Guide

Manus AI Inbox Zero with Nylas CLI

Instead of manually sorting email, tell Manus to triage your inbox. Manus reads your unread messages, categorizes them by urgency, drafts replies for action items, and archives the rest. You review and approve. This guide shows the workflow, example prompts, and a triage-specific SKILL.md snippet.

What is inbox zero with an AI agent?

Inbox zero is the practice of keeping your inbox empty or close to empty. Traditionally this means manually reading, replying, filing, and archiving every message. With an AI agent like Manus, you offload the sorting and drafting to the agent and focus only on decisions that require your judgment.

The workflow is simple: Manus reads your unread email through the Nylas CLI, categorizes each message by urgency, drafts replies where needed, and queues low-priority messages for archiving. You review the results and approve or adjust before anything is sent or deleted.

Prerequisites

  1. A Manus account with the Nylas CLI Skill installed. If you have not set up the Skill yet, follow the Manus AI Skills guide first.
  2. An authenticated Nylas CLI grant. Run nylas auth whoami in the Manus sandbox to verify. If not authenticated, run bash scripts/setup.sh.
  3. A Nylas API key from dashboard-v3.nylas.com. The free tier works for development and testing.

The triage workflow

Here is how the inbox triage works step by step. Each step maps to a Nylas CLI command that Manus runs in its sandbox.

Step 1: Fetch unread messages

Manus pulls your unread email as structured JSON:

nylas email list --unread --limit 50 --json

The --limit 50 flag keeps the batch manageable. Adjust up or down depending on your inbox volume and Manus credit budget.

Step 2: Categorize by urgency

Manus reads each message and sorts it into one of four categories:

  • Urgent — needs a response within hours (e.g., client escalation, manager request)
  • Action required — needs a response but not time-sensitive (e.g., meeting follow-up, review request)
  • FYI — informational, no response needed (e.g., newsletters, status updates)
  • Archive — noise that can be archived immediately (e.g., automated notifications, marketing)

The agent presents a summary table with sender, subject, and category for your review.

Step 3: Draft replies for action items

For messages marked "urgent" or "action required," Manus drafts replies using AI-powered compose:

nylas email smart-compose --prompt "Reply to Sarah's budget question: confirm we'll have numbers by Friday"

Each draft is shown to you for review. Nothing is sent until you approve.

Step 4: Review and approve

You scan the categorization table and drafted replies. Adjust anything that needs a different tone or category. When ready, tell Manus to send approved replies and archive the noise. Manus uses --yes to avoid interactive prompts in the sandbox:

nylas email send --to "sarah@company.com" --subject "Re: Q4 Budget" --body "..." --yes

Example prompts

Copy these prompts directly into Manus after activating the /nylas-cli Skill:

# Triage the full inbox
"Triage my inbox. Fetch unread emails, categorize each as urgent, action, FYI, or archive, and show me a summary table."

# Focus on urgent only
"Show me only urgent emails from this week. Skip newsletters and automated notifications."

# Draft replies in batch
"Draft replies for all emails that need a response. Show me each draft before sending."

# Clean up old messages
"Archive everything older than 7 days that I haven't replied to."

# Weekly digest
"Give me a weekly email digest: who emailed me most, what topics came up, and what's still waiting for a reply."

SKILL.md for inbox triage

If you want a standalone triage Skill (separate from the full Nylas CLI Skill), use this snippet. It focuses Manus on the inbox-zero workflow specifically:

---
name: inbox-triage
description: >
  Triage unread email into urgent, action, FYI, and archive categories.
  Draft replies for action items. Summarize inbox state. Uses Nylas CLI.
  Activate when the user asks about inbox zero, triage, email cleanup,
  or unread email management.
compatibility: Requires nylas-cli skill or Nylas CLI installed.
metadata:
  author: nylas
  version: "1.0"
---

# Inbox Triage

This skill triages unread email into four categories and drafts replies.

## Workflow

1. Fetch unread messages:
   ```bash
   nylas email list --unread --limit 50 --json
   ```

2. Categorize each message:
   - **Urgent**: needs response within hours
   - **Action**: needs response, not time-sensitive
   - **FYI**: informational, no response needed
   - **Archive**: noise, safe to archive

3. Present a summary table with columns: sender, subject, category.

4. For urgent and action items, draft replies using:
   ```bash
   nylas email smart-compose --prompt "<context-specific prompt>"
   ```

5. Show all drafts for user approval before sending.

## Rules

- Never send email without explicit user approval.
- Always use `--yes` when sending to avoid interactive prompts.
- Always use `--json` for machine-readable output.
- Default to `--limit 50` unless the user specifies a different batch size.
- When in doubt about a category, ask the user.

Tips for better triage

  • Use --limit to control batch size. Start with 20–50 emails. Larger batches use more Manus credits and may exceed context limits.
  • Be specific about urgency criteria. Tell Manus what "urgent" means for you. For example: "Anything from my manager or with the word 'deadline' is urgent."
  • Batch related requests. Instead of triaging and then separately asking for replies, do it in one prompt: "Triage my inbox and draft replies for anything urgent."
  • Run triage daily. Inbox zero works best as a daily habit. The workflow takes 2–5 minutes of review time when Manus handles the sorting.
  • Refine over time. After a few sessions, update the SKILL.md with your personal rules (e.g., "emails from sales@ are always FYI") so Manus learns your preferences.

FAQ

Can Manus actually send emails on my behalf?

Manus can draft and send emails using the Nylas CLI, but the SKILL.md instructions require it to confirm every send with you first. You always review before anything leaves your inbox. The --yes flag only skips the CLI's interactive prompt, not user approval.

Does this work with Outlook and Gmail?

Yes. The Nylas CLI supports Gmail, Outlook (Microsoft 365 and Exchange), Yahoo, and IMAP providers. Manus uses the same commands regardless of your email provider.

How many emails can Manus triage at once?

Use the --limit flag to control batch size. Start with 20–50 emails per triage pass. Larger batches consume more Manus credits and may hit context limits. For inboxes with hundreds of unread messages, run multiple triage passes.

Next steps