Email Automation with OpenClaw: Inbox Zero and Beyond

Introduction

Email overload is a universal problem. The average professional receives 120+ emails per day, spending hours managing their inbox. OpenClaw transforms email from a time-consuming chore into an automated system that works for you.

With OpenClaw, you can achieve inbox zero without spending hours each day. It categorizes emails, drafts replies, unsubscribes from newsletters, flags important messages, and sends you daily digests—all automatically. This guide shows you how to set up comprehensive email automation with OpenClaw.

Setting Up Email Integration

Gmail Setup

Connect OpenClaw to Gmail:

# Gmail IMAP configuration
EMAIL_PROVIDER=gmail
EMAIL_ADDRESS=your.email@gmail.com
EMAIL_PASSWORD=your_app_password
EMAIL_IMAP_HOST=imap.gmail.com
EMAIL_IMAP_PORT=993

Note: Use an App Password instead of your regular Gmail password for security.

Outlook Setup

For Outlook/Office 365:

EMAIL_PROVIDER=outlook
EMAIL_ADDRESS=your.email@outlook.com
EMAIL_PASSWORD=your_password
EMAIL_IMAP_HOST=outlook.office365.com
EMAIL_IMAP_PORT=993

Generic IMAP Setup

For any IMAP email provider:

EMAIL_PROVIDER=imap
EMAIL_ADDRESS=your.email@domain.com
EMAIL_PASSWORD=your_password
EMAIL_IMAP_HOST=mail.domain.com
EMAIL_IMAP_PORT=993
EMAIL_IMAP_SECURE=true

Achieving Inbox Zero

OpenClaw can automatically process your inbox to achieve inbox zero.

Automatic Email Processing

Check and Process Inbox:

You: "Process my inbox"
OpenClaw: "Processing inbox...
           
           📧 47 new emails
           
           ✅ Categorized:
           - Important: 8 emails
           - Newsletters: 23 emails
           - Social: 5 emails
           - Promotions: 11 emails
           
           ✅ Actions taken:
           - Replied to 3 urgent emails
           - Archived 15 non-urgent emails
           - Unsubscribed from 5 newsletters
           - Flagged 2 emails for your review
           
           📊 Inbox status: 2 emails need your attention"

Smart Categorization

OpenClaw automatically categorizes emails:

• Important — Urgent, from key contacts, action required
• Newsletters — Subscriptions, updates, marketing
• Social — Social media notifications, friend requests
• Promotions — Sales, deals, offers
• Spam — Junk mail, phishing attempts
• Archive — Reference material, completed items

Custom Categories

Define your own categories:

email_categories:
  work:
    keywords: ["project", "meeting", "deadline"]
    senders: ["boss@company.com", "team@company.com"]
  
  personal:
    keywords: ["family", "friends", "personal"]
    senders: ["family@domain.com"]
  
  finance:
    keywords: ["invoice", "payment", "receipt", "bank"]
    senders: ["billing@", "payments@"]

Auto-Reply and Draft Generation

OpenClaw can draft replies automatically.

Automatic Reply Drafting

Simple Replies:

You: "Draft replies to all emails that need responses"
OpenClaw: "Drafted 5 replies:
           
           1. Re: Meeting Request
               Draft: "Thanks for the meeting request. I'm available 
               Tuesday at 2pm or Wednesday at 10am. Which works?"
               
           2. Re: Project Update
               Draft: "Great progress! I'll review the changes and 
               provide feedback by end of day."
               
           ... (3 more drafts)
           
           Review and send? Or should I auto-send simple confirmations?"

Context-Aware Replies

OpenClaw considers context when drafting:

• Previous conversations — References past emails
• Your preferences — Uses your communication style
• Email content — Responds appropriately to tone and content
• Urgency — Prioritizes urgent emails

Approval Workflow

Set up approval workflows:

# Auto-send simple replies
AUTO_SEND_SIMPLE_REPLIES=true

# Require approval for important emails
REQUIRE_APPROVAL_FOR=important,work,finance

Newsletter Management

OpenClaw excels at managing newsletters and subscriptions.

Automatic Unsubscription

Unsubscribe from Newsletters:

You: "Unsubscribe from all newsletters I don't read"
OpenClaw: "Analyzing newsletter subscriptions...
           
           Found 23 newsletters:
           - 8 you read regularly (keeping)
           - 15 you rarely open (unsubscribing)
           
           Unsubscribing from:
           - Daily Deals Newsletter
           - Tech News Roundup
           - Marketing Tips Weekly
           ... (12 more)
           
           ✅ Unsubscribed from 15 newsletters
           📧 Remaining: 8 active subscriptions"

Newsletter Digest

Get a daily digest of newsletters:

You: "Send me a daily newsletter digest"
OpenClaw: "📧 Daily Newsletter Digest - Jan 25, 2026
           
           📰 Tech News (3 articles):
           - AI Breakthrough in Healthcare
           - New JavaScript Framework Released
           - Cloud Computing Trends 2026
           
           💼 Business Updates (2 articles):
           - Q4 Earnings Report
           - Market Analysis
           
           🎯 Personal Interest (1 article):
           - Photography Tips
           
           Full articles available in your newsletter folder."

Smart Newsletter Filtering

OpenClaw can:

• Extract key points — Summarize newsletter content
• Flag interesting articles — Highlight articles you might want to read
• Archive automatically — Move read newsletters to archive
• Track reading habits — Learn which newsletters you actually read

Important Email Detection

OpenClaw identifies and flags important emails automatically.

Priority Detection

Check Important Emails:

You: "What important emails do I have?"
OpenClaw: "🔴 High Priority (3 emails):
           
           1. From: CEO
              Subject: Urgent: Board Meeting Prep
              Received: 2 hours ago
              Action: Review presentation slides
              
           2. From: Client
              Subject: Contract Renewal - Action Required
              Received: 1 hour ago
              Action: Sign contract by EOD
              
           3. From: Bank
              Subject: Unusual Activity Detected
              Received: 30 minutes ago
              Action: Verify account activity
           
           🟡 Medium Priority (5 emails):
           - Meeting requests
           - Project updates
           - Team communications"

Smart Flagging

OpenClaw flags emails based on:

• Sender importance — Key contacts, VIPs
• Keywords — Urgent, important, action required
• Content analysis — Detects urgency and importance
• Your patterns — Learns what you consider important

Daily Email Digest

Get a comprehensive daily email summary.

Morning Digest

Request Daily Digest:

You: "Send me my daily email digest"
OpenClaw: "📧 Daily Email Digest - January 25, 2026
           
           📊 Summary:
           - Total emails: 47
           - Important: 8
           - Replied: 12
           - Archived: 27
           
           🔴 Requires Your Attention (3):
           1. Contract renewal - Client ABC
           2. Budget approval - Finance team
           3. Interview request - HR
           
           ✅ Handled Automatically (12):
           - Meeting confirmations (5)
           - Newsletter subscriptions (3)
           - Routine inquiries (4)
           
           📅 Today's Schedule (from emails):
           - 10am: Team standup
           - 2pm: Client call
           - 4pm: Project review
           
           💡 Suggestions:
           - 5 emails can be archived
           - 2 newsletters to unsubscribe
           - 1 follow-up needed from yesterday"

Automated Daily Digest

Set up automatic daily digests:

# Send digest every morning at 8am
DAILY_DIGEST_ENABLED=true
DAILY_DIGEST_TIME=08:00
DAILY_DIGEST_CHANNEL=whatsapp

Advanced Email Automation

Email Rules and Filters

Create custom email rules:

email_rules:
  - name: "Auto-archive old promotions"
    condition: "category == 'promotions' AND age > 7 days"
    action: "archive"
  
  - name: "Forward invoices to finance"
    condition: "subject contains 'invoice' OR 'receipt'"
    action: "forward to finance@company.com"
  
  - name: "Auto-reply to out-of-office"
    condition: "subject contains 'out of office'"
    action: "reply with template: 'Thanks for your email. I'm currently out of office and will respond when I return on [date].'"

Email Templates

Create reusable email templates:

email_templates:
  meeting_request:
    subject: "Meeting Request: {{topic}}"
    body: |
      Hi {{name}},
      
      I'd like to schedule a meeting to discuss {{topic}}.
      I'm available:
      - {{date1}} at {{time1}}
      - {{date2}} at {{time2}}
      
      Let me know what works for you.
      
      Best,
      {{your_name}}
  
  follow_up:
    subject: "Following up on {{previous_subject}}"
    body: |
      Hi {{name}},
      
      Just following up on our previous conversation about {{topic}}.
      {{custom_message}}
      
      Best,
      {{your_name}}

Email Scheduling

Schedule emails to be sent later:

You: "Draft an email to John about the project, send it Monday morning"
OpenClaw: "✅ Drafted email to John:
           
           Subject: Project Update
           Body: [draft content]
           
           Scheduled to send: Monday, Jan 27 at 9:00 AM
           
           You can review and edit before it sends."

Email Search and Retrieval

Quickly find emails using natural language.

Natural Language Search

You: "Find emails from Sarah about the budget"
OpenClaw: "Found 12 emails from Sarah about budget:
           
           1. Budget Review Q4 (Jan 15)
           2. Budget Approval Needed (Jan 10)
           3. Budget Discussion (Dec 20)
           ... (9 more)
           
           Most recent: Budget Review Q4
           Should I open it?"

Smart Email Retrieval

You: "Show me the invoice from last month"
OpenClaw: "Found invoice emails from December:
           
           - Invoice #1234 - Vendor ABC ($5,000) - Dec 15
           - Invoice #1235 - Vendor XYZ ($2,300) - Dec 20
           - Invoice #1236 - Vendor DEF ($1,800) - Dec 28
           
           Which invoice do you need?"

Integration with Other Tools

OpenClaw can integrate email with other productivity tools.

Calendar Integration

You: "Add meetings from emails to my calendar"
OpenClaw: "Found 3 meeting requests in emails:
           
           ✅ Added to calendar:
           - Team Standup - Monday 10am
           - Client Call - Wednesday 2pm
           - Project Review - Friday 4pm
           
           All meetings added with email context."

Task Management

You: "Create tasks from action items in emails"
OpenClaw: "Extracted action items from emails:
           
           ✅ Created tasks:
           - Review contract (from email: Contract Renewal)
           - Prepare presentation (from email: Board Meeting Prep)
           - Follow up with client (from email: Project Update)
           
           All tasks linked to source emails."

Best Practices

Privacy and Security

• Use app-specific passwords
• Encrypt email credentials
• Limit email access scope
• Regularly review email permissions

Gradual Automation

• Start with categorization
• Add auto-replies gradually
• Test unsubscribe features carefully
• Monitor automation effectiveness

Regular Review

• Review flagged emails daily
• Check auto-replies weekly
• Adjust rules based on patterns
• Update templates as needed

Troubleshooting

Email Not Syncing

Issue: Emails not appearing in OpenClaw

Solutions:

1. Verify IMAP credentials
2. Check email provider settings
3. Ensure IMAP is enabled
4. Check firewall/network settings

Auto-Reply Issues

Issue: Auto-replies not sending

Solutions:

1. Verify SMTP configuration
2. Check sender permissions
3. Review email provider limits
4. Test with manual send first

Conclusion

OpenClaw transforms email management from a daily burden into an automated system that works for you. Achieve inbox zero, automatically categorize emails, draft replies, manage newsletters, and get daily digests—all from your chat app.

Start with basic categorization and gradually add automation features. The key is identifying patterns in your email that OpenClaw can handle automatically, freeing you to focus on important communications.

For setup instructions, check out our installation guide and integrations page. Explore more email automation tips or visit our FAQ for common questions.