sales-inbox-zero

What this skill does

# Inbox Zero Platform Help

## Step 1 — Gather context

If `references/learnings.md` exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. **What are you trying to do with Inbox Zero?**
   - A) Set up Inbox Zero for the first time (hosted or self-hosted)
   - B) Fix inbox organization / mislabeled emails
   - C) Improve AI draft quality (sounds robotic, wrong tone)
   - D) Build automation rules (plain-English or API/CLI)
   - E) Bulk unsubscribe or archive
   - F) Compare Inbox Zero to alternatives
   - G) Self-hosting or Docker deployment issues
   - H) Something else — describe it

2. **Which email provider?**
   - A) Gmail / Google Workspace
   - B) Outlook / Microsoft 365
   - C) Other (IMAP — limited support)

3. **Which plan are you on (or considering)?**
   - A) Free trial (haven't decided yet)
   - B) Starter ($18/mo) — single account, basic automation
   - C) Plus ($28/mo) — 2 accounts, Slack, attachments
   - D) Professional ($42/mo) — team analytics, priority support
   - E) Self-hosted (free, BYO infrastructure)

**If the user's request already provides most of this context, skip directly to the relevant step.** Lead with your best-effort answer using reasonable assumptions (stated explicitly), then ask only the most critical 1-2 clarifying questions at the end.

## Step 2 — Route or answer directly

If the request maps to another skill, route:
- Choosing a meeting note-taker → "Run: `/sales-note-taker {user's original question}`"
- AI executive assistant comparison (alfred_ etc.) → "Run: `/sales-alfred {user's original question}`"
- CRM integration strategy → "Run: `/sales-integration {user's original question}`"
- General email deliverability → "Run: `/sales-deliverability {user's original question}`"

Otherwise, answer directly from the platform reference below.

## Step 3 — Inbox Zero platform reference

**Read `references/platform-guide.md`** for the full platform reference — capabilities, pricing, data model, API endpoints, CLI usage, self-hosting, and integration recipes.

Answer the user's question using only the relevant section. Don't dump the full reference.

## Step 4 — Actionable guidance

You no longer need the platform guide — focus on the user's specific situation.

**For improving draft quality:**
1. Send more emails manually — Inbox Zero learns from your sent history
2. Add context to your knowledge base (Plus+ only) — company info, style guides
3. Always review drafts before sending — the AI never auto-sends
4. Calendar integration improves drafts by factoring in your schedule

**For fixing automation rules:**
1. Write rules in plain English — be specific about conditions and actions
2. Test rules on a few emails before enabling broadly
3. Check the rule execution log to see which rules fired
4. If rules conflict, reorder by priority — first matching rule wins

**For self-hosting decisions:**
1. Self-hosting is free but requires Docker, Node.js v24+, PostgreSQL, and Google/Microsoft OAuth setup
2. You need Google PubSub for real-time Gmail push notifications — this is the most common setup failure
3. The hosted version ($18+/mo) skips all infrastructure complexity
4. Self-hosted gets the same features but you manage updates and uptime

If you discover a gotcha, workaround, or tip not covered in `references/learnings.md`, append it there.

## Gotchas

*Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about plan-gated features and integration gotchas that may be outdated.*

- **Gmail and Outlook only (hosted).** Despite being open-source, the hosted version only supports Gmail and Outlook. IMAP/SMTP support is the #1 requested feature but not yet shipped. Self-hosted users can attempt IMAP but it's experimental.
- **No Zapier, no Make, no MCP server.** The only programmatic interfaces are the REST API and CLI. If you need iPaaS connectivity, you'll need to build a custom webhook bridge.
- **Slack integration requires Plus ($28/mo).** Starter plan has no messaging integrations.
- **Attachment auto-filing requires Plus ($28/mo).** Google Drive and OneDrive filing is plan-gated.
- **Self-hosting requires Google PubSub.** The most common deployment failure is missing `GOOGLE_PUBSUB_TOPIC_NAME` — without it, real-time email processing won't work for Gmail.
- **API is rules + analytics only.** You cannot read/send/archive emails via the API — it manages automation rules and retrieves inbox stats.
- **Self-improving**: If you discover something not covered here, append it to `references/learnings.md` with today's date.

## Related skills

- `/sales-fyxer` — Fyxer AI email assistant (inbox organization, voice-trained drafts, meeting notes, $22.50-50/mo). Install:
  `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-fyxer -a claude-code`
- `/sales-superhuman` — Superhuman AI email client (keyboard workflow, Split Inbox, MCP server, $25-40/mo). Install:
  `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-superhuman -a claude-code`
- `/sales-shortwave` — Shortwave AI-native Gmail client (AI filters, Ghostwriter, MCP consumer, $24-100/mo). Install:
  `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-shortwave -a claude-code`
- `/sales-sanebox` — SaneBox server-side email filtering (smart folders, any email provider, $7-36/mo). Install:
  `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-sanebox -a claude-code`
- `/sales-clean-email` — Clean Email inbox cleanup (bulk actions, Auto Clean rules, Unsubscriber, $29.99/yr). Install:
  `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-clean-email -a claude-code`
- `/sales-unboxd` — Unboxd AI email secretary (action item extraction, daily briefings, $7.50-41.67/mo). Install:
  `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-unboxd -a claude-code`
- `/sales-unrollme` — Unroll.me free newsletter unsubscribe and digest (data-funded, not available in EU). Install:
  `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-unrollme -a claude-code`
- `/sales-do` — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install:
  `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do -a claude-code`

## Examples

### Example 1: Automation rules keep mislabeling client emails
**User says**: "I wrote a rule to label client emails as 'Priority' but it's also catching newsletters — how do I fix this?"
**Skill does**:
1. Reads the platform guide for rule syntax and execution logic
2. Explains that rules match in order — first match wins
3. Suggests adding an exclusion condition (e.g., "except from addresses containing 'newsletter' or 'noreply'")
4. Recommends testing the rule via CLI (`rules list --json`) to inspect current config
5. Notes that rules can be refined over time as the AI learns from corrections
**Result**: Targeted fix for rule mislabeling with CLI debugging approach

### Example 2: Managing rules via CLI from Claude Code
**User says**: "How do I use the Inbox Zero CLI to list and create automation rules from my AI coding agent?"
**Skill does**:
1. Reads the platform guide for CLI reference
2. Shows installation: `npm install -g @inbox-zero/api`
3. Shows auth: `export INBOX_ZERO_API_KEY=iz_...`
4. Shows `rules list --json` to inspect current rules
5. Shows `rules create` with a JSON rule definition from stdin
6. Notes `stats by-period --json` for inbox analytics
**Result**: Working CLI setup with code examples for AI agent integration

### Example 3: Comparing Inbox Zero to Superhuman
**User says**: "Should I use Inbox Zero or Superhuman? I'm a solopreneur on a budget."
**Skill does**:
1. Compares: Inbox Zero is open-source with API/CLI access at $18/mo (or free self-hosted); Superhuman is premium speed-focused at $25-40/mo
2. Notes Inbox Zero has bulk unsubscribe, cold email blocking, and plain-English rules; Superhuman has keyboard speed, Split Inbox, and MCP server
3. Notes Inbox Zero is self-hostable for $0; Superhuman is SaaS-only
4. Recommends Inbox Zero for budget-conscious users who want automation + open-source flexibility; Sup