majiayu000 InboxZero 📬
Autonomous email triage that actually works. Connect any email account (Gmail, Outlook, IMAP), set your rules in plain language, and let Paw handle the noise.
When to Use
✅ USE this skill when:
- Getting 100+ emails a day and drowning
- Want newsletters auto-archived but accessible
- Need email sorted by urgency/importance
- Want draft replies written while you sleep
- Trying to maintain actual inbox zero
- Need better filtering than Gmail's basic rules
- Want email handled autonomously (not just filtered)
- Managing multiple email accounts
When NOT to Use
❌ DON'T use this skill when:
- Sending bulk email / newsletters → use Mailchimp, SendGrid, etc.
- Email marketing campaigns → use dedicated ESP
- Transactional email generation → use platform APIs
- Email deliverability testing → use specialized tools
- Building email lists → use proper CRM tools
- Legal/compliance email archiving → use enterprise solutions
Setup
Install InboxZero:
npm install -g @pawhub/inboxzero
Connect your email account:
# Gmail (via IMAP)
inboxzero add gmail \
--email your.email@gmail.com \
--app-password your-app-password
# Outlook / Office 365
inboxzero add outlook \
--email your.email@outlook.com \
--password your-password
# Generic IMAP
inboxzero add imap \
--email you@example.com \
--host imap.example.com \
--port 993 \
--user you@example.com \
--password your-password
# Verify connection
inboxzero status
Example Interactions
Initial Setup
You: Set up email triage for me
Paw: settles in for configuration
Alright, let's make email bearable again. First question:
What email account should I watch?
You: my.work.email@company.com (Gmail)
Paw: Got it. Gmail IMAP. You'll need an app password (not your regular password).
Once you have it, run:
inboxzero add gmail --email my.work.email@company.com --app-password YOUR_APP_PASSWORD
Then come back and we'll set up your triage rules. ✉️
You: Done. Now what?
Paw: stretches and opens the rule configurator
Perfect. Now let's teach me how to handle your inbox.
Quick setup or custom rules?
Quick setup = I make smart guesses based on patterns Custom rules = you tell me exactly what to do
Most people start with quick setup, then tweak later. What sounds good?
You: Quick setup
Paw: starts analyzing your inbox
Scanning your last 500 emails to learn patterns...
30 seconds later
Okay, here's what I found:
Newsletters (42% of volume):
- Substack digests
- Marketing emails from vendors
- Automated reports
Action needed (18%):
- Client requests
- Meeting invitations
- PR reviews
- Calendar items
FYI / CC'd (31%):
- Group threads where you're CC'd
- Status updates
- Announcements
Social (9%):
- LinkedIn notifications
- Twitter alerts
- GitHub notifications
Proposed rules:
- Archive newsletters (but keep searchable)
- Priority flag: client emails, PRs, meeting invites
- Auto-label FYI emails (don't clutter inbox)
- Snooze social notifications until evening batch
Sound good? (yes/no/customize)
You: Yes, but don't archive newsletters — I actually read some
Paw: nods in approval
Smart. Newsletters modified:
- Label as "Newsletter" ✅
- Leave in inbox ✅
- Mark as read after 3 days if unopened ✅
Everything else approved. Activating triage rules now...
Status:
- ✅ Connected to IMAP
- ✅ Rules active
- ✅ Processing backlog (500 emails)
- ⏳ Will check every 5 minutes
You'll get a summary of actions taken. Check back in 10 minutes. 🐾
Daily Usage
You: What did you do to my email overnight?
Paw: reports with satisfaction
InboxZero Summary (Last 12 Hours)
📬 Processed: 87 emails
Actions taken:
- 🗃️ Archived 42 emails (newsletters, FYI)
- 🏷️ Labeled 19 emails (categorized)
- ⭐ Flagged 8 as priority (need your attention)
- 💤 Snoozed 12 until tomorrow
- ✍️ Drafted 6 replies (ready for your review)
Current inbox: 8 emails (all priority)
Your move:
- Check the 8 flagged items
- Review drafted replies (or let me send them)
- Relax — everything else is handled
Want details on any category? 📊
You: Show me the drafted replies
Paw: pulls up the drafts
Drafted Replies (6):
1. From: sarah@client.com Subject: "Q4 timeline check-in"
Draft:
Hi Sarah,
Timeline is on track. We're finishing QA this week, deployment scheduled for Oct 15.
I'll send the staging link by EOD Thursday for your team to preview.
Best, [Your name]
✅ Send now | ✏️ Edit | 🗑️ Delete draft
2. From: vendor-support@tool.com Subject: "Account renewal reminder"
Draft:
Hi,
Thanks for the reminder. I'll review this with the team and get back to you by end of week.
✅ Send | ✏️ Edit | 🗑️ Delete
Want to review all 6 or should I just send them? (Drafts are conservative — I only auto-send if you enable "confident mode")
You: Send 1, 2, 3, 5. Hold 4 and 6 for me to review.
Paw: clicks send on the approved emails
✅ Sent 4 emails 📝 Holding 2 drafts for your review (marked in your Drafts folder)
Anything else? Or should I go back to monitoring your inbox quietly? 😺
Advanced Triage
You: Create a rule: if John from engineering emails me with "urgent" in the subject, text me immediately
Paw: Got it. Adding VIP rule:
Trigger: Email from john@company.com
Condition: Subject contains "urgent"
Action: Send Telegram notification immediately
Priority: High
Testing... sends test notification
Did you get the test ping? (yes/no)
You: Yes
Paw: Perfect. Rule is live. John's urgent emails now bypass the queue and ping you directly.
Pro tip: If John sends too many "urgent" emails that aren't actually urgent, I'll learn that and downgrade the priority automatically after 3 false alarms. 🎯
Weekly Cleanup
You: How's my email hygiene this week?
Paw: pulls weekly report
InboxZero Weekly Report
📬 Processed: 412 emails
Breakdown:
- Priority handled: 34 (8%)
- Auto-archived: 287 (70%)
- Labeled for later: 61 (15%)
- Snoozed: 30 (7%)
Time saved: ~4.2 hours (Avg 6 mins per priority email × 42 emails handled autonomously)
Inbox status:
- Start of week: 127 unread
- End of week: 4 unread
- Current state: Inbox Zero ✅
Top senders:
- newsletters@substack.com — 87 emails (auto-archived)
- github.com — 52 notifications (labeled)
- sarah@client.com — 14 emails (8 handled, 6 flagged)
Recommendations:
- Unsubscribe from "MarketingTool Weekly" (12 emails, 0 opens)
- Create filter for "deploy success" notifications (GitHub)
- Consider VIP rule for sarah@client.com (high reply rate)
Want me to make these changes? 🐾
Commands
Account Management
# Add email account
inboxzero add gmail --email you@gmail.com --app-password ABC123
# List connected accounts
inboxzero accounts list
# Remove account
inboxzero accounts remove you@gmail.com
# Test connection
inboxzero accounts test you@gmail.com
Triage Rules
# Quick setup (AI learns patterns)
inboxzero setup quick --account you@gmail.com
# Create custom rule
inboxzero rule create \
--from "newsletter@example.com" \
--action archive \
--label "Newsletter"
# List active rules
inboxzero rule list
# Disable a rule temporarily
inboxzero rule disable <rule-id>
# Edit existing rule
inboxzero rule edit <rule-id>
Manual Actions
# Process inbox now (don't wait for schedule)
inboxzero process --account you@gmail.com
# Generate reply draft for specific email
inboxzero draft-reply --email-id ABC123
# Bulk archive by sender
inboxzero bulk-archive --from "sender@example.com" --older-than 30d
# Unsubscribe helper (finds unsubscribe links)
inboxzero unsubscribe --from "sender@example.com"
Reports
# Daily summary
inboxzero report daily
# Weekly digest
inboxzero report weekly
# Show inbox statistics
inboxzero stats
# Email hygiene score
inboxzero score
Smart Features
# Enable draft replies
inboxzero config set draft-replies true
# Enable confident mode (auto-send safe replies)
inboxzero config set confident-mode false
# Set Telegram notifications
inboxzero config set telegram-notify true
# VIP sender (always notify)
inboxzero vip add sarah@client.com
Rule Syntax
Simple Rules
# Archive all newsletters
inboxzero rule create --subject-contains "newsletter" --action archive
# Flag client emails as priority
inboxzero rule create --from "@client.com" --action flag --priority high
# Auto-label GitHub notifications
inboxzero rule create --from "notifications@github.com" --action label --label "GitHub"
Advanced Rules
# Combine conditions
inboxzero rule create \
--from "boss@company.com" \
--subject-contains "urgent" \
--action notify-telegram \
--priority critical
# Time-based snoozing
inboxzero rule create \
--from "@social-network.com" \
--action snooze \
--until "18:00" \
--label "Social"
# Draft reply with template
inboxzero rule create \
--from "vendor@example.com" \
--subject-contains "renewal" \
--action draft-reply \
--template "vendor-renewal"
Draft Reply Templates
Create custom templates for common replies:
# Create template
inboxzero template create vendor-renewal "
Thanks for the reminder. I'll review this with the team and get back to you by end of week.
Best,
{sender_name}
"
# Use template in rule
inboxzero rule create \
--from "@vendor.com" \
--action draft-reply \
--template vendor-renewal
Telegram Integration
Once connected to OpenPaw + Telegram:
Paw: 📬 3 new priority emails
- sarah@client.com: "Q4 timeline check-in"
- john@eng: "Prod issue - need review"
- security@company: "2FA reminder"
Reply with:
/email 2 to read
/email draft 1 to draft reply
/email done to mark handled
You: /email 2
Paw: sends full email content
From: john@engineering.com
Subject: Prod issue - need review
Time: 2:14 PM
Hey, seeing elevated error rates on /api/users endpoint.
Can you take a look? Nothing critical yet but trending up.
Logs: [link]
Quick actions:
/email reply 2 - Draft reply
/email done 2 - Mark handled
/email forward 2 @sarah - Forward to someone
Configuration
# Show current config
inboxzero config show
# Processing frequency
inboxzero config set check-interval "5m"
# Max emails to process per run
inboxzero config set batch-size 50
# Draft reply tone
inboxzero config set reply-tone "professional" # casual, professional, brief
# Auto-send confidence threshold
inboxzero config set auto-send-confidence 0.95
# Enable learning mode (improves over time)
inboxzero config set learning-mode true
Learning Mode
InboxZero gets smarter over time:
- Learns which emails you actually read
- Adjusts priority based on your reply patterns
- Improves draft quality by learning your writing style
- Suggests new rules based on recurring patterns
# View learning insights
inboxzero insights
# Example output:
# - You never open emails from "newsletter@example.com" → Suggest: auto-archive
# - You always reply to sarah@client.com within 2 hours → Suggest: VIP rule
# - Emails with "invoice" in subject get forwarded to accounting → Suggest: auto-forward rule
Tips from Paw
"Start with quick setup, let me learn for a week, then refine the rules. Don't over-engineer on day one."
"Draft mode is safer than confident mode. I'll write replies but you hit send. Confident mode is for when you trust me blindly (rare)."
"The VIP list is powerful. Use it for people where you need instant notifications, not just priority flagging."
"Check the weekly report. It'll show you patterns you didn't know existed. Then unsubscribe ruthlessly."
"I never delete emails. Everything is archived, labeled, and searchable. Inbox Zero ≠ Email Deletion."
Pricing
- Free tier: 1 email account, 100 emails/day, basic rules
- Pro: $12/month — 3 accounts, unlimited emails, draft replies, learning mode
- Team: $39/month — 10 accounts, shared rules, team insights, Slack integration
Install from PawHub or pawhub.ai/inboxzero
Security & Privacy
- Your email credentials are encrypted at rest using AES-256
- Email content is processed locally on your OpenPaw gateway
- Draft replies are generated via Claude API (opt-in)
- No email content is stored permanently; everything is ephemeral processing
- You can disable cloud AI and use local models for draft generation
- Full audit log of all actions taken on your behalf
Notes
- IMAP is read-only until you enable "confident mode" (write actions)
- Draft replies use Claude Sonnet by default; configurable to Haiku or local models
- Processing runs every 5 minutes by default; adjustable down to 1 minute
- Supports Gmail, Outlook, FastMail, ProtonMail (via bridge), and any IMAP provider
- Works with multiple email accounts simultaneously
- No message limits on Pro tier (unlike Gmail filters which max out)
Built for people who want their inbox managed, not just filtered. 📬🐾