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Email & Inbox

Multilingual Mail Triage

Detects the language of incoming mail, translates it, and tags it for your team.

Saves about ~3 hrs per week

What it does

  • Detects the language of every incoming email automatically
  • Translates non-English mail into your working language
  • Tags the translated summary into the subject line for at-a-glance triage
  • Keeps the original untouched for your reference

How it works

  1. Email arrives and language is detected
  2. AI translates and summarizes the message
  3. A '[ES — Needs reply]' style tag is added to the subject
  4. Original stays in the thread; translated version is a click away

What's included

  • Language detection
  • Translation prompt
  • Subject tagging rules

Set it up yourself

Follow these 4 steps in order. You will need accounts for: Gmail.

Step 1: Set your working language

  1. Decide the language you want all mail translated into (e.g. English).
  2. In the workflow/script, create a WORKING_LANG constant equal to that language code (en, es, etc.).
  3. Decide the day range you want covered and which accounts/labels to watch.
  4. Note any languages you want to auto-flag as urgent to learn (e.g. if Latin American clients matter, Spanish/Portuguese gets priority).

Watch out: Keep this list short — every extra rule slows processing and increases API cost per message.

Step 2: Add the detect prompt

  1. Build a prompt that asks the AI to return JSON: {langCode, translatedSummary, likelyNeedsReply}.
  2. Set translate target to your WORKING_LANG. Include instruction: one sentence summary, no editorializing.
  3. For the likelyNeedsReply field define rules: mentions of deadlines, payment, or questions → true.
  4. Paste with your API key into the HTTP/HTTP Request step.
  5. Save and dry-run on 5 old emails in different languages to check accuracy.

Watch out: Ask for the source language code explicitly — otherwise the model infers it and names can drift between runs.

Step 3: Configure the subject tag

  1. Choose a tag format your team recognizes: e.g. [ES — Needs reply], [DE — FYI], [ZH — Action].
  2. Instruct the AI to output a short tag used as a subject prefix.
  3. In the workflow, add a step that edits the email subject (Gmail: modify thread; n8n: IMAP move + subject note in the summary field).
  4. For n8n/IMAP where subjects can't be edited, use the digest and the summary field instead.
  5. Test: send yourself an email in Spanish and confirm the tag appears.

Watch out: Subject-line tags clutter the inbox if they stay forever — use Gmail's search to clear or remove tags after 7 days.

Step 4: Test with sample mail

  1. Send test emails in 3 languages you do not read.
  2. Verify each gets a tag and a sensible translated summary.
  3. Verify the original text is untouched in the thread.
  4. Have a bilingual colleague sanity-check one summary against the original.
  5. Once verified, enable the scheduled trigger (every 10 minutes for near-real-time triage).

Watch out: Confirm the script has Gmail modify scope if you chose subject tagging — read-only scope makes the tag silently fail.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Multilingual Mail Triage automation do?

Detects the language of incoming mail, translates it, and tags it for your team. Detects the language of every incoming email automatically

How much time does Multilingual Mail Triage save?

It is estimated to save ~3 hrs per week. Actual savings depend on your volume.

Which tools does Multilingual Mail Triage use?

It works with Gmail.

What does Multilingual Mail Triage include?

Language detection, Translation prompt, Subject tagging rules.

Can I set up Multilingual Mail Triage myself?

Yes. The do-it-yourself guide on this page walks through 4 steps, from getting access to testing the finished automation.