How to triage and draft your inbox with AI.
I use this to stay on top of email without living in it. Two jobs: triage - find the threads that actually need me and tell me what they need - and draft - write the reply or follow-up in my voice so I just review and send. This is my single most-used tool by volume on Claude. I reach for it every working day, and any time the inbox has got ahead of me.
How I use this, and what for
I use this to stay on top of email without living in it. Two jobs: triage - find the threads that actually need me and tell me what they need - and draft - write the reply or follow-up in my voice so I just review and send. This is my single most-used tool by volume on Claude. I reach for it every working day, and any time the inbox has got ahead of me.
What the AI actually does
It reads the inbox for you, surfaces what matters, and hands back ready drafts. Instead of opening fifty threads, you get a short triage list - who, what they want, how urgent - and a stack of drafts to approve. The drafting is in your voice, so each reply is a review, not a write.
The leverage is reading at scale plus voice on the way out. AI scans every thread so you only open the ones worth your time, then writes each reply on-brand. The Gmail draft is a safe handoff: the API's drafts.create produces an unsent message you approve and send yourself, so the model never sends on its own.
The tools and APIs you need
The right prompts
Triage the inbox
```
Search my Gmail for threads from the last 3 days that need a reply from me.
Give me a one-line summary of each - sender, what they want, how urgent -
ranked most to least important. Do not draft anything yet.
```
Draft the replies
```
For the top 5 threads, draft my reply in my voice and create each as a
Gmail draft. Keep them short and direct. Where a thread needs context on
the sender, enrich them first and use it. I will review and send.
```
How to do it
Triage first
Ask it to search the inbox for threads needing a reply and summarise each in a line - who, what they want, how urgent.
Decide what to action
Pick the threads worth a reply now.
Draft in your voice
For each, have it write the reply with will-voice and create it as a [Gmail](https://workspace.google.com/products/gmail/) draft.
Pull context where needed
For a cold or unknown sender, enrich them first (skill 01) so the reply is informed.
Review and send
each draft yourself. Label or archive the rest.
See the difference
Doing it by hand: triage and draft your inbox with ai the manual way - slow, and the first thing to slip when you are busy.
With AI: you describe what you want in plain English and it does the work, on-brand, in minutes.
Let AI carry the heavy lifting; you keep the judgement and the final say.
How you'll know it's working
- A short, ranked list of what actually needs you - not the whole inbox.
- Replies waiting as drafts in your voice, ready to review and send.
- Informed replies to unknown senders, because they were enriched first.
- Nothing sends without your eyes on it.
Questions people ask
What is AI email management?
Using an AI assistant to read your inbox, flag the threads that genuinely need a reply, and write those replies in your voice as drafts. You handle two decisions - which threads to action and which drafts to send - and the assistant does the reading and writing in between.
Does the AI send emails without me?
No. It creates [Gmail](https://workspace.google.com/products/gmail/) drafts using the API's [`drafts.create`](https://developers.google.com/workspace/gmail/api/guides/drafts), which leaves an unsent message in your inbox. You review and send every one yourself, so the draft-then-review loop keeps you in control of what actually goes out.
How does it reply to people I do not know?
For a cold or unknown sender, it enriches them first through [Apollo](https://www.apollo.io/) or [Common Room](https://www.commonroom.io/) (skill 01) - pulling their title, company and any warm signals - then writes the reply with that context, so it is informed rather than blind.
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