Important email alerts for the few emails that can't wait
Turning off email notifications helps you focus, until you miss the one email that mattered. This recurring to-do has your todo.is agent check your Gmail on a schedule and message you on WhatsApp or Telegram only when an email matches your rules: a key client, an offer letter, a payment problem, or anything truly urgent.
The prompt
- Every [HOW OFTEN] between [ACTIVE HOURS], check my Gmail for new emails and send me an alert on [WHERE TO SEND] only if an email is important. Important means: [MY RULES]. Also alert me if an email clearly asks for action within 24 hours or mentions a payment failure, account lock or security warning from a service I use. For each alert send: sender, subject, a two-line summary and the deadline if any, with a link to the email. Group several alerts into one message. Do not alert me about newsletters, promotions or [NEVER ALERT]. If nothing is important, send nothing. Outside active hours, save alerts for one message at the start of the next window.
What to change
- [HOW OFTEN]: e.g. "hour" or "30 minutes". Each check uses a few AI credits.
- [ACTIVE HOURS]: e.g. "8:00 and 20:00 on weekdays".
- [WHERE TO SEND]: WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack or Discord.
- [MY RULES]: e.g. "emails from my boss Dana or @clientco.com, anything from my kids' school, job offers or interview invites, and anything with 'urgent' from a real person".
- [NEVER ALERT]: e.g. "calendar acceptances, GitHub and Jira notifications".
Example result
- Alert, 14:00
- 1 important email out of 12 new.
- From: Rui Costa, Halden Foods (client)
- Subject: Contract signature needed today
- Summary: Their legal team approved the contract. Rui needs your e-signature by 17:00 so the project can start Monday.
- Deadline: today, 17:00
- Link: open the email in Gmail
- Alert, 11:00 (earlier today)
- 2 important emails
- 1. Greenfield Primary School, "Early pickup today": classes end at 13:00 because of a staff training day. Pickup by 13:15.
- 2. Northline Bank, "Card payment declined": a payment of 54.00 to Cloudnest was declined. Check in your banking app, not through links in the email.
- What was not sent
- Other emails today (all ignored by your rules): 23 promotions, 9 calendar acceptances, 6 Jira notifications, 4 newsletters, 3 team FYI threads.
- Rules in use
- • Always: Dana, anyone at @clientco.com and @haldenfoods.com, Greenfield school
- • Always: job offers, interview invites, payment failures, account and security warnings
- • Never: newsletters, promotions, calendar acceptances, GitHub, Jira
- • Active 8:00 to 20:00 on weekdays. Night alerts wait until 8:00.
How to do it with todo.is
- Connect Google in todo.is so your agent can check your Gmail.
- Copy the prompt and write your rules in plain words: who and what is important to you.
- Paste it into todo.is. It runs on your schedule and only messages you when something matches.
- If you get a false alarm or miss one, tell your agent ("never alert for Jira") and it updates the rules.
Tips for a better result
- Start strict, with only a few senders and topics. It is easier to add rules than to calm a noisy alert.
- Hourly checks are enough for most people. Every 15 minutes costs more credits and rarely changes much.
- Security and payment warnings can be phishing. Open the service's app or website yourself, not the link in the email.
- Pair it with a daily email digest so the less urgent emails still get a look once a day.
important email alerts: FAQ
- How do I get notified only for important emails in Gmail? Gmail can notify you for emails it marks as important, but you have little control over the rules. Your todo.is agent checks your inbox and alerts you only for the senders and topics you choose.
- Can I get Gmail alerts on WhatsApp or Telegram? Yes. Your agent sends the alert as a message on WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack or Discord, with a short summary and a link to the email.
- Is it instant like push notifications? No. It checks on the schedule you set, like every 30 minutes or every hour. For most important emails, that is fast enough.
- Does the agent read all my emails? It looks at new emails to apply your rules and only sends you the ones that match. The results stay in your own agent workspace.
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