Gmail Inbox Architect — Example Project Roadmap

Note: This is a sanitized example showing the structure and decisions produced by a completed Phase 1 + Phase 2 run of the Gmail Inbox Architect plugin. Replace bracketed placeholders with your own project values.

Status: Phase 1 complete, Phase 2 deployed, Phase 3 planning

What's Done

Phase 1 — Filter Activation (Complete)

[N] Gmail filters live across [M] label trees (Support, Finance, Notifications, Operations, Vendors, Clients/Resellers, Development, Marketing, Personal, Sales, Travel)
[N] new Gmail labels created
Master Tracker tracking all rules: Tracker.xlsx

Phase 2 — Apps Script Attachment Scanner (Complete)

Deployed: scanDocumentationAttachments() — hourly trigger
Catches .STP/.STEP files and diagram+PDF combos → applies Documentation label
Guard label Z-Archive/DocScan (hidden) prevents re-scanning
No star/Studio trigger — verification-only in current form

Cleanup Completed

✅ [Example: mark-read enabled for a high-volume noise sender]
✅ [Example: legacy label backfilled and deprecated]

Open Backlog

Immediate / Low Effort

Item	Notes
Delete deprecated legacy label	Label is empty after backfill. Remove when ready.
`! Rule Needed` periodic review	Run with architect agent when label accumulates candidates
Deferred rule (e.g. seasonal vendor)	Held at `do_not_automate_yet`. Revisit when activity resumes.

Apps Script Extensions (Medium Effort)

Document Type	Detection Pattern	Target Label
Vendor invoices	`filename: /inv[-_]\d+\.pdf/i`	Finance/Invoices-Vendor-Payable
Purchase orders	`filename: /po[-_\s]?\d+\|purchase.order/i`	Finance/Purchase-Orders
Signed contracts	`filename: /signed\|executed/i` + PDF	Documentation
Shipping manifests	`filename: /manifest\|packing.list/i`	Vendors/Shipping
Quotes/proposals	`filename: /quote\|proposal\|rfq/i` + PDF	Sales/Quotes

Phase 3 — Real-Time Studio Integration (Future)

Item	Notes
Gmail `watch()` API	Pub/Sub + webhook for near-real-time Apps Script triggering
AI processing layer	Route starred/queued messages through Claude for triage
Morning brief integration	Pull high-signal classified mail into daily brief

! Rule Needed Process

What it is: A Gmail label applied manually when an email arrives that should have an automated rule but doesn't.

Review cadence: Ad hoc — run when label accumulates enough candidates.

Session flow:

Pull all messages in ! Rule Needed
Review senders, subjects, patterns
Determine: gmail_filter_safe or apps_script_needed?
Draft rules, add to Tracker, deploy
Remove ! Rule Needed label from processed threads

Key Decisions on Record

apps_script_needed = attachment filename inspection only. Multi-domain OR queries are gmail_filter_safe — Gmail's query field handles these natively.
Studio timing constraint: Stars applied by Apps Script don't trigger Studio flows. Star must come from a Gmail filter at receipt time. Apps Script stars are schedule-driven, not receipt-driven.
Single-label-per-filter: Required to avoid Gmail API rate limits on parallel creation.
Participant-domain pattern: from:(domain.com) OR to:(domain.com) OR cc:(domain.com) — use for business relationships. From-only for inbound-only services (card issuers, SaaS).
End-customer domains: Do not auto-rule domains that appear adjacent to a client without confirming the relationship is consistent. Flag with ! Rule Needed first.

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