Email Triage.

The work before the work.

An urgent client problem, an invoice, a meeting request, and a newsletter can arrive minutes apart. Each needs a different response, but the inbox gives them the same place in line. Reading and sorting the queue can consume the time meant for the work inside it.

How the workflow handles it.

The workflow design checks each message and its thread, then assigns a category, priority, summary, and next action. A checkout failure goes to support, an invoice is labeled for finance, and a meeting request gets an availability draft. The n8n design uses Gmail labels and drafts, with Slack for urgent alerts. The preview runs on four fictional emails and shows the sorted queue alongside the original message and suggested response.

• A mixed sample inbox sorted into urgent support, finance, scheduling, and reading.
• A short summary and a specific next action for every message.
• Suggested reply drafts for messages that need an answer, kept for human review.
• A priority queue that brings urgent client work to the top and leaves newsletters for later.

What the system enables.

Before

A single unread queue mixes time-sensitive client work with invoices, meeting requests, and newsletters.

With Email Triage

The prototype turns four sample emails into an ordered queue with clear categories and next actions. Urgent work is surfaced first, and suggested replies are ready to review.

What this project taught me.

Not every email needs a reply. An invoice needs its deadline preserved; a newsletter needs somewhere to go. Keeping those actions separate from reply drafting makes the queue quieter, and leaving drafts for review avoids committing to a meeting time or promising a fix on someone’s behalf.