Builder.io Inbox Reads and Triage
Coverage-aware inventory reads
list-emails remains the compatibility list action for the UI and internal
callers. External MCP callers receive its structured inventory envelope by
default (or pass format: "inventory"). Inventory reads use accountEmails
for an explicit set; the legacy singular account alias cannot be combined
with it. The response reports each account's success, empty result, exhaustion
or bounded error, so partial coverage must never be described as complete.
Inventory items are intentionally compact metadata only — use get-email or
get-thread only after selecting a specific result when body content is
needed.
Refresh after mutations
After backend mail mutations (archive, trash, star, mark-read, move, send),
call refresh-list so the UI refetches. Actions that already write
refresh-signal internally (e.g. mark-thread-read, move-email,
respond-calendar-invite) don't need a second call.
Bulk unread cleanup
For broad unread cleanup in one account, call mark-read once with
scope: "all-unread", the exact accountEmail, and any protected
conversation IDs in excludeThreadIds. Do not loop mark-thread-read over
many conversations. The bulk result's matched, excluded, changed, failure,
and remaining-unread counts are the proof of completion.
Knowing what the user is looking at
Use view-screen when the active thread, selected message, draft, or queue
item is unclear. Use get-thread for full conversation context instead of
relying on ambient screen text.
Moving the UI
navigate accepts view (inbox, starred, sent, drafts, scheduled,
archive, trash, draft-queue, settings), plus threadId,
settingsSection (drafting, automations, gmail-filters, aliases,
ai-filter, tracking, slack, team), queuedDraftId, or composeDraftId.
Related Skills
mail-backends— whether a read hit real Gmail or the local fallback.provider-api-scans— reads beyond the canned actions, and staging large scans for analysis.email-drafts— replying to something you just read.inbox-automations— automating recurring triage instead of repeating it.