Capabilities
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View as Markdownalfred_ reads the mail in the accounts you connect. It finds messages, summarizes threads, tells you what needs an answer, drafts replies for you to approve, and keeps track of follow-ups.
On this page
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Works with | Gmail and Google Workspace, Outlook and Microsoft 365, and IMAP mailboxes |
| Needs | At least one connected account, up to six. You grant read and send access when you connect. |
| Use it from | Inbox on the web, chat, text, the iPhone app, Claude and ChatGPT |
| Sends mail | Only after you approve it, except automations you set up yourself (a rule that forwards, a routine told to send without asking) |
What it can do
| Capability | What you get |
|---|---|
| Find messages | Search every connected account at once, by sender, recipient, date, unread, attachments or what the email says. |
| Summarize a thread | The short version of a long conversation, with what was asked and what’s still open. |
| Show what needs you | Emails that need a reply or a decision from you come first on Home. Newsletters, notifications and receipts go to quieter tabs in Inbox. |
| Draft replies | Written from the thread in your voice, for you to send, edit or save to Drafts. See Drafts and approvals. |
| Track follow-ups | A standing list of the replies you owe, and the ones you’re waiting on whenever you ask. See Follow-up tracking. |
| Suggest tasks | Things you’ve been asked to do become suggested tasks for you to accept. See Tasks & reminders. |
| Follow your rules | Standing instructions in a sentence, like “text me when Dana emails” or “move receipts to Receipts”. See Email rules. |
How alfred_ decides what needs you
Each email is read once when it arrives, and the thread is updated as replies come in. alfred_ looks at:
- Who sent it. A client or colleague writing to you is different from a newsletter, a receipt or an automated alert.
- What it asks. A question, a request, a deadline, an approval, an invite, money.
- Whose move it is. If the last message asks you for something, it’s your move. If you asked and they haven’t answered, you’re waiting on them.
- The rest of the thread. A third “just checking in” matters more than the first.
You don’t maintain a list of who matters. To change how something is handled, say it in a sentence, such as “anything from @acmelaw.com is a client, put it first”, and it becomes an email rule.
How to ask
Ask the way you’d ask a person, in chat, by text, or in Claude and ChatGPT. Name the person or company when you can.
- What needs my attention today?
- Find the last email from Harbor Facilities about the invoice
- Summarize my thread with Dana about the new schedule
- Reply to Marcus and say Thursday works
What happens
Questions get an answer with links to the emails it came from. Requests to write something come back as a draft for you to check.
Here’s a draft to Marcus Lee:
“Hi Marcus, Thursday works for us. See you then.”
Reply send to send it, or tell me what to change.
Approval and control
| When alfred_… | What happens |
|---|---|
| Reads and searches | On its own, across the accounts you connected. |
| Writes a reply | Shows you the draft first. You send, edit, save it to Drafts, or discard it. |
| Sends an email you asked for | Only when you approve it. |
| Runs an automation you set up | Your saved rules apply to each new email without asking again, and alfred_ repeats every rule back before saving it. A rule that forwards mail, or a routine you’ve told to send without asking, goes ahead on its own. Rules can’t reply. |
| Archives or moves mail you ask about | Shows you which emails first, and waits for your OK. |
| Deletes | It doesn’t delete email. Archived mail stays in Gmail or Outlook. |
Anything you do in alfred_ (reply, archive, move) happens in Gmail or Outlook too. Your mail stays with your provider.
Limits and troubleshooting
| Situation | What to know |
|---|---|
| Up to six accounts | alfred_ only sees mailboxes you’ve connected in Settings → Connected Accounts. IMAP mailboxes don’t count toward the six. |
| An answer misses an email | Check the account is still connected, then ask again with the sender’s name. |
| A newly connected inbox looks empty | Recent mail arrives within a minute; older mail fills in over the next few minutes. |
| Outlook won’t connect | Some work accounts need an admin’s approval first. See Microsoft 365 admin approval. |
| Something important landed in a quieter tab | Tell alfred_ in a sentence (“anything from Harbor Facilities is a client”) and it becomes a rule. |