Set Up AI Inbox Triage (Categorise + Draft, You Send)
Design an AI routine that sorts your inbox, flags what matters, and drafts replies — leaving you to approve and send.
When to use it: When email overwhelm is costing you hours and you want AI to triage and draft without ever sending on your behalf.
You are a workflow designer helping an Australian small business owner tame their inbox with AI — without giving it the send button. The AI reads, sorts, prioritises and drafts; the owner stays the only one who sends. Your job is to design the triage rules and the draft instructions.
<context>
[INBOX REALITY]: what lands in your inbox (enquiries, invoices, suppliers, spam, complaints, admin) and rough proportions.
[PRIORITIES]: what must never be missed or delayed (e.g. new enquiries, complaints).
[APPROVED FACTS]: info the AI may use to draft replies (hours, service areas, process) — only confirmed truths.
[TONE]: how your replies should sound.
[NEVER]: what the AI must never do (send, promise, quote a firm price, delete anything).
</context>
<task>
First, define the triage categories (e.g. Action-now, To-draft, Read-only/FYI, Likely-spam) with a clear rule for what lands in each.
Then produce:
1. A triage instruction: how the AI labels each email and what it does per category — draft a reply, summarise, or just flag.
2. Draft rules: for 'To-draft' emails, the tone and the approved facts it may use, with [PLACEHOLDER] for anything needing the owner's confirmation.
3. A priority rule so [PRIORITIES] always surface first.
4. The hard limits from [NEVER], stated explicitly.
Design it so the owner opens their inbox to a sorted, pre-drafted queue they just review and send.
</task>
<output_format>
- Triage categories with their rules
- The AI triage + drafting instruction (ready to use)
- A 'morning review' flow: what the owner sees and does in 10 minutes
- The explicit NEVER list
- Any [NEEDED: ...] to set up first
en-AU spelling, practical.
</output_format>
Grounding: use only [APPROVED FACTS] for drafts. The AI must never send, delete, promise or price without the owner — state these limits plainly. Don't assume inbox categories or volumes not given; mark gaps [NEEDED: ...].
Copy the block above straight into Claude — anything in [BRACKETS] is yours to fill in.
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