jonesrussell Inbox Check
Two-tier inbox triage: fetch fast, then judge what matters.
Trigger
- "Check my inbox"
- "Any new emails?"
- "Check email"
- "What's in my inbox?"
/inbox-check
Architecture
This skill uses a two-tier approach to save tokens and time:
- Tier 1 (Haiku subagent): Fast fetch and summarize from all available email MCP tools
- Tier 2 (You): Review results with judgment, context, and relationship awareness
Process
Step 1: Detect Available Email Tools
Check which email MCP tools are available:
- Gmail tools (
gmail.*or similar) - Outlook tools (
outlook.*or similar) - Any other email integrations
If no email tools available:
"I don't have access to any email accounts. Would you like to set up an email integration? Check /connector-discovery for options."
Step 2: Dispatch Fetch Agent
Use the Task tool to dispatch a Haiku subagent:
Subagent prompt:
"Check all available email accounts for recent messages (last 24 hours or since last check).
For each email, extract:
- From (name and email)
- Subject
- Date/time
- Brief summary (1 sentence)
- Has attachments? (yes/no)
- Seems urgent? (yes/no, based on subject and sender)
Return as a structured list, grouped by account if multiple.
Do not read full email bodies unless the subject is unclear.
Limit to 20 most recent per account."
Step 3: Review with Judgment
Once the fetch results come back, apply judgment using your knowledge of the user's relationships, priorities, and patterns:
Categorize each email:
| Category | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Needs Reply | From known contacts, asks a question, requires action |
| Worth Reading | Relevant to active projects, from important people |
| Can Wait | Newsletters, notifications, low-priority updates |
| Skip | Marketing, spam that got through, irrelevant notifications |
Use relationship context:
- If sender is in
people/, note the relationship context - If related to active projects, flag the connection
- If sender has pending commitments, note those
Step 4: Present Results
**📬 Inbox Check**
### Needs Reply
- **[Name]** — [Subject] ([time ago])
[1-line context: what they need, any relationship notes]
### Worth Reading
- **[Name]** — [Subject] ([time ago])
[Why it matters]
### Can Wait
- [count] emails (newsletters, notifications, low-priority)
[List briefly if < 5, otherwise summarize]
---
Want me to:
- Draft a reply to any of these?
- Read the full text of something?
- File any of these to memory?
Judgment Points
- Don't auto-categorize based on sender alone. Context matters.
- If unsure about urgency, err toward "Worth Reading"
- Surface anything from people the user has active commitments with
- Note if someone has emailed multiple times without a response
Tone
Quick, scannable, opinionated. The whole point is to save the user from inbox overwhelm. Be decisive about what matters and what doesn't.