Sort and clean up your Gmail inbox using rules in Google Sheets

It reads your organizing rules from a spreadsheet and automatically sorts, labels, or deletes matching emails.

How the work actually flows

It branches. Exactly one path is taken; all paths must finish before it continues; runs once per one per matching email.

Pattern: Exclusive Choice (4) · Synchronisation (3) · Multiple Instances with a priori Run-Time Knowledge (14)

flowchart TD trig(["scheduled inbox check"]):::trigtime s0[("Read sorting rules")]:::store s1[["Match emails to rules"]]:::mi s2["Send Slack summary"]:::task trig --> s0 s0 -->|"one per one per matching email"| s1 gx{"× what action fits this email"}:::gate s1 --> gx p00["Delete email"]:::task gx -->|"Delete"| p00 p10["Label email"]:::task gx -->|"Label"| p10 p20["Promote email"]:::task gx -->|"Promote"| p20 jn{"+ before summary sent"}:::gate p00 --> jn p10 --> jn p20 --> jn jn --> s2 out[/"cleaned inbox with summary"/]:::out pay{{"time saved from manual filing"}}:::pay s2 --> out out --> pay classDef task fill:#e7f6fe,stroke:#34b8f0,color:#2c2a29 classDef svc fill:#f6f8fa,stroke:#7c8795,color:#2c2a29 classDef mi fill:#e7f6fe,stroke:#0079a8,color:#2c2a29,stroke-width:2px classDef human fill:#fff,stroke:#0079a8,color:#0079a8 classDef store fill:#f6f8fa,stroke:#0079a8,color:#2c2a29 classDef trig fill:#00a4eb,stroke:#0079a8,color:#fff,font-weight:bold classDef trigtime fill:#00a4eb,stroke:#0079a8,color:#fff,font-weight:bold classDef trigdata fill:#8ad4f5,stroke:#0079a8,color:#06314c,font-weight:bold classDef gate fill:#fff,stroke:#e8a23d,color:#6b4708,font-weight:bold classDef out fill:#1f9d6b,stroke:#167a53,color:#fff,font-weight:bold classDef pay fill:#06314c,stroke:#021f33,color:#fff
Starts itA stepRuns once per itemA record or sheetOne path onlyWaits for allResultPayoff
Build size
Advanced

A larger build with multiple systems, AI reasoning, and custom rules.

Business functions
Email AutomationMessaging & NotificationsSpreadsheet & Database Ops
Connects
GmailGoogle SheetsSlack

The problem it solves

Your inbox fills up with the same kinds of promotional and low-priority emails every day, and manually filing or deleting them eats into time you'd rather spend elsewhere. Gmail's own filters are clunky to set up and even harder to update.

Who it fits

A busy professional or small team drowning in daily email who wants inbox rules anyone can update without touching settings.

How it works

  1. Runs on a schedule to check your inbox
  2. Reads your sorting rules from a Google Sheet
  3. Matches incoming emails against those rules by sender
  4. Deletes, labels, or promotes each matching email automatically
  5. Sends a Slack summary once the cleanup is done
What you get

Inbox that stays tidy on its own

Your inbox stays sorted and clean according to rules you set, with a summary waiting in Slack.

What you get

A cleaned-up, labeled inbox and a Slack notification confirming what was done.

What you need

A Gmail account, a Google Sheets account, and a Slack workspace.

We can build this. But should you?

The hard question is not how to build it. It is whether this is the right thing to build first.

That is what a Fractional Chief AI Officer figures out with you, before anyone writes a line of code.

Let's Talk Strategy

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