SMS alert for urgent emails

Get a text message when an important email arrives, even when you're away from your inbox.

Easy Saves ~2 hours/month ProductivityBy Flowngn team

Works with n8n · Make · Zapier

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How it works

Trigger: Gmail — new email matching your urgent search

Watch Gmail for emails from VIPs or with "urgent" in the subject.
Send yourself an SMS with the sender and subject via Twilio.

Diagram

Trigger App

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.

Workflow JSON

Show code (82 lines)

{
  "name": "SMS alert for urgent emails (Flowngn)",
  "nodes": [
    {
      "parameters": {
        "content": "## SMS alert for urgent emails\nGet a text message when an important email arrives, even when you're away from your inbox.\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": "3c100fd9-b210-42e8-a86e-5c35dd72163a",
      "name": "Setup notes",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote",
      "typeVersion": 1,
      "position": [
        -420,
        -60
      ]
    },
    {
      "parameters": {
        "pollTimes": {
          "item": [
            {
              "mode": "everyMinute"
            }
          ]
        },
        "simple": false,
        "filters": {
          "q": "subject:urgent OR from:YOUR_VIP@client.com"
        },
        "options": {}
      },
      "id": "3c100fd9-b210-42e8-a86e-5c35dd72163a",
      "name": "Urgent email",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.gmailTrigger",
      "typeVersion": 1.2,
      "position": [
        0,
        0
      ]
    },
    {
      "parameters": {
        "operation": "send",
        "from": "YOUR_TWILIO_NUMBER",
        "to": "YOUR_MOBILE_NUMBER",
        "message": "=📧 Urgent: {{ $json.subject }} — from {{ $json.from.value[0].address }}",
        "options": {}
      },
      "id": "3c100fd9-b210-42e8-a86e-5c35dd72163a",
      "name": "Text me",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.twilio",
      "typeVersion": 1,
      "position": [
        300,
        0
      ]
    }
  ],
  "connections": {
    "Urgent email": {
      "main": [
        [
          {
            "node": "Text me",
            "type": "main",
            "index": 0
          }
        ]
      ]
    }
  },
  "pinData": {},
  "settings": {
    "executionOrder": "v1"
  },
  "meta": {
    "templateCredsSetupCompleted": false
  },
  "tags": []
}

Open in the playground to edit →

Tips

Keep the search narrow — too many texts and you'll start ignoring them.

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