outlook-ops

name	outlook-ops
description	How the [YOUR_FIRM] sales harness reads from and writes to Outlook via the Copilot MCP. Composer uses it to save drafts. Cadence uses it to detect sends, detect replies, and queue templated follow-ups. Use when the harness needs to draft a new email, draft a threaded reply, search sent items for a send, scan inbox for a reply, or propose meeting times.
cowork	{"category":"automation","icon":"Mail"}

Outlook Ops

In Copilot, Outlook is a native MCP. The harness uses these tools directly — no helper scripts, no markdown-to-Outlook sync bridge needed.

What's available

Read

Operation	Tool
Search any mailbox content	SearchM365 with sources=["email"]
List messages with filters	ListMessages (folder, from, date, unread, flagged)
Get a specific message	GetMessage
List mail folders	ListMailFolders
List calendar events	ListCalendarView / ListEvents
Find free/busy slots	FindMeetingTimes
Search SharePoint/OneDrive	SearchM365 with sources=["files"] or SearchDrive

Write

Operation	Tool
Draft a new email (NOT send)	CreateDraftMessage
Draft a threaded reply (NOT send)	CreateReplyDraft
Draft a reply-all (NOT send)	CreateReplyAllDraft
Update an existing draft	UpdateDraft
Send a draft	SendDraftMessage
Add file attachment to a draft	AddDraftAttachments

In v1, the harness uses CreateDraftMessage / CreateReplyDraft only. It never calls SendDraftMessage. The human clicks Send in Outlook — that click is the approval.

Tenant configuration

From sales-harness-config.md in OneDrive:

• OUTLOOK_FROM: [YOUR_OUTLOOK_EMAIL]
• Drafts folder ID: [YOUR_DRAFTS_FOLDER_ID] (well-known name drafts works in most calls)
• Sent Items folder ID: [YOUR_SENT_FOLDER_ID] (well-known name sentitems works in most calls)
• Inbox folder ID: [YOUR_INBOX_FOLDER_ID] (well-known name inbox works in most calls)

Most ListMessages calls accept the well-known names directly, so you don't actually need to look up the IDs unless you want stable references. To get IDs, call mcp__outlook__ListMailFolders once and copy them into your config.

Composer flow — saving a first-touch draft

When the Composer finishes a draft and the lead's state is researched → draft_pending_approval:

1. Write the draft text to the prospect MD file's ## Draft (pending approval) section (for audit + human review in OneDrive).
2. Call CreateDraftMessage:
   • to=[<prospect email>]
   • subject=<draft subject>
   • body=<draft body, HTML or plain text>
3. Capture the returned draft id and store it in the prospect frontmatter as draft_message_id.
4. Set state: draft_pending_approval. Append to ## Audit.

Composer flow — saving a reply draft

When the Composer is drafting a reply to a prospect's reply:

1. Get the inbound message ID (from Cadence's reply detection — stored in the lead's ## Conversation section).
2. Call CreateReplyDraft(message_id=<inbound>, comment=<draft body>).
3. Update the MD file and capture draft_message_id.

Cadence flow — queueing a templated step

When next_step_at is due for a lead in awaiting_reply:

1. Load the cadence template (e.g. cadence-rules/templates/outbound-email-v1.md).
2. Render the next step using lead variables.
3. Run compliance checks (compliance/SKILL.md).
4. Call CreateReplyDraft(message_id=<original thread root>, comment=<rendered body>) — follow-ups are always threaded.
5. Increment touch_count. Set state: draft_pending_approval. Append to ## Audit.

Cadence flow — detecting a send

Periodically scan for sends that have completed:

1. ListMessages(folder_id="sentitems", received_after=<draft created time>) — or SearchM365 with sources=["email"], from_user=<OUTLOOK_FROM>, query=<subject>.
2. Match on subject + recipient + send time after the draft creation.
3. If exactly one match → transition lead draft_pending_approval → sent, set sent_at, capture thread_id from the message's conversationId, clear draft_message_id.
4. If zero matches and the draft is older than 7 days → set hold_reason: draft never sent, do not transition.
5. If multiple matches → take the most recent, log a warning in ## Notes.

Cadence flow — detecting a reply

Periodically scan for replies on threads we're awaiting:

1. For each lead in awaiting_reply with a thread_id, call ListMessages(folder_id="inbox", received_after=<sent_at>) and filter by conversationId matching thread_id and sender matching the prospect's domain. Or SearchM365 with sources=["email"], from_user=<prospect email>, after=<sent_at>.
2. If a match → transition to state: replied, copy the reply body and message ID into the lead's ## Conversation section, hand off to Composer for reply drafting.

Authentication

All Graph access is delegated using the operator's M365 sign-in ([YOUR_OUTLOOK_EMAIL]). The harness never holds a service-principal token. If a tool call fails with Unauthorized, the operator needs to re-authenticate — the harness does not retry blindly.