How to Use an AI Agent for Email Automation

Email remains the backbone of professional communication, but managing it is time-consuming. The average professional spends over two hours per day on email. An AI agent can automate the repetitive parts — drafting responses, sorting messages, following up on threads, and more — while you focus on work that requires your unique judgment and creativity.

In this guide, you will set up your OpenClaw agent to handle email automation tasks. By the end, you will have an agent that can read, draft, send, and organize emails on your behalf, with rules you define and approve.

Prerequisites

Before beginning, ensure you have:

• A running OpenClaw agent on EZClaws — Deploy one using our deployment guide.
• An email account with SMTP/IMAP access — Gmail, Outlook, or any email provider that supports SMTP for sending and IMAP for receiving.
• An active EZClaws subscription — Email automation can be token-intensive. A Pro plan is recommended. See /pricing.
• App-specific password or OAuth credentials — For Gmail, generate an app password at myaccount.google.com/apppasswords. For Outlook, use an app password or Azure AD OAuth.

Step 1: Install the Email Skill

EZClaws provides email integration through the skills marketplace. Navigate to /app/marketplace and search for email-related skills.

Look for skills like:

• Email Manager — Full-featured email reading, drafting, and sending.
• SMTP Sender — Simple outbound email capability.
• Email Classifier — Automatically categorize incoming emails.

To install a skill:

1. Click on the skill in the marketplace.
2. Review its description, required permissions, and configuration.
3. Click Install and select the agent you want to add it to.
4. Configure any required settings (covered in the next step).

For more on installing skills, see our skills installation guide.

Step 2: Configure Email Credentials

After installing the email skill, you need to provide your email credentials so the agent can access your account.

Gmail Configuration

SMTP Server: smtp.gmail.com
SMTP Port: 587
IMAP Server: imap.gmail.com
IMAP Port: 993
Email: your.email@gmail.com
Password: your-app-specific-password

To generate a Gmail app password:

1. Go to your Google Account settings.
2. Navigate to Security > 2-Step Verification (must be enabled).
3. At the bottom, click "App passwords."
4. Select "Mail" as the app and "Other" as the device.
5. Click Generate and copy the 16-character password.

Outlook Configuration

SMTP Server: smtp.office365.com
SMTP Port: 587
IMAP Server: outlook.office365.com
IMAP Port: 993
Email: your.email@outlook.com
Password: your-app-password-or-oauth-token

Custom Email Provider

SMTP Server: mail.yourdomain.com
SMTP Port: 587
IMAP Server: mail.yourdomain.com
IMAP Port: 993
Email: you@yourdomain.com
Password: your-password

Enter these credentials in the skill configuration within your agent's settings on the EZClaws dashboard. All credentials are encrypted at rest.

Step 3: Define Email Automation Rules

Now configure what your agent should do with emails. Define clear rules in the agent's system prompt:

Basic Automation Rules Template

EMAIL AUTOMATION RULES:

1. INCOMING EMAIL PROCESSING:
   - Check for new emails every 15 minutes
   - Categorize each email as: urgent, action-required, informational, spam
   - For urgent emails, draft a response immediately and notify me
   - For action-required emails, create a summary and suggested response
   - For informational emails, file appropriately
   - For spam or promotional emails, archive or delete

2. AUTO-RESPONSE RULES:
   - Meeting requests: Check my calendar context, accept if free, suggest alternatives if busy
   - Simple questions about my work hours, location, or general info: respond automatically
   - Complex questions requiring my judgment: draft a response and flag for my review
   - Out-of-scope emails (wrong person, wrong team): reply with a redirect

3. DRAFTING GUIDELINES:
   - Match the tone of the incoming email (formal if formal, casual if casual)
   - Keep responses concise — aim for 3-5 sentences unless more detail is needed
   - Always include a clear next step or call to action
   - Never make commitments on my behalf without flagging for review
   - Sign emails with my name and standard signature

4. DO NOT:
   - Send any email involving financial commitments without my explicit approval
   - Reply to emails from unknown senders without flagging first
   - Forward confidential or internal emails to external addresses
   - Delete emails without archiving first

Step 4: Set Up Email Workflows

Beyond basic automation, configure specific workflows for common email patterns.

Follow-Up Workflow

Configure the agent to track emails that need follow-ups:

FOLLOW-UP RULES:
- When I send an email requesting action, track it
- If no response after 3 business days, draft a follow-up
- Follow-up should be polite and reference the original email
- After the second follow-up with no response, notify me to handle directly

Example follow-up draft:
Subject: Re: [Original Subject]

Hi [Name],

I wanted to follow up on my email from [date] regarding [topic].
I'd appreciate your thoughts when you have a moment.

Best regards,
[Your name]

Newsletter and Digest Workflow

Have the agent compile daily email digests:

DIGEST WORKFLOW:
- At 8 AM (user's timezone), create a digest of overnight emails
- Group by category: urgent (top), action-required, informational
- For each email, include: sender, subject, one-line summary
- Flag any that need immediate attention

Example digest format:
MORNING EMAIL DIGEST — Feb 20, 2026

URGENT (1):
- From: Jane (Client) | Subject: Contract deadline moved
  Summary: Deadline moved to March 1, needs signature by Friday

ACTION REQUIRED (3):
- From: Mike (Team) | Subject: Design review needed
  Summary: New homepage mockups ready for feedback
[...]

Meeting Management Workflow

MEETING EMAIL RULES:
- Calendar invites: extract date, time, attendees, and agenda
- If conflicts exist, draft a decline with alternative times
- For accepted meetings, draft a confirmation
- 24 hours before a meeting, check if there's an agenda;
  if not, draft a request to the organizer

Step 5: Test Email Automation

Before letting the agent handle real emails, test thoroughly:

Test with a Secondary Account

1. Create a test email account or use a secondary address.
2. Configure the agent with the test account credentials.
3. Send test emails covering each automation rule.
4. Verify the agent categorizes, drafts, and responds correctly.

Test Scenarios

# Test 1: Simple auto-response
Send: "What are your office hours?"
Expected: Agent auto-responds with configured office hours

# Test 2: Complex email requiring review
Send: "We'd like to discuss a partnership opportunity worth $50,000"
Expected: Agent drafts a response but flags for your review (financial)

# Test 3: Spam handling
Send: "You've won a free iPhone! Click here to claim!"
Expected: Agent archives or deletes without responding

# Test 4: Follow-up tracking
Send an email requesting action, then don't respond for 3 days
Expected: Agent drafts a follow-up email

# Test 5: Meeting request
Send a calendar invite for a specific date and time
Expected: Agent checks availability and responds appropriately

Monitor Initial Operations

Once you switch to your real email account, monitor closely for the first week:

1. Review all drafts before they are sent.
2. Check categorization accuracy.
3. Verify no sensitive emails are mishandled.
4. Adjust rules based on real-world patterns.

Step 6: Optimize and Scale

After the initial testing period, refine your email automation:

Improve Response Quality

• Provide example responses for common email types.
• Include your writing style preferences in the system prompt.
• Add your email signature template.
• Specify any industry-specific terminology or conventions.

Handle Volume Efficiently

For high-volume email accounts:

• Use batch processing (check emails every 15-30 minutes rather than continuously).
• Prioritize by sender importance (VIP lists, known contacts vs. unknown).
• Use the smaller, faster model (GPT-4o-mini) for categorization and the more capable model for drafting complex responses.

Track Email Metrics

Monitor your agent's email performance:

• Emails processed per day — Understand volume trends.
• Auto-response rate — What percentage of emails are handled without your intervention.
• Draft acceptance rate — How often you use the agent's drafts as-is vs. editing them.
• Credit cost per email — Track at /app/billing. See our usage monitoring guide.

Troubleshooting

Agent cannot connect to email server

1. Verify credentials — Double-check the server address, port, email, and password.
2. Check app password — If using Gmail, ensure you are using an app-specific password, not your regular password.
3. Enable IMAP — In Gmail, go to Settings > See all settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP > Enable IMAP.
4. Check firewall — Ensure ports 587 (SMTP) and 993 (IMAP) are not blocked.

Emails are not being sent

1. Check SMTP configuration — Verify the SMTP server and port.
2. Check sending limits — Gmail limits personal accounts to 500 emails/day.
3. Review spam filters — Your emails might be caught by the recipient's spam filter.
4. Check credits — Ensure your EZClaws account has sufficient credits at /app/billing.

Agent misclassifies emails

1. Refine rules — Add more specific criteria for each category.
2. Provide examples — Include example emails for each category in your configuration.
3. Adjust thresholds — If too many emails are marked urgent, tighten the criteria.

Response quality is poor

1. Improve prompts — Add more detailed instructions about tone, length, and content.
2. Upgrade model — Switch to GPT-4o or Claude for better writing quality.
3. Add context — Provide the agent with information about your role, company, and common topics.

Security Best Practices

When giving an AI agent access to your email, security is paramount:

1. Use app-specific passwords — Never use your primary password. App passwords can be revoked individually.
2. Limit permissions — If your email provider supports granular permissions, only grant what the agent needs.
3. Monitor sent emails — Regularly check your sent folder to ensure the agent is behaving correctly.
4. Restrict sensitive senders — Configure rules to never auto-respond to emails from certain addresses (e.g., bank, legal).
5. Keep your agent secure — Follow our security guide for comprehensive best practices.
6. Rotate credentials — Change app passwords periodically, especially if team members change.

Summary

Email automation with an OpenClaw agent can dramatically reduce the time you spend on email while ensuring faster response times and consistent quality. Start with simple rules — categorization and digest creation — and gradually expand to auto-responses and complex workflows as you build confidence in the agent's performance.

The key to successful email automation is clear rules, thorough testing, and ongoing monitoring. Let the agent handle the routine while you focus on emails that truly need your personal attention.

For more on automating tasks with your AI agent, explore our task automation guide and browse additional integrations on our integrations page. Visit the blog for tips on maximizing productivity with EZClaws.