Smart Email Digest

Stop drowning in your inbox. This skill scans your unread emails, sorts them into priority categories, and drafts suggested replies for the urgent ones — so you spend 5 minutes reviewing instead of 45 minutes reading.

Run it on a schedule (morning + afternoon) or trigger on-demand whenever your inbox feels overwhelming.

What You Get

• All unread emails categorized into 4 priority tiers
• Suggested replies drafted for urgent emails
• Newsletter/marketing clutter identified and separated
• Action items extracted from email bodies
• Summary stats (total unread, urgent count, oldest unread age)

Setup

Required

• Email access — Gmail (via Gmail API/skill) or any email provider your agent can read. The agent needs read access to your inbox and the ability to list unread messages.

Optional

• Send access — If you want the agent to send drafted replies after your approval, it needs send permissions too
• Delivery channel — Telegram/Discord for digest delivery, or file output
• Contact context — If you have a CRM or contact list, tell the agent where it is. This helps it prioritize emails from important contacts.

Configuration

Tell your agent:

1. Email account — which inbox to scan
2. VIP list — email addresses or domains that are always high priority (your boss, top clients, family)
3. Mute list — senders to always categorize as low priority (newsletters you don't read, automated notifications)
4. Digest schedule — when to run (default: 8:00 AM and 2:00 PM local)
5. Delivery — where to send the digest
6. Reply style — how you write emails (professional, casual, direct, friendly) so drafted replies match your voice
7. Max emails to process — limit per run (default: 50)

How It Works

Step 1: Scan Inbox

• Fetch all unread emails (up to configured max)
• For each email, extract: sender, subject, date received, body preview (first 200 chars), any attachments

Step 2: Categorize

Sort every email into one of 4 categories:

🔴 URGENT — Action required today

• Matches: VIP senders, keywords (urgent, ASAP, deadline, overdue, payment due, action required, EOD, by tomorrow)
• Contains: direct questions to you, approval requests, time-sensitive items
• Has: deadlines within 24 hours mentioned in body

🟡 ACTION NEEDED — Requires a response but not immediately

• Contains: questions directed at you, requests for information, meeting invites
• From: known contacts or business-related senders
• Needs: a reply within 2-3 days

🔵 FYI — Read when you have time

• Contains: updates, status reports, shared documents, CC'd threads
• No direct questions or action items for you
• Good to know but not blocking anything

⚪ NOISE — Skip or bulk-handle

• From: muted senders, marketing lists, automated notifications
• Contains: newsletters, promotional offers, social media notifications
• Action: archive, unsubscribe suggestion, or ignore

Step 3: Extract Action Items

For URGENT and ACTION NEEDED emails, pull out specific action items:

• Direct questions that need answers
• Deadlines mentioned
• Documents to review
• Meetings to confirm
• Approvals to give

Step 4: Draft Replies (Urgent Only)

For each URGENT email, draft a suggested reply:

• Match the user's configured reply style
• Address the specific ask in the email
• Keep it concise (3-5 sentences max)
• Include a clear next step or answer
• Mark as DRAFT — never send without user approval

Step 5: Compile Digest

Format the digest:

📧 Email Digest — [Time]

📊 INBOX STATUS
Total unread: [X] | Urgent: [X] | Action needed: [X]
Oldest unread: [X days ago] from [sender]

🔴 URGENT ([X] emails)
1. [Sender] — [Subject]
   → [Action item / question]
   📝 Draft reply ready

2. [Sender] — [Subject]
   → [Action item / question]
   📝 Draft reply ready

🟡 ACTION NEEDED ([X] emails)
3. [Sender] — [Subject]
   → [What they need from you]

4. [Sender] — [Subject]
   → [What they need from you]

🔵 FYI ([X] emails)
5. [Sender] — [Subject] (status update)
6. [Sender] — [Subject] (shared doc)

⚪ NOISE ([X] emails)
[X] newsletters | [X] notifications | [X] marketing
💡 Consider unsubscribing from: [top 3 noisy senders]

Step 6: Deliver

Send digest via configured channel. If draft replies were generated, include them below the digest for review.

When the user approves a draft reply ("send reply 1" or "approve all replies"), send the emails.

Examples

User: "Check my email"

Agent runs the digest and responds:

📧 Email Digest — 2:30 PM

📊 INBOX STATUS Total unread: 23 | Urgent: 2 | Action needed: 4 Oldest unread: 3 days ago from LinkedIn

🔴 URGENT (2 emails)

1. Sarah Chen — Q1 Budget needs approval by 5 PM → She needs your sign-off on the revised numbers 📝 Draft reply: "Hi Sarah, reviewed the Q1 numbers — approved. Go ahead and submit. Thanks!"

2. Client: Acme Corp — Contract expiring Friday → They're asking if you want to renew at the same rate 📝 Draft reply: "Hi Tom, yes we'd like to renew. Same terms work for us. Can you send the updated agreement?"

🟡 ACTION NEEDED (4 emails) 3. Mike Torres — Updated proposal draft (review requested) 4. HR — Benefits enrollment reminder (due March 15) 5. Dave Kim — Meeting reschedule request (Thursday → Friday?) 6. Accounting — Missing receipt for Feb expense report

🔵 FYI (8 emails) Status updates, shared docs, CC'd threads

⚪ NOISE (9 emails) 5 newsletters | 3 LinkedIn notifications | 1 promo 💡 Consider unsubscribing from: LinkedIn Digest, TechCrunch, Product Hunt

User: "Send reply 1, edit reply 2 to say we want to negotiate the rate down 10%"

Agent: Sends reply 1 as-is. Updates reply 2 with the negotiation language, shows the updated draft for approval.

User: "Set up email digest twice daily"

Agent: Configures cron for 8:00 AM and 2:00 PM, confirms:

"Email digest scheduled for 8:00 AM and 2:00 PM daily. I'll categorize your inbox and draft replies for anything urgent."

Customization Ideas

• Auto-archive noise — automatically archive emails categorized as NOISE after 7 days
• Weekly inbox report — track email volume trends, response time, top senders
• Smart follow-up — flag emails you replied to but never got a response
• Team digest — if you manage a team, compile digests from multiple inboxes
• Label/folder sync — apply Gmail labels or move to folders based on categories

Want More?

This skill handles inbox triage and reply drafting. But if you want:

• Custom integrations — connect your email to your CRM, auto-create tasks from emails, sync with project management tools
• Advanced automations — auto-replies for common questions, lead scoring from inbound emails, invoice detection and routing
• Full system setup — identity, memory, security, and 5 custom automations built specifically for your workflow

DoctorClaw sets up complete OpenClaw systems for businesses:

• Guided Setup ($495) — 2-hour live walkthrough. Everything configured, integrated, and running by the end of the call.
• Done-For-You ($1,995) — 7-day custom build. 5 automations, 3 integrations, full security, 30-day support. You do nothing except answer a short intake form.

→ doctorclaw.ceo