HTML Email Playbook
# Osama Hassouna · Docs
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Source for [`docs.osamahassouna.com`](https://docs.osamahassouna.com) — an engineering reference hub I keep open while building. Currently one guide is live, with more landing as I write them.
## Live now
### HTML Email Playbook
A working reference for hand-building HTML email templates that render reliably across Outlook (Windows desktop, 2007 through 365), Gmail web + mobile, Apple Mail, Yahoo Mail, and the long tail of clients that haven't moved past 2007.
Covers:
- **Structure** — doctype, head boilerplate, body container, header / body / footer organization
- **Components** — bulletproof CTA buttons (with Outlook VML fallback), spacing patterns, images, inline icons, background images, text
- **Compatibility** — Outlook MSO conditional comments, RTL languages, hybrid responsive layouts
- **Production** — Gmail 102KB clipping, dark mode, preheader text
- **AI Generation** — rules and patterns for AI tools that generate playbook-compliant email HTML
Read it: [`docs.osamahassouna.com/email-playbook/`](https://docs.osamahassouna.com/email-playbook/)
There's also a **Playground** at [`/email-playbook/playground/`](https://docs.osamahassouna.com/email-playbook/playground/) with a live editor, instant preview, and a "From Image" tab that converts a design screenshot into playbook-compliant HTML.
## Use the playbook in your AI workflow
The playbook is published as an MCP server + terminal CLI so AI clients (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline, etc.) can pull rules and component patterns directly into their reasoning. The model calls structured tools to fetch the exact patterns from the playbook instead of guessing from training data.
```bash
npm install -g email-playbook-mcp
```
Setup, tool reference, and Claude Desktop / Cursor config snippets:
[`docs.osamahassouna.com/email-playbook/mcp/`](https://docs.osamahassouna.com/email-playbook/mcp/)
There's also a hosted JSON-RPC endpoint at [`docs.osamahassouna.com/api/mcp`](https://docs.osamahassouna.com/api/mcp) if you'd rather not install anything.
## License
MIT. Playbook content © Osama Hassouna · [`osamahassouna.com`](https://osamahassouna.com)
TDQS
Scored across 5 tools
get_playbook_rules and get_rule both return rule pages, which could cause confusion, but the descriptions clearly differentiate (bulk/checklist vs single full page). list_categories and get_playbook_rules also overlap in returning rule metadata, but the separation of rules vs components is well-articulated.
Consistent list_/get_ verb prefixes throughout (list_categories, list_components, get_rule, get_component, get_playbook_rules). Minor noun inconsistency between 'rule' and 'playbook_rules' is the only deviation, still readable and predictable.
Five tools is well-scoped for a read-only reference/playbook server, with a clean 2x2 structure of listing and fetching rules and components, plus category listing. Each tool earns its place.
The surface covers discovery and retrieval for both rule pages and components, which is the core lifecycle for a documentation server. A search tool or a way to fetch multiple specific rules by slug could improve it, but core workflows are fully served.