# Gmail inbox triage bot: Inbox Sort and Draft Check (free sample)

> From the Gmail inbox triage bot: sort an inbox export into Needs reply, Needs review, Receipts, Newsletters and FYI, keep private senders away from any model, and stop every reply draft that adds a price, a day or a link the thread never gave. Your agent drafts; your yes is recorded at your own terminal and the gate stops any draft changed after it.

- URL: https://paperchasewebb.ai/bots/marketplace/items/inbox-sort-and-draft-check-free-sample/
- Type: Bot template
- Category: Solo business
- By: PaperChaseWebb
- Works with: Claude Code, Codex, Grok Bot, Hermes (named in the listing); One Python script, templates, a made-up design studio inbox of nine threads and agent rules for each harness. Tested on Linux
- Price: Free USD
- Difficulty: Beginner
- Setup time: 5 min
- Time to result: About five minutes
- Format: Markdown (.md) file, inbox-sort-and-draft-check-free-sample.md
- Version: 1.0, updated 2026-11-04
- License: Personal and commercial use.

## What you end up with

Every thread in one of five labels, private senders left for you, and reply drafts that promise nothing the client did not say.

## What you get

- Five labels for every thread, with unclear mail sent to Needs review, never quietly to FYI
- Threads you wrote last or already drafted are left alone; skip_domains senders, subdomains included, are marked PRIVATE
- Five draft checks: open [CHECK] markers, and numbers, days and links not in the thread, and placeholders
- A morning list addressed to you only, printed, never sent
- Your yes at your own terminal, refused in agent sessions, and a gate that says NO-GO if the draft changed
- AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, a Grok Bot standing order, a Hermes skill and 18 tests

## Who it is for

Consultants, small studios and anyone with a busy inbox who wants an agent's help with replies without it ever sending, archiving or making a promise for them.

## Tools needed

- Python 3.8 or newer: inbox_check.py: five labels, private sender skip, five draft checks, a morning list to you only, owner yes and a send gate; standard library only; never logs in or sends
- Grok Bot, Claude Code, Codex or Hermes (optional): sorts the export, drafts replies from the thread and checks them under AGENTS.md; never approves or sends
- You need: Python 3.8 or newer
- You need: An export of the threads you want sorted (format in the file)

Cost to run: Free. Python is free.

## How it works

1. **Run the example.** Unpack the file and, inside example/, run python3 ../inbox_check.py sort settings.json mailbox.json. Expected: Nine threads sorted, two left alone and one PRIVATE.
2. **Export your threads.** Copy templates/, put your name, address and private domains in settings.json, and export the threads you want sorted to mailbox.json. Expected: One label per thread.
3. **Let the agent draft.** Give it AGENTS.md. It drafts replies for Needs reply threads from the thread only and checks each one. Expected: DRAFT PASS or a [CHECK] for you, nothing sent.
4. **Approve and send yourself.** Run python3 inbox_check.py approve settings.json mailbox.json drafts/ID.md, type send, then send it from your own mail. Expected: gate says GO until the draft changes.

## Sample prompt: Sort and draft this morning's mail (Grok Bot, Claude Code, Codex, Hermes)

```
Follow AGENTS.md. Run inbox_check.py sort, draft a reply to each Needs reply thread in drafts/ID.md using only what the thread says, mark anything you are unsure of with [CHECK: ...], and run inbox_check.py draft on each until only my checks are left.
Show me the labels and the drafts, then stop. Never approve, send, archive or delete anything, and never open a PRIVATE thread.
```

The script and the agent files are in the file.

## Free preview of inbox-sort-and-draft-check-free-sample.md

````markdown
# Inbox Sort and Draft Check

**An agent that drafts your replies is only safe if it never invents a price, a day or a link. This free sample sorts an inbox export into five labels, keeps private senders away from any model, and stops every draft that says something the email never did. Your agent drafts; you approve and send.**

Version 1.0, 2026-11-04. By PaperChaseWebb Inc. Free sample of the Gmail inbox triage bot ($39). Works with Grok Bot, Claude Code, Codex and Hermes, or by hand. Python 3.8 or newer, no installs. Works on any mail export; not affiliated with Google.

## What you get out of it

- Five labels for every thread: Needs reply, Needs review, Receipts, Newsletters and FYI. Unclear mail goes to Needs review, never quietly to FYI.
- Threads where you wrote last, or that already have a draft, are left alone. A new reply on one of them is sorted again.
- skip_domains, subdomains included: those senders are marked PRIVATE, kept off the model and left for you.
- Five checks on each reply draft: open [CHECK: ...] markers, numbers, days and links that are not in the thread, and leftover placeholders.
- A morning list addressed to you only, printed for you to read, never sent.
- An owner yes, recorded at your own terminal, tied to the draft as it reads. Change one word and the gate says NO-GO.

## Who it is for

Consultants, small studios and anyone with a busy shared inbox who wants an agent's help with replies without it ever sending, archiving or making a promise f
````

## Test record

- Date: Nov 4, 2026
- What was run: tests/test_inbox_check.py (18 tests) unpacked from the sample file and run fresh on Linux, Python 3.8, 3.9, 3.11, 3.12 and 3.13; sort, draft, digest, approve and gate on the made-up example.
- Result: 18 passed, 0 failed on all five versions; the example inbox sorts into the expected labels with two LEAVE and one PRIVATE; the clean draft passes and the bad one fails five ways; the digest goes to the owner only; the yes is refused in agent sessions, without a terminal, for the wrong name, without the typed word, for a draft with findings and for a PRIVATE thread; an edit after the yes makes the gate say NO-GO.
- Not run: macOS or Windows. A real mailbox export. A live Grok Bot, Claude Code, Codex or Hermes session.

Copied from this item's dated test notes. What was not run stays in.

## Worth knowing

- The sample sorts an exported inbox and checks drafts. Running inside Gmail, applying labels, saving drafts in your voice, the emailed digest, dry run mode and uninstall steps are in the full bot.
- On 2026-11-04: 18 tests passed on Python 3.8, 3.9, 3.11, 3.12 and 3.13 on Linux, run from the files unpacked out of the sample. Agent rules guide; they were not loaded inside each harness for this release. Not affiliated with Google.

## Questions

**Does it read my Gmail?** No. It reads a file you export and never logs in, calls a model or sends anything.

**Can my agent approve a reply?** No. The yes is refused inside an agent session, without a terminal, for a PRIVATE thread and for anyone but the owner in settings.json.

**What is in the full bot?** An Apps Script bot inside your own Gmail that labels mail, saves drafts with [CHECK] markers, emails the digest to you only, has dry run mode and 30 offline tests. It never sends. $39.

## How to get it

Free sample. Download it directly at https://paperchasewebb.ai/bots/marketplace/items/inbox-sort-and-draft-check-free-sample/, no signup.

Seller: PaperChaseWebb Inc., mgmt@paperchasewebb.com