Article

Email Automation Workflows with MCP

Feb 1, 2026•5 min read

Email is where productivity goes to die. The average professional spends 28% of their workweek on email—that's 11+ hours. These MCP workflows cut that time by 50-70%. Real prompts you can copy, real time savings you can measure.

What You Need

  • Claude Desktop installed
  • Gmail connected via MCP
  • (Optional) Google Sheets or Notion for advanced data extraction

Haven't connected Gmail yet? Follow our 5-minute setup guide →

Workflow 1: The Morning Triage

You open your inbox to 40+ emails. Which need attention now? Which can wait? Figuring this out takes 30-45 minutes of "pre-work" before you even start replying.

The Prompt

Review my unread emails from the last 24 hours. Categorize each as: 🔴 **Urgent** (needs response within 2 hours) 🟡 **Today** (needs response today) 🔵 **This Week** (can wait a few days) ⚪ **FYI** (no response needed) List emails in each category with sender and subject. Start with Urgent.

Pro Tip: You can teach Claude your priorities. Add: "Emails from @acme.com are always Urgent" or "Newsletters are always FYI".

Workflow 2: Information Extraction

Copy-pasting data from emails to spreadsheets is the definition of busywork. Whether it's invoices, leads, or bug reports, MCP can parse the messy human text and structure it efficiently.

The Prompt

Use this when you have a batch of similar emails (e.g., "New Lead" notifications).

Find all emails with the subject "New Lead Submission" from the last 7 days. Extract the following details for each: - Name - Company - Budget (if mentioned) - Primary Pain Point Format this as a CSV string that I can copy-paste into Excel.

Advanced Move: If you have the filesystem MCP server enabled, you can change the last line to: "Save this as 'leads.csv' to my Desktop."

Workflow 3: Smart Follow-Ups

Writing a follow-up requires context. You need to remember what was said in the last meeting, checking previous threads, and finding the right tone. Claude does the recall for you.

The Prompt

I need to follow up with [Client Name]. 1. Search my email history with them to see our last conversation. 2. Draft a polite follow-up email checking in on the "Project X Proposal" we sent. 3. Reference the specific concerns they raised in their last email and ask if they've had time to review our answers.

Gmail search is okay. MCP search is semantic. It understands concepts, not just keywords.

The Prompt

Find the email thread where we discussed the "Q3 Marketing Budget". I don't remember the exact subject line, but it was probably between Sarah and me around July or August. Summarize the final decided budget numbers.

Tips for Email MCP Success

Be Specific with Time

Always specify "last 24 hours", "last week", or "since Tuesday". Otherwise, Claude might search your entire history, which is slower.

Trust but Verify

Claude usually gets drafts right, but always read before you send. Check names and specific numbers.

Batch Processing

Ask Claude to "Draft responses for all Urgent emails" in one go, rather than one by one.

Privacy First

Remember, your email data is processed by the API. Follow your company's data policy.

Want these prompts ready to go?

Download our "Email Productivity Pack" - a text file with these prompts optimized for copy-pasting.

Get the Prompts

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