Daily inbox triage using Cowork's email write tools (Microsoft 365 or Gmail) -- classifies unread mail, drafts replies in your voice, flags what needs a decision, and schedules follow-ups. Built to run as a recurring Cowork scheduled task.
SkillScore55Maintained
Automatic
◆Personal Assistant pack
Last verified 8/24/2026
What it changes
Passed 12 of 22 test cases with the skill, and 7 of 22 without it.
Without skill32%
With skill55%
Checks it passed that the model alone missed
Drafts a follow-up reminder for Email B
Presents the waiting-on-them list along with elapsed days for each thread
Initiates setup by requesting to inspect 10 to 15 sent messages for voice learning
and 4 more in the full report
6 fixed6 passed either way9 still failing1 broke
Pass-rate lift
+23 pp
Tokens
+77%
Agent turns
0%
Response time
+20%
Model gemini-3.6-flashMeasured 8/24/2026v112 of 22 cases passed with skill
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
See it in action
One of 6 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
1 of 6
Prompt
Summarize the urgent email request from partner John who wrote: 'Can we move our quarterly review meeting from Tuesday 10am EST to Thursday 3pm EST because our VP is traveling?'
What was checked, without and with the skill
Checked
Without skill
With skill
Quotes the sender's actual ask verbatim in the digest summary rather than paraphrasing into general text
Missed
Passed
case-11 · gemini-3.6-flash · 8/24/2026 · answers are capped and redacted
What's inside
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
SKILL.md40 linessingle file
Cowork Inbox Triage
Work an inbox the way a good chief of staff does: everything gets a disposition, nothing gets sent without approval, and the owner ends the run with a short list of real decisions instead of 80 unread threads. Uses the connected mail tools (Microsoft 365 or Gmail MCP connectors) for reading, labeling, and drafting.
Setup
On first run, learn the owner's voice: read 10-15 sent replies and note greeting style, sign-off, sentence length, and formality. Store the profile in the conversation and reuse it for every draft. Ask once which categories matter (default set below) and what the auto-archive rules are.
Workflow
Sweep. Pull unread and flagged threads from the last cycle (default: 24 hours). Group by thread, not message.
Classify every thread into exactly one bucket:
NEEDS DECISION -- only the owner can answer (pricing, commitments, personnel)
DRAFT READY -- routine reply Claude can write for approval
WAITING ON THEM -- owner already replied; schedule a follow-up check
FYI -- no response needed; summarize in the digest
NOISE -- newsletters, notifications, cold outreach; label/archive per the standing rules
Draft. For every DRAFT READY thread, write the reply in the owner's voice as a draft -- never send. Keep drafts shorter than the email being answered.
Follow-ups. For WAITING ON THEM threads past their expected response window (default 3 business days), draft a polite bump. For threads with dates in them, propose calendar holds via the calendar write tools.
Digest. Post one summary: decisions needed (with one-line context and a recommended answer each), drafts awaiting approval, follow-ups queued, and a one-line count of what was archived.
Rules
Never send email. Create drafts only; the human sends.
Never archive anything that mentions money, contracts, legal matters, or a specific person's problem -- misclassified noise is recoverable, a missed client email is not.
A recommended answer accompanies every NEEDS DECISION item. Surfacing a question without a recommendation is half the job.
Quote the sender's actual ask in the digest -- do not paraphrase requests into vagueness.
Respect confidentiality: HR, health, and personal matters get flagged privately, never summarized in a shared channel.
If the connector lacks write scope, degrade gracefully: produce the digest and paste-ready reply texts instead of drafts.
Scheduled Mode
As a Cowork scheduled task (weekday mornings), run the full workflow unattended in a cloud session and deliver the digest before the workday starts. Track threads across runs so a bump is never drafted twice for the same silence.
Quick Commands
"Triage my inbox" -- full run, last 24h
"Catch me up" -- sweep and digest only, no drafts
"Draft replies to everything easy" -- classification + drafts only
"Who am I waiting on?" -- the WAITING ON THEM ledger with days elapsed