n8nGmail/IMAPOpenAI

Inbound Email Triage with AI Auto-Reply

Use AI to read incoming emails, categorize them, and draft (or send) replies for the common ones.

Difficulty: IntermediateTypical price: $400–$1,200

n8n nodes used

Gmail TriggerOpenAISwitchGmailGoogle Sheets

The problem it solves

Owners spend 1–2 hours a day on email — most of which is repetitive: quote requests, FAQ, scheduling. AI can handle 60–80% of the triage and drafting.

Tools you'll need

Gmail Trigger / IMAP node — watches the inbox
OpenAI node — classifies and drafts replies
Switch node — routes per category
Gmail node — creates drafts or sends
Google Sheets node — logs every email + classification

Build steps in n8n

Check each step as you complete it — your progress is saved automatically in this browser.

0 of 7 steps complete0%

1Add a Gmail Trigger watching a specific label (e.g. 'support').
2Add an OpenAI Chat node with a prompt: classify the email as Quote / Support / Spam / Schedule / Other and return JSON.
3Add a Switch node on the returned category.
4On Quote/Support branches: second OpenAI call to draft a reply using company tone + a pasted FAQ block.
5Gmail node → 'Create Draft' (NOT send) so the owner reviews for the first 2 weeks.
6Append a row to Google Sheets: timestamp, sender, subject, category, draft preview.
7After 2 weeks of clean drafts, flip the FAQ branch from 'Create Draft' to 'Send Email'.

Premade n8n workflow

Skip the setup — download this workflow and import it into your n8n instance.

Download workflow.json

Import in n8n: Workflows → Import from file. Then add your own credentials to each node.

What to charge

$400 for a single-inbox classify + draft setup. $800–$1,200 with multi-inbox, custom FAQ training, and a reporting dashboard.

How to pitch it

"Stop drowning in email. AI reads, sorts, and drafts replies in your inbox — you just review and click send. Most clients save 5–10 hours a week."