How to Build a Spam Score Checker for Emails

I built this email spam score checker tool automated to check every email before it sends. One wrong word can land you in spam. This catches issues in 10 seconds.

Prevention beats recovery every time.

What You Need Before Starting

• Python 3.8+ with requests
• Anthropic API key
• ESP API access
• SQLite for tracking

Step 1: Set Up Data Collection

import sqlite3
from datetime import datetime

db = sqlite3.connect("email_system.db")
db.execute('''CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS email_data (
    id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
    email TEXT, metric TEXT, value REAL,
    created_at TEXT
)''')
db.commit()

Step 2: Build the AI Layer

import anthropic
from dotenv import load_dotenv

load_dotenv()
client = anthropic.Anthropic()

def process_email_data(input_data, task_type):
    message = client.messages.create(
        model="claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
        max_tokens=1024,
        system="You are an email marketing specialist. Generate actionable outputs.",
        messages=[{"role": "user", "content": f"Task: {task_type}. Data: {input_data}."}]
    )
    return message.content[0].text

Step 3: Connect to ESP

import requests
import os

def esp_action(endpoint, payload):
    return requests.post(
        f"https://api.convertkit.com/v3/{endpoint}",
        json={**payload, "api_key": os.getenv("ESP_API_KEY")}
    ).json()

Step 4: Schedule and Monitor

def daily_report():
    rows = db.execute("SELECT metric, AVG(value) FROM email_data WHERE created_at > date('now', '-1 day') GROUP BY metric").fetchall()
    for metric, avg in rows:
        print(f"{metric}: {avg:.2f}")

0 7 * * * cd /app && python run_email_system.py

What to Build Next

Add performance benchmarking that compares your metrics against industry averages and flags when you fall below standard.

Related Reading

• Creating Automated Email Sequences That Convert - how AI transforms email marketing operations
• Creating an Automated Client Health Score - framework for deciding what to automate first
• Building an Automated Weekly Roundup Email - how AI transforms email marketing operations