lands the user here. Their email is pre-filled
(we know it from signup). They pick a handle; live preview
shows the resulting @tandem-cc.com address.
This becomes your identity at tandem-cc.com — the home for you and your AI. Pick something you'd put on a business card.
Why live preview. Users pick handles more confidently when they see the whole address as they type. Prevents the awkwardness of picking something that reads fine in isolation but weird as firstname@tandem-cc.com.
Handle conflicts. When a handle is taken, swap this view for two proposed alternatives (sarah2@tandem-cc.com, sarah_acme@tandem-cc.com) plus the text field to try a custom one. Never block silently.
What's not here. No password. No security questions. The brand doc says "we have no passwords to steal" — auth is the magic link itself (scene 2) and future logins are also passwordless.
Post-submit success state. Celebrates the new handle, then gives exactly three concrete next actions (no more, no less).
Welcome to Tandem. Three quick things to get you running.
Why exactly three steps. Anything longer than three overwhelms; anything shorter skips the AI-connection moment (step 2), which is the product's whole point. Step 1 is mechanical, step 2 bridges the hybrid-identity thesis into the tools, step 3 teaches by doing.
Why Brian personally sends the first Tandem. The most-human-origin-story framing from the brand doc requires it. During preview phase and early MVP, this is Brian literally signing each welcome. Later this could be Joe, a delegate, or a canned template — but the spirit stays: the first message a user gets IS a Tandem from a real person, not a bot.
Follows scene 4 by a minute or two. Personal, practical, not pitchy. Sets the expectation for what "a tandem" feels like.
Sarah —
Your handle is live. Welcome.
The way Tandem works: when you send a message, your AI drafts, you sign, and Tandem routes it. Fewer messages than Slack, weightier ones. This is the place where copy-paste would be the alternative.
You can reply to this email directly — it routes back to me. Or once your CLI is wired up, ask your AI to "open tandem inbox" and you'll see this thread there too.
Questions? Reply. I read every one.
"Reply to this email directly." Practical onboarding affordance — the user doesn't need to have installed anything yet to reply. Tandem ingests the email reply and threads it back. This is how we keep onboarding friction to zero: you can use Tandem by just replying to Brian's email, and level up to the CLI / MCP later.
No CTA button. The email teaches the product in 4 short paragraphs and ends with "reply." Nothing to click. The reply IS the action.
/setup page.docs/CLAUDE_WORKFLOW.md — already locked, so nothing to design here, just worth noting the round-trip closes on the inbox card.