Gmail Classify

Classification Workflow

Step 1: Fetch Emails

gog gmail search 'newer_than:${DAYS}d -label:classified' --json

Exclude already-classified emails to avoid re-processing.

Step 2: Analyze Each Email

For each email, analyze:

1. Sender Analysis

   • Domain reputation (newsletter service? company?)
   • Sender name format (person vs system)
   • Reply-to address

2. Subject Analysis

   • Keywords (order, invoice, newsletter, etc.)
   • Format (numbered list? FW:? RE:?)
   • Tone (formal, casual, marketing)

3. Content Indicators

   • Unsubscribe link presence
   • Tracking numbers
   • Financial amounts
   • Personal greetings

Step 3: Classify with Confidence

Assign category with confidence level:

Step 4: Apply Labels

For high-confidence classifications:

# Ensure label exists
gog gmail labels list --json
gog gmail labels create "CategoryName"

# Apply label
gog gmail modify <message-id> --add-label <label-id>

Step 5: Report Results

## Classification Report

**Period**: Last 7 days
**Emails Analyzed**: 142
**Classifications Made**: 128
**Skipped (low confidence)**: 14

### Summary by Category

| Category | Count | % of Total |
|----------|-------|------------|
| Newsletters | 45 | 35% |
| Notifications | 32 | 25% |
| Shopping | 18 | 14% |
| Work | 15 | 12% |
| Personal | 12 | 9% |
| Receipts | 6 | 5% |

### High-Confidence Classifications (Auto-labeled)
- 98 emails across all categories

### Low-Confidence (Manual Review Needed)
1. "Meeting notes from John" - Work or Personal?
2. "Your weekly summary" - Newsletter or Notification?
...

### Suggested Filters

Based on this analysis, create permanent filters:
1. `/gmail-filter create @substack.com Newsletters --archive`
2. `/gmail-filter create @github.com Notifications`

Classification Signals

Newsletter Signals

• Sender: newsletter@, digest@, weekly@
• Domains: substack.com, mailchimp.com, beehiiv.com
• Content: "unsubscribe", "view in browser"
• Subject: "Weekly", "Digest", "Newsletter"

Shopping Signals

• Subject: "order", "shipped", "delivered", "tracking"
• Sender: orders@, shipping@, noreply@
• Content: Order numbers, tracking links

Work Signals

• Sender: Company domain match
• Content: Project names, professional terminology
• CC: Multiple company addresses

Personal Signals

• Sender: In contacts, personal domain
• Content: Casual language, personal topics
• No marketing footers

Notification Signals

• Sender: notifications@, alerts@, noreply@
• Subject: [GitHub], [Slack], calendar patterns
• Content: Action buttons, status updates

Receipt Signals

• Subject: "receipt", "invoice", "payment"
• Content: Dollar amounts, transaction IDs
• Sender: billing@, receipts@

Dry Run Mode

Preview classifications without applying:

/gmail-classify --dry-run

Shows what would be classified without making changes.

Error Handling

• No emails found: Suggest widening date range
• Label creation fails: Check permissions
• API rate limit: Pause and resume
• Classification uncertain: Flag for user review

See Also

• references/categories.md - Detailed category definitions
• /gmail-analyze - Pattern analysis (faster, simpler)
• /gmail-filter - Create permanent rules from classifications