The Inbox Sorter for your front desk inbox
The front desk inbox holds appointment requests, refill requests, records requests and vendor mail, and now and then a message from someone whose pet is in trouble. Save the emails as text files, list your categories and which ones get a draft, and the Inbox Sorter sorts each email, rates its urgency and drafts replies only where you say. It doesn't read your mailbox, it sends nothing, and it runs on your computer with your own AI key. It's not a way to handle an emergency, because an emergency belongs on the phone.
We'll help you set it up. Setup and support are included.
What you'll need first
Set up: Python, version 3.11 or newer, on your own machine.
What this looks like in your business
In the sample, an email from a client whose dog ate something from the trash and has been vomiting is sorted as Urgent medical, urgency high, with no draft, because the category note says "A person reads these first. Never draft. Emergencies need a phone call." The refill request gets a draft that says it has been passed to the team and a doctor has to approve it. None of the three drafts in the sample gives medical advice, since only a vet does. The sorter doesn't alert anyone, so the urgent list is only useful if a person reads it first.
What goes in and what comes out
What you put in
SAMPLE ON MADE-UP DATA categories.csv
SAMPLE ON MADE-UP DATA. From the file categories.csv, lines 1 to 6. category,draft,note Appointment request,yes,Say the front desk will confirm a time. Ask for the pet's name and the reason for the visit if missing. Don't give medical advice. Refill request,yes,Say the request has been passed to the team and a doctor has to approve it. Don't promise a refill. Urgent medical,no,A person reads these first. Never draft. Emergencies need a phone call. Records request,no, Vendor,no,FICTIONAL SAMPLE DATA. Invented clinic Sample Oakridge Veterinary Clinic.
What comes out
SAMPLE ON MADE-UP DATA sorted.csv
SAMPLE ON MADE-UP DATA. From the file sorted.csv, lines 1 to 8. Every file the package writes starts with a DRAFT line that names the run, the provider and the exact model. It's shown here as written. DRAFT run=20261019T211350Z-dbe1f7 template=inbox-sorter version=1.0.4 provider=openai model=gpt-6-luna input_sha256=f6521523fd4a2426fe8d0d0bb58a63671d029f857ad149de29881c3f74abe839 file_number,sender,subject,category,urgency,summary 001,Wilhelmina Cobb <wilhelmina.cobb@example.com>,Vaccines for Biscuit,Appointment request,normal,Wilhelmina asks about an appointment next week for Biscuit’s yearly shots and prefers a quiet morning time. 002,Anselm Dyer <anselm.dyer@example.com>,Refill for Mochi's thyroid pills,Refill request,high,Anselm asks for a refill of Mochi’s thyroid pills and says she has about four days left. 003,Peregrine Lund <peregrine.lund@example.com>,Our dog got into something,Urgent medical,high,"Juniper ate something from the trash, has been vomiting and quiet, and Peregrine asks whether to bring her in." 004,Octavia Brandt <octavia.brandt@example.com>,Records for our move,Records request,normal,Octavia asks to send Pickle's records to their new vet and whether she needs to sign a form. 005,Sample Pawsupply Distribution <orders@example.com>,Your order ships Thursday,Vendor,low,The vendor says the exam gloves and flea preventive ship Thursday and asks the recipient to check the packing slip. 006,Thaddeus Marlow <thaddeus.marlow@example.com>,Can I move Clover's dental cleaning?,Appointment request,normal,"Thaddeus asks to move Clover’s dental cleaning on the 22nd to the following week, any day except Tuesday."
The settings you change
Settings are few. In config.json, pick the provider and check the model name. In template_settings, categories_file names your categories file, categories.csv unless you change it, and max_draft_chars keeps a draft short, 1500 characters by default. The real work is in categories.csv: the header category,draft,note, then your rows. The sample front desk has Appointment request and Refill request marked yes, and Urgent medical, Records request and Vendor marked no. The note on Urgent medical, "A person reads these first. Never draft. Emergencies need a phone call.", is the line to copy. Save each email as .txt or .eml straight in the input folder. Attachments are not read.
Before you buy
What it won't do
- It won't connect to your email account.
- It won't read your inbox, and it won't answer your customers from it.
- It won't send anything.
- It won't promise a price, a date or a refund in a draft.
- It sorts and drafts, and that's all. The AI can put an email in the wrong category, so skim the list, and read each draft before you use any of it.
- For this trade: it's not a way to handle an emergency, and it gives no medical advice. An urgent email can still land in the wrong category, and nothing alerts your staff, so the phone number on your door and your voicemail still have to say that emergencies need a call.
What you bring
- Set up: Python, version 3.11 or newer, on your own machine.
- Account: an AI provider key in your name; this page's sample came from OpenAI.
- Files: front desk emails saved as .txt or .eml, and categories.csv.
- Emails and category notes are sent to one place, the AI company you chose, and nowhere else.
- Your API key stays in a setting on your computer. The package never saves it, and it goes only to the AI provider you choose, never to us.
Questions you might have
Can I rely on it to catch an emergency email?
No. In the sample it caught the dog that ate something from the trash and rated it high, but the AI can put an email in the wrong category, and nothing in this template alerts anyone. Your phone message and your website have to say that emergencies need a call, and a person has to read the urgent list first.
A client asks for a refill on thyroid pills. What does the draft say?
That the request has been passed to the team and a doctor needs to approve it, with no promise of a refill. That is what your Refill request note asks for. In the sample, the email also said the client would pick the pills up on Friday, and the draft doesn't confirm that.
Will it give medical advice to a worried pet owner?
No. The three drafts in the sample, two for appointments and one for a refill, give no medical advice. The note on Appointment request says not to, and Urgent medical gets no draft at all. Only a vet gives medical advice, and nothing here replaces that.
My records requests need a signed form. Does it handle them?
It sorts them and stops there. In the sample, the email asking to send a pet's records to a new vet landed in Records request, rated normal, with no draft, because your category says no. Nothing is sent and no form is made.
Where to go next
$29, one time
- Separately, your AI provider charges you for what you run.
We'll help you set it up. Setup and support are included.