Use Case: Email Automation

inbox triage · draft replies · newsletters · lead follow-up

What you'll build

An agent that reads your Gmail, triages by priority, drafts replies in your voice, and sends scheduled emails — newsletters, follow-ups, or outreach — on a cron schedule. Every send requires your approval unless you explicitly opt out.

Jump to section

Skills you need Gmail OAuth setup SOUL.md template Example tasks Scheduled newsletters Common issues

Skills you need

Skill	What it unlocks	Required?
gmail-reader	Read inbox, search emails, fetch threads	Core
gmail-sender	Send and reply to emails (always requires confirmation by default)	Core
email-drafter	Draft replies matching your writing style — saves as draft, you review before sending	Recommended
gmail-labeler	Apply labels, archive, mark as read — for triage automation	Recommended
notion-crm	Log email interactions to a Notion contacts database	Optional
web-search	Research email senders before drafting a reply	Optional

Gmail OAuth setup

The Gmail skill uses OAuth 2.0. You need to create a Google Cloud project and authorise the agent once — after that it stores a refresh token and works automatically.

Go to console.cloud.google.com → New Project
Enable the Gmail API under APIs & Services → Library
Under OAuth consent screen, set user type to External and add your email as a test user
Under Credentials, create an OAuth 2.0 Client ID → Desktop app → Download the JSON
Save it as gmail-credentials.json in your OpenClaw workspace

openclaw.json — Gmail integration

{
  "skills": [
    "official-gmail-reader",
    "official-gmail-sender",
    "official-email-drafter",
    "official-gmail-labeler"
  ],
  "model": "claude-sonnet-4-5",
  "soulPath": "./SOUL.md",
  "env": {
    "GMAIL_CREDENTIALS_PATH": "./gmail-credentials.json"
  },
  "channel": {
    "type": "telegram",
    "token": "YOUR_BOT_TOKEN",
    "chatId": "YOUR_CHAT_ID"
  }
}

On first run, the agent will print an authorisation URL. Open it in a browser, grant access, and the token will be saved automatically for future runs.

SOUL.md template

SOUL.md — email assistant

# Email Assistant

You help manage my email inbox: triage, draft replies, and send scheduled emails.

## Identity
- Name: MailBot
- Tone: Match the sender's tone — professional for business, casual for friends

## Triage rules
When asked to check the inbox:
1. List unread emails from the last 24 hours
2. Mark each as: URGENT (needs reply today) / REVIEW (read but no reply needed) / SPAM (filter candidate)
3. For URGENT emails, draft a reply and show it to me for approval before sending

## Drafting rules
- Write in first person as me, not as an assistant
- Keep replies under 150 words unless the email is complex
- Never apologise unnecessarily
- End business emails with a clear next step or question

## Sending rules
- NEVER send an email without showing me the draft first and getting explicit approval ("yes send it" or "send")
- Exception: scheduled newsletters I have pre-approved in this SOUL file

## Pre-approved newsletters
- Weekly digest: every Monday 9am — summarise last week's top AI news (max 300 words) and send to [email protected]

Example tasks

Morning triage

"Check my inbox and triage emails from the last 12 hours. List urgent ones first."

Draft a reply

"Draft a reply to the last email from [email protected] — thank him and say I'll review the article update this week"

Follow-up

"Find emails I haven't replied to in more than 3 days and draft follow-up responses"

Send newsletter

"Draft this week's newsletter: top 5 AI agent news from the last 7 days. Show me before sending."

Clean up

"Archive all emails older than 30 days that are already read and not starred"

Scheduled newsletters

Pre-approve specific newsletter sends in your SOUL.md so they run without confirmation. All other sends still require your approval.

Add to openclaw.json — weekly newsletter cron

{
  "crons": [
    {
      "name": "Weekly AI newsletter",
      "schedule": "0 9 * * 1",
      "task": "Search for the top 5 AI agent news stories from the past week. Draft a newsletter under 300 words with source links. This is pre-approved — send directly to [email protected]."
    }
  ]
}

Safety note: Only pre-approve sends for specific, well-defined newsletters with known recipient lists. For all ad-hoc replies, keep the default approval requirement. An accidental send is hard to undo.

Common issues

⚠ Gmail OAuth returns "access denied"

Your app is in "testing" mode and your email must be on the test user list. Go to Google Cloud Console → OAuth consent screen → Test users and add your email.

⚠ Agent sends email without asking

Make sure your SOUL.md includes the "NEVER send without approval" rule. If using cron-based sends, verify the task description does not say "send directly" unless intended.

⚠ Drafts don't sound like me

Add 2–3 example emails you've written to your SOUL.md under a "Writing examples" section. The agent will match your style. Alternatively, specify tone explicitly: "formal", "direct", "warm".

⚠ Token expires after a few hours

Ensure your Google OAuth app has the offline_access scope. The gmail-reader skill should handle token refresh automatically if credentials.json is present.

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