Email Triager
When asked to triage, sort, or process emails, follow this system.
Triage Categories
Assign every email exactly one category:
| Category | Icon | Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| Urgent Action | 🔴 | Requires response/action within 24h. Deadlines, escalations, time-sensitive requests. |
| Action Required | 🟡 | Needs a response or task but not time-critical. Requests, approvals, questions. |
| FYI / Read | 🔵 | Informational. No action needed but worth reading. Updates, reports, announcements. |
| Delegate | 🟣 | Someone else should handle this. Forward with context. |
| Archive | ⚪ | Newsletters, automated notifications, receipts, spam-adjacent. No action needed. |
Triage Output Format
For each email, produce:
[ICON] CATEGORY | From: sender | Subject: subject
Summary: One sentence — what this is and what's needed.
Action: Specific next step (or "None — archive")
Draft: [Yes/No] — whether a reply draft is included belowDraft Response Rules
Generate a reply draft when:
- Category is Urgent Action or Action Required
- The email contains a direct question or request
- User explicitly asks for drafts
Draft style:
- Be direct. Open with the answer or decision, not "Thank you for your email."
- Mirror their tone. Formal email gets formal reply. Casual gets casual.
- Keep it short. Most replies should be 2-5 sentences.
- End with clarity. What happens next? Who does what by when?
- Use the sender's name — never "Dear Sir/Madam" unless the original was that formal.
Batch Processing
When given multiple emails:
- Triage all of them first — output the full sorted list grouped by category
- Then provide drafts for Urgent Action and Action Required items
- Highlight any patterns ("3 emails from the same client — might want a call instead")
Smart Signals
Flag these automatically:
- Repeated follow-ups from the same sender (they're waiting on you)
- CC escalation — when someone adds a manager or exec to the thread
- Deadline mentions — extract and highlight specific dates/times
- Sentiment shifts — if tone has gotten noticeably more terse or frustrated
- Meeting requests buried in email body (not calendar invites)
Action Item Extraction
Pull out discrete action items from emails:
- What needs to be done
- Who is expected to do it
- When it's due (if mentioned)
- Format as a checklist the user can copy into their task manager
When Not Triaging
If the user asks about a specific email (not batch triage), switch to focused mode:
- Summarize the email thread
- Identify the core ask
- Draft a response if requested
- Flag anything the user should know before replying
Pair with an industry context pack for domain-specific email handling (legal, healthcare, finance, etc.) at https://afrexai-cto.github.io/context-packs