Turn Gmail action items into an AI to-do list
From the linked report, the poster assembled a Chrome extension that reads Gmail and uses AI to turn emails into a clean, prioritized to-do list, aimed at buried action items in threads, invites, and follow-ups. The setup is deliberately low-friction: install it and it works, with no signup, no manual copying, and no way for the maker to contact users because there are no logins. After 18 days, the extension had 47 organic users and later the maker mentioned a first sale of $2.
- Agent or tool
- Custom agent
- Topic
- Email & Inbox
- Reported on
- Added
- 2026-10-15
Why it matters
Email is where a lot of admin quietly piles up. An agent that can read, sort, draft and follow up turns an inbox from a to-do list into something closer to a summary. It is one of 106 sightings filed under Email & Inbox on Agent Sightings (number 37 by interest), and one of 182 involving Custom agent.
How you could try it
Here is a reusable prompt, written by us in our own words, that captures the task. Paste it into your own agent or any similar agent and adjust the details to your situation.
Go through my mail for this goal: turn Gmail action items into an AI to-do list. Propose labels, drafts, and unsubscribes as a checklist; change nothing until I approve.
Tip: Start with read-only access or 'draft, don't send', and check a few drafts before trusting it to send anything.
Source
Read the original first-hand account on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/productivity/comments/1rvcc9v/i_built_a_chrome_extensi…. Our summary is a paraphrase; details are in the source.
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