The Assistant · EP 03 · INBOX

The email digest: only what needs you

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EP 03: about 50 emails a day come in. My assistant files them and tells me the few that matter.

Two parts

1. Filing, all day (n8n on a Raspberry Pi). A workflow reads new mail and files it into labels: Read Later, Receipts, Finances, Travel, Jobs, Notifications, Promos. If it isn’t sure, it leaves the mail in the inbox marked “Unsure”.
2. The digest, 8 PM (the assistant). Claude Code reads the day’s mail read-only and writes one page:
   • Needs you: every Unsure email, plus anything filed that looks like a person writing, a bill or a security alert (“possible misfile”).
   • Still in the inbox, and what’s worth a look in Finances, Travel and Jobs.
   • Filed today: counts per label.

Real numbers (Oct 27 – Nov 2, 2026)

• 353 emails filed
• 16 needed me, about 2 a day

Tip

Let the filer be unsure. A “possible misfile” flag in the evening digest costs nothing; a bill buried in Promos does.

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