Design inbox triage rules and labels

Get a simple email system: folders, filters, a daily routine and sample rules based on the mail you actually receive.

Change note: Initial version

Prompt

Help me design an email triage system for {{email_client}}.

My role: {{role}}
Typical daily volume: {{volume}} emails
What fills my inbox:
{{email_types}}

My biggest pain point: {{pain_point}}

Design a system with:
1. No more than 6 labels or folders, with a clear one-line rule for what goes in each.
2. Five to eight concrete filter or rule definitions I can set up today. For each, give the condition (sender, subject, keywords), the action, and what could go wrong.
3. A daily routine with specific check times and a time limit for each pass.
4. A short "when in doubt" decision flow, at most 4 steps.
5. A template for two canned replies I would use most (short, human, no filler).

Keep everything compatible with {{email_client}}'s real features. If a feature does not exist there, offer the closest alternative instead of pretending.
Output as numbered sections with headings.

Variables

• {{email_client}}Email appselectrequired

  Options: Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, Superhuman

  Default: Gmail

• {{role}}Your roletextrequired

  Default: Operations manager at a 40-person logistics company

• {{volume}}Emails per daynumberrequired

  Default: 120

• {{email_types}}What you receivelongrequired

  Default: Customer escalations, vendor invoices, internal threads where I am cc'd, calendar invites, newsletters, automated alerts from the shipping system

• {{pain_point}}Biggest pain pointtextrequired

  Default: I check email every 10 minutes and still miss invoices and urgent customer issues

Example output

**1. Labels**
- Action: needs a reply or task from me today
- Waiting: I replied, awaiting someone else
- Finance: invoices and receipts
- Read later: newsletters and FYIs
- Alerts: automated shipping messages
- Reference: archived threads I may need

**2. Filters (Gmail)**
- From shipping-system domain -> skip inbox, label Alerts, star if subject contains "FAILED". Risk: a real failure buried; the star rule covers it.
- Subject contains invoice or from billing@ addresses -> label Finance, keep in inbox.
- Header List-Unsubscribe present -> label Read later, skip inbox. Risk: a useful vendor update is hidden; skim weekly.
- Messages where you are only cc'd -> label Read later, skip inbox.

**3. Routine**
- 9:00, 13:00, 16:30: 20 minutes each. Pass 1 handles Action only, the rest wait.

**4. When in doubt**
1. Two minutes or less? Do it now.
2. Needs thought? Label Action, schedule time.
3. Only informational? Archive.
4. Not mine? Forward in one line, label Waiting.

**5. Canned replies**
"Got it. I will get back to you by [day]." / "Thanks for flagging. Looping in [name], who owns this."

Notes

Providing what actually fills the inbox lets the model write rules that fit rather than generic advice. Build the filters one at a time and review for a week before adding more.