Recipes / Email
Multi-agent inbox triage & auto-reply
Classifies unread mail into Sales, Support, Internal, Finance, Promotions; specialist agents auto-reply to support/internal and draft or alert for the rest.
App vs bot, side by side
| Old app / habit | Bot | |
|---|---|---|
| Tool | Manually sorting Gmail | n8n + five OpenAI agents + Gmail (+ Telegram/Slack alerts) |
| Monthly cost | Not reported | OpenAI API usage + n8n; free template |
| Setup | None (already in use) | About 10-15 minutes (per template) · Intermediate |
| Your time | Baseline | Not reported |
| Maintenance | Handled by vendor/you as before | Review prompts against your business rules; check auto-replies. |
| Privacy | Data stays with the app vendor | Email content is sent to the LLM provider (e.g. OpenAI). Needs Gmail OAuth access to read, label and draft. |
Full comparison
| Replaces | Manually sorting Gmail |
|---|---|
| Bot / agent stack | n8n + five OpenAI agents + Gmail (+ Telegram/Slack alerts) |
| Monthly cost before | Not reported |
| Monthly cost after | OpenAI API usage + n8n; free template |
| Setup time | About 10-15 minutes (per template) |
| Time saved | Not reported |
| Skill level | Intermediate |
| Reliability | 3/5: published template; auto-replies need careful prompt tuning. |
| Maintenance | Review prompts against your business rules; check auto-replies. |
| Privacy & data | Email content is sent to the LLM provider (e.g. OpenAI). Needs Gmail OAuth access to read, label and draft. |
| Best for | Busy inboxes with clear categories |
| Not for | Sensitive/regulated email |
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free template
- Sorts into 5 categories
- Alerts for sales/finance
Cons
- Auto-sending risks wrong replies
- Five agents = more API calls
How it works
- Connect two Gmail credentials
- Add OpenAI key to 5 agent nodes
- Set Telegram/Slack alerts
- Customize prompts
- Activate
Source and evidence
Published template; auto-sending needs careful prompt tuning.
Read the original Template source ↗
“Not reported” means the source doesn't say. We never fill gaps with guesses. Numbers marked “per author” or “vendor claim” are the source's own and weren't independently tested. Source re-checked 2026-10-15.
Plain-text summary (for search and AI assistants)
Multi-agent inbox triage & auto-reply. Replaces Manually sorting Gmail with n8n + five OpenAI agents + Gmail (+ Telegram/Slack alerts). Cost before: Not reported. Cost after: OpenAI API usage + n8n; free template. Setup: About 10-15 minutes (per template), Intermediate. Time saved: Not reported. Reliability 3/5: 3/5: published template; auto-replies need careful prompt tuning. Best for: Busy inboxes with clear categories. Not for: Sensitive/regulated email. Source: https://n8n.io/workflows/9157-ai-powered-email-triage-and-auto-response-system-with-openai-agents-and-gmail/
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