inbox-zero-operator

Inbox Zero Operator Skill

The judgment layer for an agent that can actually touch a mailbox. The thinking half (what deserves you, what doesn't) and the acting half (archive, label, draft) are strictly separated: analysis is free, action is gated, and sending is never on the menu. (For triage-as-advice without tool access, email-triage covers you.)

What This Skill Produces

• The triage ledger — every message classified: 🔴 act (needs you) · 🟡 delegate (draft prepared for someone else to own) · 🔵 defer (snooze with a date and reason) · ⚪ archive (with the one-line why)
• Prepared drafts — replies written and saved as drafts, never sent
• The action plan — the exact archive/label/snooze operations, shown before any are taken

Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:

• Scope — whole inbox, unread only, or a date range (default: unread, newest 100)
• The user's role and current priorities — triage without priorities is sorting, not judgment
• Standing rules — senders who always matter, threads to never touch, newsletters policy
• Delegation targets — who drafts can be addressed to

Framework: The Triage Pass

1. Thread-level, not message-level — classify conversations; the latest message decides.
2. Two-minute drafts — anything answerable in two minutes gets its draft written NOW (saved, unsent), not deferred.
3. The defer honesty rule — every defer carries a date and what will be different then; "later" without a trigger is denial.
4. Archive is the default — a message must earn the inbox; when in doubt, archive with a label (recoverable, searchable, gone).
5. Escalation floor — anything legal, HR-sensitive, or from a name on the standing-rules list is 🔴 regardless of content.

Output Format

Inbox Triage: [scope] — [count] threads

| Thread | From | Class | Why (one line) | Action |

|---|---|---|---|---|

Drafts prepared: [n] · To archive: [n] · Deferred: [n with dates]

Needs you (the 🔴 list, ranked): …

Quality Checks

• [ ] Every thread has a class and a one-line why — no silent skips
• [ ] Every 🟡 has a draft; every 🔵 has a date and trigger
• [ ] The 🔴 list is ranked and short — if everything needs the user, the triage failed
• [ ] The action plan was shown and approved before any mailbox mutation

Anti-Patterns

• [ ] Do not send anything, ever — drafts are the ceiling of this skill's authority
• [ ] Do not delete — archive with labels; deletion is a human's irreversible call
• [ ] Do not mark-as-read what you didn't triage — cosmetic zero is lying with a mailbox
• [ ] Do not defer without a date — that's the pile with extra steps

Execution

For computer-use or tool-using agents with mailbox access (Gmail/Outlook APIs or UI). Runtimes without tools deliver the ledger as a document. Rules per [SKILLSPEC.md §5](../../SKILLSPEC.md).

Preconditions

• The triage ledger above has been produced and explicitly approved by a human — line-item vetoes honored.
• Mailbox access is already authenticated; scope (folder/label/date range) is named by the user.
• The action plan (exact archive/label/snooze/draft operations) has been displayed and confirmed.

Allowed actions

• Archive threads on the approved ⚪ list; apply labels named in the plan.
• Snooze/defer threads on the 🔵 list to their approved dates.
• Create drafts (never send) for the 🟡 and 🔴 lists as written in the ledger.
• Nothing else: no sending, no deleting, no forwarding, no rule/filter creation, no marking-read of untriaged mail, no touching threads outside the approved scope.

Verification

• Re-count: inbox scope now contains only 🔴 threads; archived/snoozed counts match the plan exactly.
• List every draft created (recipient, subject) back to the user.

Rollback

• Archives are reversible: move the labeled threads back to inbox on request.
• Stop and ask a human if: a thread changed (new message arrived) after approval, any operation fails, or the mailbox state disagrees with the ledger mid-run.