Inbox Check

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:

1. Tier 1 (Haiku subagent): Fast fetch and summarize from all available email MCP tools
2. 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:

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.