Inbox assistant AI agent
Reads each new email and decides: draft a reply, create a task, alert you — or ignore it.
How it works
Trigger: Gmail — new unread email in your primary inbox
- A new email arrives.
- The agent decides what it needs: a reply, a task, an urgent alert, or nothing.
- It drafts replies in the same thread, creates Notion tasks with due dates, and alerts you on Slack.
- You review the drafts and hit send.
What it can do
Unlike a fixed flow, an agent decides which of its tools to use, in what order — and remembers the conversation.
- Ignores newsletters and notifications
- Drafts replies in the sender's language, in the same thread
- Turns requests and deadlines into Notion tasks
- Alerts you on Slack about urgent emails
System prompt
The instructions that shape the agent. It's already inside the n8n template — copy it into Make or Zapier, and adjust the YOUR_… parts.
You are an email assistant for YOUR_NAME. For each new email, decide what to do and use your tools. You NEVER send emails, you only draft them.
Decide:
1. Newsletter, notification or marketing → do nothing.
2. Needs a reply → use "Draft reply" with a short, polite reply in the sender's language. Use [brackets] for anything YOUR_NAME must fill in. Never invent facts, prices or commitments.
3. Contains a task or deadline for YOUR_NAME → use "Create task" with a clear title and the due date if one is mentioned.
4. Urgent (a client problem, a payment issue, a same-day deadline) → use "Alert me" with a one-line summary.
An email can need several actions. Finish with a one-line summary of what you did.Safety rules
Built into the prompt and the tools:
- Never sends email — it only creates drafts
- Never invents facts, prices or commitments; uses [brackets] for you to fill in
Uses your own AI key (Claude, OpenAI or another model). Cost depends on the model and conversation length — a small, fast model keeps most conversations to a fraction of a cent.
Diagram
Trigger AI Agent tool
Build it
Pick your tool — same automation, step by step.
Copy and paste straight into an n8n canvas (Ctrl+V), or download and use Import from File. Then connect your own credentials and replace every YOUR_… placeholder. AI steps use a Claude model node — swap it for OpenAI, Gemini or Ollama if you prefer.
Show code (247 lines)
{
"name": "Inbox assistant AI agent (Flowngn)",
"nodes": [
{
"parameters": {
"content": "## Inbox assistant AI agent\nReads each new email and decides: draft a reply, create a task, alert you — or ignore it.\n\n**Setup**\n1. Open each node and connect your own credentials.\n2. Replace every YOUR_… placeholder.\n3. Test once, then activate.\n\nFree template from Flowngn",
"height": 260,
"width": 340
},
"id": "35c47c31-b9cf-4487-a721-f2e9d58ac8d0",
"name": "Setup notes",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote",
"typeVersion": 1,
"position": [
-420,
-60
]
},
{
"parameters": {
"pollTimes": {
"item": [
{
"mode": "everyX",
"value": 5,
"unit": "minutes"
}
]
},
"simple": false,
"filters": {
"q": "category:primary is:unread"
},
"options": {}
},
"id": "35c47c31-b9cf-4487-a721-f2e9d58ac8d0",
"name": "New email",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.gmailTrigger",
"typeVersion": 1.2,
"position": [
0,
0
]
},
{
"parameters": {
"promptType": "define",
"text": "=From: {{ $json.from.text }}\nSubject: {{ $json.subject }}\nDate: {{ $json.date }}\n\n{{ ($json.text || '').slice(0, 6000) }}",
"options": {
"systemMessage": "=You are an email assistant for YOUR_NAME. For each new email, decide what to do and use your tools. You NEVER send emails, you only draft them.\n\nDecide:\n1. Newsletter, notification or marketing → do nothing.\n2. Needs a reply → use \"Draft reply\" with a short, polite reply in the sender's language. Use [brackets] for anything YOUR_NAME must fill in. Never invent facts, prices or commitments.\n3. Contains a task or deadline for YOUR_NAME → use \"Create task\" with a clear title and the due date if one is mentioned.\n4. Urgent (a client problem, a payment issue, a same-day deadline) → use \"Alert me\" with a one-line summary.\n\nAn email can need several actions. Finish with a one-line summary of what you did."
}
},
"id": "35c47c31-b9cf-4487-a721-f2e9d58ac8d0",
"name": "Inbox agent",
"type": "@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.agent",
"typeVersion": 1.9,
"position": [
300,
0
]
},
{
"parameters": {
"model": {
"__rl": true,
"value": "claude-sonnet-5",
"mode": "list"
},
"options": {}
},
"id": "35c47c31-b9cf-4487-a721-f2e9d58ac8d0",
"name": "Claude model",
"type": "@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.lmChatAnthropic",
"typeVersion": 1.3,
"position": [
-40,
220
]
},
{
"parameters": {
"sessionIdType": "customKey",
"sessionKey": "={{ $json.threadId }}",
"contextWindowLength": 10
},
"id": "35c47c31-b9cf-4487-a721-f2e9d58ac8d0",
"name": "Memory",
"type": "@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.memoryBufferWindow",
"typeVersion": 1.3,
"position": [
130,
220
]
},
{
"parameters": {
"descriptionType": "manual",
"toolDescription": "Saves a reply as a Gmail draft in the same thread. It is never sent automatically.",
"resource": "draft",
"operation": "create",
"subject": "=Re: {{ $('New email').item.json.subject }}",
"message": "={{ $fromAI('reply', \"The full reply text\", 'string') }}",
"options": {
"threadId": "={{ $('New email').item.json.threadId }}",
"sendTo": "={{ $('New email').item.json.from.value[0].address }}"
}
},
"id": "35c47c31-b9cf-4487-a721-f2e9d58ac8d0",
"name": "Draft reply",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.gmailTool",
"typeVersion": 2.1,
"position": [
300,
220
]
},
{
"parameters": {
"descriptionType": "manual",
"toolDescription": "Creates a task in the Notion tasks database.",
"resource": "databasePage",
"operation": "create",
"databaseId": {
"__rl": true,
"value": "YOUR_TASKS_DATABASE_ID",
"mode": "id"
},
"title": "={{ $fromAI('task', \"Clear, short task title\", 'string') }}",
"propertiesUi": {
"propertyValues": [
{
"key": "Due|date",
"date": "={{ $fromAI('due', \"Due date YYYY-MM-DD, or empty if none\", 'string') }}"
}
]
},
"options": {}
},
"id": "35c47c31-b9cf-4487-a721-f2e9d58ac8d0",
"name": "Create task",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.notionTool",
"typeVersion": 2.2,
"position": [
470,
220
]
},
{
"parameters": {
"descriptionType": "manual",
"toolDescription": "Sends an urgent one-line alert to Slack.",
"select": "channel",
"channelId": {
"__rl": true,
"value": "#inbox-alerts",
"mode": "name"
},
"text": "={{ $fromAI('alert', \"One-line summary of what is urgent and why\", 'string') }}",
"otherOptions": {}
},
"id": "35c47c31-b9cf-4487-a721-f2e9d58ac8d0",
"name": "Alert me",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.slackTool",
"typeVersion": 2.2,
"position": [
640,
220
]
}
],
"connections": {
"New email": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "Inbox agent",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Claude model": {
"ai_languageModel": [
[
{
"node": "Inbox agent",
"type": "ai_languageModel",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Memory": {
"ai_memory": [
[
{
"node": "Inbox agent",
"type": "ai_memory",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Draft reply": {
"ai_tool": [
[
{
"node": "Inbox agent",
"type": "ai_tool",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Create task": {
"ai_tool": [
[
{
"node": "Inbox agent",
"type": "ai_tool",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Alert me": {
"ai_tool": [
[
{
"node": "Inbox agent",
"type": "ai_tool",
"index": 0
}
]
]
}
},
"pinData": {},
"settings": {
"executionOrder": "v1"
},
"meta": {
"templateCredsSetupCompleted": false
},
"tags": []
}In Make, create a new scenario and add these modules in order:
- Gmail › Watch Emails (search: category:primary is:unread)
- Make AI Agents › Run an agent — give it these tools: “Draft reply” (Gmail), “Create task” (Notion), “Alert me” (Slack); paste the system prompt as the agent's instructions
- Every module run uses Make operations — the free plan includes a monthly quota.
- Module and step names can differ slightly as Make and Zapier update their apps.
In Zapier, create a new Zap and add these steps in order:
- Gmail — New Email Matching Search (category:primary is:unread)
- Zapier Agents — create an agent (or AI by Zapier for a single step) — give it these tools: “Draft reply” (Gmail), “Create task” (Notion), “Alert me” (Slack); paste the system prompt as the agent's instructions
- Zaps with more than two steps need a paid Zapier plan.
- Module and step names can differ slightly as Make and Zapier update their apps.
Tips
- Run it on a test label for a week before pointing it at your whole inbox.
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