Guide

Build an Email Support Agent with Manus AI

Use Manus AI and the Nylas CLI to build a no-code email support agent. It polls your inbox for support tickets, matches questions against a knowledge base, drafts replies, and sends them after human approval. Works with Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, Exchange, and IMAP.

What is a Manus email support agent?

Manus recently launched a no-code support agent builder. You give it a knowledge base (FAQ docs, help articles, product documentation), point it at an inbox, and it handles the rest: reading incoming support emails, finding relevant answers in your knowledge base, drafting responses, and presenting them for approval before sending.

The agent runs in Manus's sandboxed environment, so there is nothing to deploy or host. You configure the workflow with a SKILL.md file and natural language instructions.

Adding multi-provider support with Nylas CLI

By default, a Manus support agent connects to Gmail or Outlook through built-in MCP connectors. Adding the Nylas CLI Skill extends that to any provider supported by the Nylas platform: Yahoo, Exchange, IMAP, and more. The CLI becomes the unified email interface the agent calls for every inbox operation.

If you have not set up the Nylas CLI Skill yet, follow the Manus AI Skills guide first. The rest of this guide assumes the Skill is installed and the CLI is authenticated.

The support workflow

The agent follows a five-step loop for each support cycle:

Step 1: Poll the inbox for unread support emails

nylas email list --unread --limit 20 --json

The --unread flag filters to new messages only. Use --limit to control how many tickets the agent processes per cycle.

Step 2: Read each support email

nylas email read MESSAGE_ID --json

The agent extracts the sender, subject, and body from each message. The --json flag gives structured output that Manus can parse reliably.

Step 3: Match against the knowledge base

This is Manus's built-in capability. The agent compares the support question against your uploaded knowledge base documents and finds the most relevant answer. No CLI command needed here — Manus handles the retrieval and reasoning.

Step 4: Draft a reply

nylas email smart-compose --prompt "Reply to a customer asking about password reset. \
Explain that they can reset via Settings > Account > Reset Password. \
Keep it friendly and under 100 words."

The smart-compose command uses AI to generate a polished draft. The agent constructs the prompt dynamically based on the knowledge base match and the original email context.

Step 5: Human reviews, then send

nylas email send \
  --to "customer@example.com" \
  --subject "Re: Password reset help" \
  --body "Hi Alex, you can reset your password by going to..." \
  --yes

The --yes flag skips the CLI's interactive confirmation (which would hang in the sandbox). But the Manus agent should always show the draft to you first. The human-in-the-loop step happens at the agent level, not the CLI level.

SKILL.md for the support agent

Here is a focused SKILL.md that instructs the agent to follow the support workflow with human approval gates:

---
name: email-support-agent
description: >
  Poll inbox for unread support emails, match against a knowledge base,
  draft replies, and send after human approval. Uses the Nylas CLI for
  email access. Activate when the user asks about support tickets,
  customer emails, or help desk workflows.
compatibility: Requires internet access, Nylas CLI installed, and a Nylas API key.
metadata:
  author: nylas
  version: "1.0"
---

# Email Support Agent

This skill turns Manus into an email support agent that reads incoming
tickets, drafts responses from a knowledge base, and sends replies
after human approval.

## Setup

Ensure the Nylas CLI is installed and authenticated:

```bash
nylas auth whoami
```

If not configured, run `bash scripts/setup.sh` from the nylas-cli Skill.

## Workflow

### 1. Poll for new support emails
```bash
nylas email list --unread --limit 20 --json
```

### 2. Read each email
```bash
nylas email read MESSAGE_ID --json
```

### 3. Match against knowledge base
Use the uploaded knowledge base documents to find the best answer.
Summarize the match and confidence level.

### 4. Draft a reply
```bash
nylas email smart-compose --prompt "DYNAMIC_PROMPT_HERE"
```

### 5. Present draft for approval
**ALWAYS show the draft to the user before sending.**
Display: recipient, subject, draft body, and the KB article matched.
Wait for explicit approval.

### 6. Send after approval
```bash
nylas email send --to "RECIPIENT" --subject "SUBJECT" --body "BODY" --yes
```

## Rules

- **Never send without human approval.** Always present the draft first.
- Use `--json` for all read operations.
- Use `--yes` for sends to avoid hanging on prompts.
- If a KB match confidence is low, flag it and suggest the user write a manual reply.
- Use `--limit` to avoid processing too many emails at once.

Human-in-the-loop

Automated support replies are high-stakes. A hallucinated answer can confuse a customer, contradict your documentation, or create legal liability. Always require human approval before sending.

The --yes flag on nylas email send skips the CLI's built-in confirmation prompt — that is necessary in the sandbox where interactive prompts hang. But the approval gate lives at the Manus agent level: the SKILL.md instructs the agent to show the draft and wait for your explicit "send it" before executing the send command.

If you trust the agent enough to send low-risk replies automatically (for example, password reset instructions that always have the same answer), you can modify the SKILL.md to auto-send for specific categories. Start conservatively and expand over time.

Scaling tips

  • Use --limit to control batch size. Start with --limit 5 while testing, then increase to 20 or more once the workflow is reliable.
  • Filter by subject pattern. If your support emails follow a convention (like [Support] in the subject), search for that pattern: nylas email search "[Support]" --unread --limit 20 --json.
  • Batch similar tickets. Group emails with similar questions and draft one template response, then personalize per recipient.
  • Schedule polling cycles. Instead of running the agent continuously, trigger it on a schedule (for example, every 30 minutes during business hours).
  • Track response quality. Periodically review sent replies to identify knowledge base gaps or recurring questions that need new articles.

FAQ

Can I use Manus as an email support agent without coding?

Yes. Manus handles the agent logic, knowledge base matching, and draft generation. The Nylas CLI provides email access. You configure the workflow with a SKILL.md file and natural language instructions — no code required.

Does this work with providers other than Gmail?

Yes. The Nylas CLI supports Gmail, Outlook, Microsoft 365, Yahoo, Exchange, and any IMAP-compatible provider. Adding the Nylas CLI Skill gives the agent multi-provider inbox access through a single interface.

Should I let the agent send replies automatically?

Not at first. Always keep human-in-the-loop approval for support replies. The agent drafts responses, but a human should review every reply before it is sent. Once you have confidence in specific response categories, you can selectively enable auto-send for those.

Next steps