Core Concepts

Understanding these concepts will help you build effective email automation workflows.

Accounts

Your account represents your Gmail connection. Each account:

  • Links to one Gmail address via OAuth
  • Stores encrypted Gmail API tokens
  • Can have multiple agents watching it
  • Belongs to an organization

You can connect multiple Gmail accounts and switch between them.

Organizations

Organizations are workspaces for teams:

  • Members can collaborate on agents
  • Billing and usage limits are organization-scoped
  • Agents can be shared across members
  • Invitations manage team access

Most users start with a personal organization, then add members as needed.

Agents

Agents are AI-powered workers that process your emails:

  • Each agent has a specific purpose (e.g., "Support Triage", "Sales Follow-up")
  • Agents run independently and can work simultaneously
  • They check your inbox every 60 seconds
  • Each agent has its own configuration, knowledge base, and tools

Agent Lifecycle

  1. Created - Agent is configured but not active
  2. Active - Agent is processing emails
  3. Paused - Temporarily stopped (can be resumed)
  4. Deleted - Removed permanently

Triggers

Triggers determine which emails an agent processes:

  • Simple filters: "subject contains: support"
  • Complex conditions: "from: @company.com AND has attachment"
  • All emails: Leave trigger empty to process everything

Only emails matching the trigger are sent to the agent for processing.

Actions

Actions define what the agent does:

  • Reply - Send a response
  • Label - Apply Gmail labels
  • Archive - Move to archive
  • Forward - Send to another address
  • Webhook - Send data to external service
  • Remember - Store information for later

Agents can take multiple actions on a single email.

System Prompts

The system prompt tells the agent how to behave:

  • Defines the agent's personality and tone
  • Sets boundaries and rules
  • Provides context about your business
  • Guides decision-making

A good system prompt is specific, clear, and includes examples.

Knowledge Base

Agents can reference uploaded documents:

  • PDFs, text files, spreadsheets
  • Company policies, FAQs, product docs
  • Historical email threads
  • Any context the agent needs

Agents search the knowledge base when answering questions or making decisions.

Tools

Tools are actions agents can take:

  • Email tools: reply, forward, label, archive
  • Knowledge tools: search documents, create files
  • Workflow tools: webhook, schedule, memory operations
  • Multi-agent tools: delegate to other agents

Each agent can be configured with specific tool permissions.

Processing Flow

  1. Account Agent fetches new emails every 60 seconds
  2. Emails are fanned out to all active agents
  3. Each agent filters emails using its trigger
  4. Matching emails go through two-stage AI processing:
    • Glance: Quick relevance check (cheap model)
    • Full: Detailed processing with tool calling (if relevant)
  5. Agent executes actions based on AI decisions
  6. Results are logged for review

This architecture ensures efficient processing and cost optimization.

Next Steps