AI power users are heavily invested in prompting agents to autonomously work toward a goal, adjust course based on results, and repeat the cycle, a process often called a loop.
If you’re interested in trying this workflow, Claude is built to handle it. You can use the loop feature in Claude Code to run prompts on a recurring interval, or the schedule command in Claude Cowork to achieve the same result.
To find out how best to manage an inbox with AI, I spoke with Lamis Mukta, a member of technical staff at Anthropic, who said Claude Loops are proving especially popular.
“It's like you're no longer sending those prompts and triggering them yourself, but agents are kind of able to manage themselves and stay on goal for longer,” Mukta said. “So I think that's why people are excited about it.”
If there’s one recurring task AI was built to handle, it’s inbox management. While Claude offers several ways to repeat a prompt, Mukta specifically recommends running scheduled tasks in this case.
“The scheduled tasks run in the cloud, whereas loops rely on your laptop running,” Mukta explained.
In its documentation, Claude suggests using cloud tasks for work that should run reliably without your machine, and desktop tasks when you need access to local files and tools.
These features require a paid Claude plan, but if you’re interested in having Claude autonomously manage your inbox, here’s what you need to do.
How to use Claude scheduled tasks to manage your inbox
1. Sign in to Claude
Sign in to the Claude account you want to be in control of your inbox. The email account that you will be monitoring does not necessarily need to match the email address associated with your Claude account. However, your browser and app must be signed into the same Claude account during setup.
For the purposes of this guide, I logged in using the Claude app. While button positions may vary, the same principles apply when using Claude on the web.
2. Enable the connectors
Click on the plus symbol and enable the official Gmail connector. I’d also recommend connecting to your Google Calendar too so Claude can turn invites landing in your inbox into events.
If you’re connecting to Outlook, visit Microsoft’s marketplace and search for Claude for Outlook.
3. Set the schedule
Before typing in your prompt, make sure you’re using the schedule feature. Type in /schedule or click on the plus sign to add the schedule skill. You’ll know the scheduling skill was enabled when the font color is different compared to that of the rest of your prompt.
If you strictly want your email manager to run on Claude Code and only when your device is running, then switch to Claude Code and use /loop instead.
Here’s your monthly reminder that you shouldn’t be prompting coding agents anymore.You should be designing loops that prompt your agents.June 7, 2026
4. Insert your prompt
Think about how you’d like to have your inbox managed and describe your desired outcomes to Claude. Also specify how often you want your schedule to run. If your boss expects you to reply to their emails while they’re practically still drafts, maybe set the schedule to run every 5 minutes.
You can use a basic prompt to get started by typing: /schedule Scan my Gmail inbox every hour and review all messages since the previous run. Create draft replies for emails that require an answer and automatically add any invites to events to my Google Calendar.
It’s worth noting that Claude can prepare replies, but Gmail users must still review and send each draft themselves.
5. Confirm scheduled task
You can easily confirm you’ve set everything up correctly through the scheduled tasks tab. If you see your inbox manager scheduled, then you’ve followed the previous steps correctly.
Getting even more out of Claude as your email manager
Using Claude to manage your inbox may feel like giving up control, but the benefits quickly outweigh the hesitation.
“I think I would find it hard to keep on top of the volume of stuff happening right now without [AI],” Mukta said. “We understand that sensitive information is contained in inboxes and calendars, but our systems are designed to, for example, ask permission every time they try and access this data, if that's what you want.”
To get the best results, teach Claude what critical emails look like, and what to ignore. You can also ask Claude to read your sent emails to match your tone. Granting access to Slack and Google Drive adds crucial context, allowing Claude to draft client replies with links to active documents or pull relevant inbox updates directly into team Slack messages.
If you are switching to Claude from another AI tool, start with your existing prompts.
“I would say the best thing is just migrate everything over, see how it's working, and Claude is really good at just like updating your prompts and skills for you if you need that,” Mukta added. Finding the right setup may take light experimentation.
“Maybe try Sonnet first, and then shift Opus if you need to,” Mukta suggested. “We have recently been rolling out our Cowork product across mobile as well, and so this will allow you even more power to manage your inbox also on the go.”
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