email-digest

name	email-digest
description	AI-powered email digest — summarize, categorize, prioritize, and translate emails
allowed-tools	Bash, Read, Write, Glob, Grep

Email Digest

Generate an intelligent digest of the user's emails. Fetches emails via mac_mail.py, then uses AI to summarize, categorize, prioritize, and optionally translate.

Setup

cd /Users/chensijie/Projects/claude-secretary && source venv/bin/activate

How to Produce a Digest

Step 1: Fetch Emails

Based on what the user asks, choose the right command:

# Today's unread (default)
python scripts/mac_mail.py list --account Stanford --unread --top 20 --preview

# Specific date
python scripts/mac_mail.py list --account Stanford --date 2026-03-25 --top 30 --preview

# All accounts
python scripts/mac_mail.py inbox --top 10

# Date range
python scripts/mac_mail.py list --account Stanford --after 2026-03-20 --before 2026-03-27 --top 30

Use --preview to get body snippets. For emails that look important, fetch full content:

python scripts/mac_mail.py read MAIL_ID --account ACCOUNT

Step 2: Categorize

Assign each email to ONE category:

Category	Description	Example
Action Required	Needs your direct response or action	Reply requests, review deadlines, data requests
Meeting/Event	Calendar invites, event notifications	Seminars, talks, meet & greets
Career/Opportunity	Jobs, grants, fellowships, expos	NSF calls, postdoc positions, career fairs
Academic	Papers, reviews, research updates	Journal notifications, review requests
Administrative	HR, IT, policy, compliance	Tax reminders, rotation schedules, I-9
Mailing List	Department/group announcements	[radiation_oncology], [som_postdocs]
Newsletter/Promo	Publications, marketing, subscriptions	Springer, Nature, LinkedIn, Booking.com

Step 3: Prioritize

Assign priority based on:

• HIGH: Has a deadline within 7 days, requires YOUR personal response, or is from a direct collaborator
• MEDIUM: Relevant to your work but no urgent action needed (seminars, opportunities, review requests)
• LOW: Newsletters, promotions, mailing list noise, automated notifications

Step 4: Present the Digest

Use this format:

---

Email Digest — [Date/Range] — [Account]

[N] emails total | [X] action required | [Y] unread

Action Required (HIGH)

Sender	Subject	Action Needed	Deadline
...	...	...	...

Meetings & Events (MEDIUM)

Date/Time	Event	Location
...	...	...

Career & Opportunities

Sender	Subject	Deadline
...	...	...

Academic

• ...

Administrative

• ...

Mailing List / Newsletters (LOW)

<collapsed summary — just count and top senders>

---

Step 5: Offer Follow-up Actions

After presenting the digest, suggest:

1. Which emails to read in full (with read command)
2. Which emails can be batch-marked as read (with mark read command)
3. Any deadlines to note

Special Modes

Translation Mode

If user asks to translate, translate email subjects and previews to Chinese (or specified language) inline.

Weekly Summary Mode

If user asks for a weekly summary:

1. Fetch emails for the week: --after MONDAY --before SUNDAY
2. Group by day, then by category
3. Highlight: key threads, unresolved action items, upcoming deadlines

Focus Mode

If user says "only important" or "skip noise":

1. Only show HIGH and MEDIUM priority
2. Collapse everything else into a one-line count

Important Notes

• Always use --preview when listing to get body snippets for better categorization
• For ambiguous emails, read the full content before categorizing
• The user is a Stanford postdoc in bioinformatics/radiation oncology — use this context for prioritization
• Default account is Stanford unless specified
• Keep the digest concise — the user wants to scan quickly, not read walls of text