Use ChatGPT to Auto-Respond to Emails (and Create Tasks)
As a one-person business, many things are being juggled at once, and usually that means something falls through the cracks. In this case, for me, I am my own bottleneck, especially when it comes to replying to emails in a timely manner. Even though I’ve opened & read the email I never want anyone to feel that I’m “sitting in my inbox”, but then three days go by and it’s still unanswered.
So I’m currently testing out the workflow below, and using ChatGPT to analyze the email, then draft & send a response — as well as create tasks from the email where applicable.
Here’s how to steal it for your own business (watch the video or read the guide below).
(Step 0A) Create Emails Labels or Alias
This workflow is triggered by a new labeled email specifically for projects. You can choose not to do this step, but then the workflow will run for every email that hits your inbox. I recommend either creating a Projects label or an alias like projects@systms.club.
Don’t forget to create sample data with your own info to test this workflow! Write a & send an email from another account you have.
For my use case, I used, “hi! I’m having trouble with my contact form in Tally not adding submissions to Notion. Can you help?”
(Step 0B) Create OpenAI API Subscription
In order to use OpenAI’s API, you need an additional paid subscription for tokens.
go to www.openai.com
login using your ChatPT credentials
open the Default Project dropdown in the top left corner
create a new project (name it Zapier ChatGPT)
(open project)
select Dashboard in top right corner
select API Keys in left-side panel
create new Secret Key (name it Zapier ChatGPT)
copy key (you will not be able to access this again)
select Billing in left-side panel
add payment method
add spend limit (I did $5 + auto-recharge)
Zapier Workflow
The following Zapier workflow uses four apps:
Gmail
Formatter by Zapier
ChatGPT
Step 1 (Trigger): New Labeled Email
Trigger Event: New Email
Configure: (Label or Mailbox)
Step 2: Formatter by Zapier — Name
Setup Event: Text
Configure:
Transform: Split Text
Transform Help: empty
Input: From Name (Gmail)
Separator: add a space ( ) to indicate the split happens after the first word
Step 3: ChatGPT
Action Event: Summarize Text
Configure:
Text to be Summarized: (Gmail)
Body PlainInfo 1: empty
Model: gpt-4o-mini
Max Tokens: 2048
Temp: 1.0
Top P: 1.0
Step 4: Formatter by Zapier — Date
This step will format the date to always be the following day at 10AM.
Action Event: Date / Time
Configure:
Transform: Add/Subtract Time
Input: (Gmail) Date
Expression: + 1 Day
To Format: (copy this) YYYY-MM-DD 10:00
Step 5: Formatter by Zapier — Date
This step formats the date for 1hr after 10AM to use in the calendar step below.
Action Event: Add/Subtract Time
Configure:
Input: Output from Step 4
Expression: +1 hour
To Format: MMMM DD YYYY HH:mm:ss
Step 6: Create Google Calendar
Action Event: Create Detailed Event
Configure:
Calendar (select)
Summary:
[ Task - Summary from Step 3, Name from Step 1 ]Start Date: Step 4 Output
End Date: Step 5 Output
Step 7: ChatGPT
This step reviews and drafts a response to the initial email.
Action Event: Conversation with Assistant
Configure:
Message: Step 1 Raw Snippet
Response Instructions: draft prompt
My prompt is: draft an appropriate email response but do not include a sign-off. if applicable include language that we will complete the request as soon as possible.
Step 8: Gmail
Action Event: Reply to Email
Configure:
Thread: Step 1 ID
To: Step 1 Email
From: add your email
From Name: customize optional
Body: Step 7 Response Parts
And that’s it! This workflow is simple and effective for using ChatGPT to review incoming emails, draft & send replies, and create tasks on your calendar based on the email content.
Written By: Sara Loretta
👋🏼 Sara Loretta is the Chief Digital Architect & Founder @ _systms™ — she’s also the 10th US Certified Notion Consultant, and 1st Certified Paperform Expert. Through her work and creatorship, Sara is focused on connecting and educating teams on tech, workflows, and all the ways they can optimize their business to scale.
Need help getting started? Talk to us.
