Inbox triage

Inbox Triage

Scan Slack and/or Gmail for unread messages, categorize them, and produce an actionable triage summary.

Workflow

1. Determine Scope

Use get_current_time to get today's date. Based on the argument:

• slack - Slack only
• gmail - Gmail only
• all or no argument - both (default)

2. Slack Triage

A. Gather Unread Messages

• Use conversations_unreads with include_messages: true to get all unread messages.
• Use activity_unreads to get @mentions and thread replies.
• For any unread message in a thread, use conversations_replies to read the full thread. Decisions live in replies - never categorize from top-level messages alone.

B. Categorize Each Item

Category	Criteria
Respond	Direct question, request for input, blocking someone
Review	Shared document, PR, proposal needing your eyes
FYI	Announcement, status update, no action needed
Defer	Interesting but needs research before responding

C. Prioritize Respond Items

Rank by: manager/direct stakeholders > people blocked on you > time-sensitive > others.

D. Extract Action Items

Scan Respond and Review items for work that needs tracking beyond a quick reply. For each:

1. Dedup against existing Crux tasks via search_tasks
2. Create via add_task with assignee: "{YOUR_NAME}", labels: ["action-item"], appropriate priority and estimate

3. Gmail Triage

Use user_google_email: "{YOUR_EMAIL}" for all Gmail calls.

A. Gather Unread Emails

• Search with is:unread -category:promotions -category:social -category:updates. Paginate fully - Gmail returns max 10 per page.
• Fetch message bodies via get_gmail_messages_content_batch (max 25 per batch).
• Skip automated notifications and bulk mail unless they mention you by name.

B. Detect Self-Sent Emails

Search for self-sent emails (from:{YOUR_EMAIL} to:{YOUR_EMAIL} is:unread). These are capture requests, not regular inbox items. For each:

1. Create a Crux task (label reading for URLs, self-capture for notes)
2. Archive the email after task creation

C. Categorize and Prioritize

Same categories as Slack. Additional signals:

• CC vs TO: If on CC, lean toward FYI unless explicitly asked for input
• Reply-all threads with >5 participants and no name mention: lean FYI

D. Extract Action Items

Same logic as Slack - scan for work that needs Crux tracking.

4. Cross-Reference

• Identify duplicates across Slack and Gmail - consolidate into one item
• Connect items to today's calendar events

5. Generate Triage Summary

Present in terminal and save to triages/inbox-triage-YYYY-MM-DD.md:

## Inbox Triage - [date] [time]

**Sources:** Slack [checked/unavailable] | Gmail [checked/unavailable]

### Respond ([count])
1. **[Source]** from **[Person]** ([time ago]) ([link])
   > [Summary of what they need]
   **Suggested response:** [Draft reply]

### Review ([count])
- **[Source]** from **[Person]** ([link]): [Summary]

### FYI ([count])
- **[Source]** from [Person] ([link]) - [1-line summary]

### Defer ([count])
- **[Source]** from **[Person]**: [Summary + why deferred]

### Action Items Created ([count])
- Crux #[ID]: **[Title]** ([priority])

### Self-Captures ([count], if any)
- **[Subject]** - Created Crux #ID - archived

6. Post-Triage Housekeeping

• Archive processed emails: FYI and Review emails where action is offline. Keep emails awaiting a reply in inbox.
• Mark Slack as read: FYI items and Review items where action is offline. Keep messages awaiting your reply unread.

Graceful Degradation

Scenario	Behavior
Slack MCP unavailable	Skip Slack, run Gmail only (or vice versa)
Both unavailable	Cannot proceed
Too many unreads (>100)	Scan last 24 hours only, note skipped messages
Crux unavailable	List action items in summary with "track manually" note

Key Principles

• Draft responses, don't send. MCP integrations are read-only.
• Thread-aware. A message that looks FYI in isolation might be Respond in a thread where you committed to something.
• Time-bounded. Default to last 24 hours.
• No false urgency. A good triage has more FYI items than Respond items.