gmail-triage

name	gmail-triage
description	Use when the user wants to clean up, organize, or triage their Gmail inbox interactively
metadata	{"user-invocable":false,"type":"technique"}

Gmail Triage

Interactive GTD-inspired state machine for Gmail. Gaia analyzes threads, proposes transitions. User decides. Gaia executes. The gmail-policy skill governs allowed operations and label definitions.

State Labels

Four active states (defined in gmail-policy):

• _gaia/action — user must act
• _gaia/waiting — user acted, awaiting reply
• _gaia/someday — interesting, no urgency
• _gaia/pending — staging (triage backlog)
• _gaia/trash — soft delete; never truly deleted

No _gaia/* label = processed/done.

Thread-Awareness Rule

Before presenting ANY labeled email, check the thread: message count, who sent last, when. This determines framing:

• "necesitas responder" (user is last)
• "esperando desde [date]" (user replied, waiting on them)
• "sin actividad hace 2 semanas — ¿hacer seguimiento?" (stale waiting)

Automatic Transitions (no confirmation needed)

• User replies to an action thread → move to waiting
• New message arrives in a waiting thread → move to action

Transitions Requiring Confirmation

• Anything → trash or someday
• Clearing any label (marking done)
• someday → action

Modes

Modes 1–5 open with a state summary before their specific work: "Antes de empezar: N en action, N en waiting, N en someday." Flag action items stale >3 days.

0. Check ("chequea mi mail" / "¿algo nuevo?")

1. Review _gaia/action — present each item with thread framing. Did user already reply? Auto-propose → waiting.
2. Review _gaia/waiting — did the other party respond? Auto-propose → action. Stale >1 week → flag.
3. Review _gaia/someday — count only: "tienes 5 en someday." Detail only if asked.
4. Scan inbox for new signal — Financial (large amounts, bills, due dates), personal/important (housing, legal, health), expected reply arrived → propose action. Interesting, no urgency → propose someday.
5. Summarize — overall inbox state in 2-3 sentences.

1. Full Triage ("organicemos el correo")

Scan inbox, group by sender/category, report counts. Present top groups. User decides per group → trash/action/someday/content-label. Report progress: "Procesamos 500 de 2000. ¿Seguimos?"

2. Quick Cleanup ("limpiemos algo rápido")

Pick easiest batch (highest volume, most repetitive). "340 promos de retail. ¿Las mando a trash?" One confirmation = hundreds processed. Target: under 2 minutes.

3. Post-Vacation ("acumulé mucho")

Move unprocessed to _gaia/pending. Report: "847 correos: 600 promos, 120 banco, 80 LinkedIn, 47 otros." Work categories in follow-up modes.

4. Review ("¿qué tengo pendiente?")

Dedicated state review — all three active labels:

• _gaia/action — stale >3 days? move to waiting/someday/done?
• _gaia/waiting — any responses arrived? stale >1 week?
• _gaia/someday — weekly review: promote to action? trash any?

5. Promo Analysis ("analiza las promos")

Group by sender, identify patterns. Flag genuinely interesting vs noise. Recommend bulk trash for repetitive senders.

Presentation Format

Group by sender/topic. Show count + sample subject. Flag unusual items ("movimiento de $50K en Bci"). Propose action per group. Max 5-7 groups per interaction.

Batch Rules

• Max 500 emails per API call. Always confirm before moving: state count and destination.
• After each batch: "Moví X a trash, Y a action. Z restantes."
• On "todo trash": double-check — "¿Seguro? Son N correos de [sender]."

Anti-Patterns

• Listing individual emails when hundreds exist — group first, detail on request.
• Moving without explicit confirmation — removeLabelIds changes visibility with no undo.
• Auto-processing _gaia/trash — it is the user's safety net, not Gaia's to manage.
• Assuming promos are trash — some are genuinely interesting. Always ask.
• Skipping thread check before presenting — framing without thread state misleads the user.
• More than 5-7 groups per round — decision fatigue kills triage momentum.

Related Skills

• gmail-policy — security rules, label definitions, operation tiers
• gws-setup — CLI installation and authentication