Manik Chandra Dhor This workflow corresponds to n8n.io template #17232 — we link there as the canonical source.
This workflow follows the Agent → Gmail recipe pattern — see all workflows that pair these two integrations.
The workflow JSON
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{
"name": "AI Gmail inbox manager that triages emails by priority and drafts replies with OpenAI and Google Sheets",
"nodes": [
{
"id": "a4b02738-7b5b-41cc-a6b9-1885f1f4f23f",
"name": "Sticky Note",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote",
"position": [
-608,
-272
],
"parameters": {
"width": 480,
"height": 832,
"content": "## AI Gmail inbox manager that triages emails by priority and drafts replies with OpenAI and Google Sheets\n\n### How it works\n\nThis workflow monitors Gmail for new incoming emails and enriches each message with user-defined triage settings. It sends the email through an AI agent powered by OpenAI, validates the result against a structured schema, logs the outcome to Google Sheets, and creates a Gmail draft reply when needed.\n\n### Setup steps\n\n- Connect Gmail credentials for both the trigger and draft creation nodes.\n- Connect OpenAI credentials for the GPT-5 Mini language model node.\n- Connect Google Sheets credentials and select the spreadsheet/sheet used as the triage dashboard.\n- Edit the \u201cYour Settings (EDIT ME)\u201d node to set your name, role, email categories, and reply drafting guidance.\n- Verify the structured output schema matches the columns expected by the Google Sheets logging node and the fields used by the reply condition.\n\n### Customization\n\nAdjust the triage categories, priority rules, and draft guidance in the settings node. You can also change the Google Sheets dashboard columns or the IF condition that determines when a draft reply should be created."
},
"typeVersion": 1
},
{
"id": "932b9ace-348f-42a5-be1b-7e44946dd997",
"name": "Sticky Note1",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote",
"position": [
-48,
-176
],
"parameters": {
"color": 7,
"width": 480,
"height": 336,
"content": "## Capture and configure\n\nStarts when a new Gmail message arrives, then applies the editable user settings such as identity, role, triage categories, and draft guidance before sending the email onward."
},
"typeVersion": 1
},
{
"id": "e90277f4-cbc8-48ed-aa13-26f90ce6beb3",
"name": "Sticky Note2",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote",
"position": [
464,
-176
],
"parameters": {
"color": 7,
"width": 432,
"height": 592,
"content": "## AI triage analysis\n\nUses the AI agent with the OpenAI chat model and structured output parser to classify the email, determine priority, and produce a schema-aligned triage result."
},
"typeVersion": 1
},
{
"id": "8903c481-b508-48f8-824c-aa87a8d5b3e0",
"name": "Sticky Note3",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote",
"position": [
928,
-160
],
"parameters": {
"color": 7,
"width": 448,
"height": 320,
"content": "## Log and decide\n\nRecords the triage result in Google Sheets as a dashboard entry, then checks whether the email requires a reply."
},
"typeVersion": 1
},
{
"id": "479bd2c5-806c-40ae-a758-a400afcd051f",
"name": "Sticky Note4",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote",
"position": [
1424,
-272
],
"parameters": {
"color": 7,
"width": 240,
"height": 320,
"content": "## Create Gmail draft\n\nCreates a Gmail draft reply for emails that pass the reply-needed condition."
},
"typeVersion": 1
},
{
"id": "g1",
"name": "When Gmail Email Received",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.gmailTrigger",
"position": [
0,
0
],
"parameters": {
"simple": false,
"filters": {
"readStatus": "unread"
},
"pollTimes": {
"item": [
{
"mode": "everyMinute"
}
]
}
},
"typeVersion": 1.3
},
{
"id": "g2",
"name": "Set User Email Preferences",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.set",
"position": [
280,
0
],
"parameters": {
"mode": "manual",
"assignments": {
"assignments": [
{
"id": "a1",
"name": "yourName",
"type": "string",
"value": "Alex"
},
{
"id": "a2",
"name": "yourRole",
"type": "string",
"value": "Founder at Acme"
},
{
"id": "a3",
"name": "categories",
"type": "string",
"value": "Sales, Support, Billing, Recruiting, Newsletter, Personal, Spam"
},
{
"id": "a4",
"name": "draftGuidance",
"type": "string",
"value": "Warm, concise, professional. Sign off with my first name."
}
]
},
"includeOtherFields": true
},
"typeVersion": 3.4
},
{
"id": "g3",
"name": "Email Triage Agent",
"type": "@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.agent",
"position": [
592,
0
],
"parameters": {
"text": "=From: {{ $json.from }}\nSubject: {{ $json.subject }}\n\n{{ $json.text }}",
"options": {
"systemMessage": "=You are an inbox assistant for {{ $('Set User Email Preferences').item.json.yourName }} ({{ $('Set User Email Preferences').item.json.yourRole }}).\n\nTriage the email below. Return:\n- priority: High, Medium, or Low\n- category: one of {{ $('Set User Email Preferences').item.json.categories }}\n- needsReply: true only if it genuinely needs a personal reply (not newsletters, receipts, no-reply, or spam)\n- summary: one short sentence\n- draftReply: if needsReply is true, write a ready-to-send reply in this style: {{ $('Set User Email Preferences').item.json.draftGuidance }}. If needsReply is false, return an empty string.\n\nNever invent facts. Keep the draft short and human."
},
"promptType": "define",
"hasOutputParser": true
},
"typeVersion": 3.1
},
{
"id": "g4",
"name": "OpenAI GPT-5 Mini",
"type": "@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.lmChatOpenAi",
"position": [
544,
256
],
"parameters": {
"model": {
"__rl": true,
"mode": "list",
"value": "gpt-5-mini"
}
},
"typeVersion": 1.3
},
{
"id": "g5",
"name": "Parse Triage Results",
"type": "@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.outputParserStructured",
"position": [
768,
256
],
"parameters": {
"schemaType": "fromJson",
"jsonSchemaExample": "{\"priority\": \"High\", \"category\": \"Sales\", \"needsReply\": true, \"summary\": \"Prospect asking if Pro plan includes support\", \"draftReply\": \"Hi Jane, yes \\u2014 the Pro plan includes priority support. Happy to help!\"}"
},
"typeVersion": 1.3
},
{
"id": "g6",
"name": "Append to Triage Dashboard",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.googleSheets",
"position": [
976,
0
],
"parameters": {
"columns": {
"value": {
"Date": "={{ $now.toFormat('yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm') }}",
"From": "={{ $('When Gmail Email Received').item.json.from }}",
"Subject": "={{ $('When Gmail Email Received').item.json.subject }}",
"Summary": "={{ $('Email Triage Agent').item.json.output.summary }}",
"Category": "={{ $('Email Triage Agent').item.json.output.category }}",
"Priority": "={{ $('Email Triage Agent').item.json.output.priority }}",
"Needs Reply": "={{ $('Email Triage Agent').item.json.output.needsReply }}"
},
"mappingMode": "defineBelow"
},
"options": {},
"resource": "sheet",
"operation": "appendOrUpdate",
"sheetName": {
"__rl": true,
"mode": "list",
"value": ""
},
"documentId": {
"__rl": true,
"mode": "list",
"value": ""
}
},
"typeVersion": 4.7
},
{
"id": "g7",
"name": "Check Reply Necessity",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.if",
"position": [
1248,
0
],
"parameters": {
"conditions": {
"options": {
"version": 2,
"caseSensitive": true,
"typeValidation": "loose"
},
"combinator": "and",
"conditions": [
{
"operator": {
"type": "boolean",
"operation": "true",
"singleValue": true
},
"leftValue": "={{ $('Email Triage Agent').item.json.output.needsReply }}",
"rightValue": true
}
]
}
},
"typeVersion": 2.3
},
{
"id": "g8",
"name": "Draft Email Reply in Gmail",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.gmail",
"position": [
1472,
-112
],
"parameters": {
"message": "={{ $('Email Triage Agent').item.json.output.draftReply }}",
"options": {
"sendTo": "={{ $('When Gmail Email Received').item.json.from }}",
"threadId": "={{ $('When Gmail Email Received').item.json.threadId }}"
},
"subject": "=Re: {{ $('When Gmail Email Received').item.json.subject }}",
"resource": "draft",
"emailType": "text",
"operation": "create"
},
"typeVersion": 2.2
}
],
"connections": {
"OpenAI GPT-5 Mini": {
"ai_languageModel": [
[
{
"node": "Email Triage Agent",
"type": "ai_languageModel",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Email Triage Agent": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "Append to Triage Dashboard",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Parse Triage Results": {
"ai_outputParser": [
[
{
"node": "Email Triage Agent",
"type": "ai_outputParser",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Check Reply Necessity": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "Draft Email Reply in Gmail",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
],
[]
]
},
"When Gmail Email Received": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "Set User Email Preferences",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Append to Triage Dashboard": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "Check Reply Necessity",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Set User Email Preferences": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "Email Triage Agent",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
]
]
}
}
}
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About this workflow
This workflow watches your Gmail inbox for new unread emails, uses OpenAI (GPT-5 Mini) to classify each message by priority and category, logs the triage results to Google Sheets, and creates a Gmail draft reply only when the email needs a personal response. Triggers every…
Source: https://n8n.io/workflows/17232/ — original creator credit. Request a take-down →
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