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Email & Inbox

VIP Sender Alerts

The moment a VIP contact emails you, you get pinged on Slack — even during deep work.

Saves about ~2 hrs per week

What it does

  • Watches for mail from your VIP list: key clients, leads, and family
  • Pings Slack (or SMS) instantly when a VIP email lands
  • Includes a one-line AI summary so you know if it's urgent
  • Lets everything else sit until your regular inbox time

How it works

  1. Email arrives from a contact on the VIP list
  2. Trigger fires and checks the sender against the VIP roster
  3. AI summarizes the message in one line
  4. Slack notification arrives with the summary

What's included

  • VIP list template
  • Slack alert wiring
  • One-line summary prompt

Set it up yourself

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

Step 1: Build your VIP list

  1. Create a Google Sheet named "VIP Senders".
  2. Column A: Email address (one per row). Column B: Name or note (e.g. "Acme — big client").
  3. Add every address that deserves an instant ping: key clients, hot leads, your family.
  4. Copy the sheet ID from the URL.

Watch out: Only exact addresses match (it does not do fuzzy matching) — add aliases and variations as separate rows.

Step 2: Set up the Gmail trigger

  1. In Google Cloud, enable the Gmail API and create OAuth client credentials as shown in the inbox triage guide.
  2. Open https://script.google.com and create the project vip-sender-alerts.
  3. Paste the guide's script into Code.gs.
  4. Add the Script Property SPREADSHEET_ID with your VIP sheet's ID; add SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL later.
  5. Save, then run the `authorize` helper once and approve the scopes.

Watch out: Use a Gmail filter as an extra guard if you want: create filter matching your VIP addresses → "Apply label VIP" — then the script can watch that label, which is faster than scanning the whole inbox.

Step 3: Add the summary prompt

  1. Find the SUMMARY_PROMPT constant in the script.
  2. Replace it with: "Summarize this email in one line for an urgent-decision maker. Format: [Sender name] — [what the email asks or needs, max 15 words]. If no action is needed say 'just FYI'."
  3. Save.
  4. In Project Settings add AI_API_KEY and AI_MODEL script properties with your provider's key and model name.

Watch out: The summary should stay under 1,000 tokens so the Slack ping is instant — do not ask for paragraphs.

Step 4: Connect Slack

  1. Go to https://api.slack.com/apps → "Create New App" → "From scratch".
  2. Name it vip-alerts, pick your workspace, and Create.
  3. In the app settings, open "Incoming Webhooks" and toggle it on.
  4. Click "Add New Webhook to Workspace", choose the channel (e.g. #vip) and click Allow.
  5. Copy the webhook URL and paste it into the script's SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL property.
  6. Set the trigger to run `checkVipMail` every 5 minutes, and test by emailing yourself from a VIP address.

Watch out: If the webhook is greyed out, your workspace admin has restricted app install — ask them for approval.

Frequently asked questions

What does the VIP Sender Alerts automation do?

The moment a VIP contact emails you, you get pinged on Slack — even during deep work. Watches for mail from your VIP list: key clients, leads, and family

How much time does VIP Sender Alerts save?

It is estimated to save ~2 hrs per week. Actual savings depend on your volume.

Which tools does VIP Sender Alerts use?

It works with Gmail and Slack.

What does VIP Sender Alerts include?

VIP list template, Slack alert wiring, One-line summary prompt.

Can I set up VIP Sender Alerts myself?

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