Email-Triggered Routines: Summarize Every Billing Email
Say: 'When an email arrives from billing@vendor.com, summarize the amount, due date and anything unusual, and draft a reply if action is needed.' Grok...
Answer first: Say: "When an email arrives from billing@vendor.com, summarize the amount, due date and anything unusual, and draft a reply if action is needed." Grok Bot creates a routine that fires on that sender or domain. You get a summary in chat, and any reply waits as a draft for your approval.
Test status: not run end to end, because this account has no Bot email address yet and claiming one is permanent. The behavior described comes from the official Routines and agent-email help pages.
Who it's for
Freelancers and small teams who get invoices, renewal notices or alerts from a few known senders.
Steps
- Have mail reach the trigger: claim the Bot's own address (see Claim and Use Your Bot's Email Address) and forward or redirect vendor mail to it. Email triggers are documented for mail sent to the Bot's own address.
- Pick the filter: one address (
billing@vendor.com) or a whole domain (*@vendor.com). You can't filter by subject, so put any subject logic in the instruction. - Paste the prompt below. Open the routine and check that When to run shows the sender.
- Send yourself a safe test email, or press Test.
Copy-paste prompt
Set up a routine: when an email arrives from *@<VENDOR-DOMAIN>, read it and post here:
amount, currency, due date, invoice number, and anything that changed vs. the last one.
If the subject or body doesn't look like a bill, just say "non-billing email from <sender>" in one line.
If it needs a reply (e.g. a dispute or missing PO), draft one for me to approve. Never send on your own.
Expected result
One short summary per matching email. A draft card appears only when a reply is warranted.
Gotchas
- By default, routines only fire for mail that passes standard sender-authentication checks, so some forwarded or spoofed-looking mail won't trigger.
- A "mail from anyone" trigger on a busy inbox burns through usage. Keep it to senders or domains.
- There's no unattended sending. A routine that "replies" leaves a draft.
- Messages that fail spam or virus checks never start a routine.
FAQ
Can it pay the bill? No. It summarizes and drafts, and you pay. Can I filter by subject line? Not in the trigger. Tell the instruction to ignore non-matching subjects, as in the prompt above.