Build a no-code email automation with Claude

What you can automate in email

Triage — classify incoming emails by type (support, sales, spam, press)
Draft replies — Claude writes a full reply; you review and send in one click
Follow-up sequences — trigger a 3-email sequence when someone fills a form
Summaries — daily digest of every email, 1 sentence each, delivered at 8am

The triage setup (make.com + Gmail)

make.com watches Gmail for new messages.
Sends subject + body snippet to Claude: "Classify this email as: support, sales, press, spam, or other. Return JSON: { type, priority, suggested_action }"
Applies a Gmail label based on the response.
For support and sales: drafts a reply using your brand voice prompt.

The draft-reply prompt

You are my senior support lead. Tone: warm, direct, specific.
Policy: [paste your key policies].
Customer email: {{email_body}}

Write a reply that:
- Acknowledges their specific issue (not generic)
- Answers or escalates clearly
- Ends with one next step
- Max 120 words

The Gmail draft trick

make.com can create Gmail drafts (not send). This puts Claude's reply in your Drafts folder — you review, tweak, and hit Send. No risk of accidental sends.

What not to automate

Never auto-send. Always review. The goal is to eliminate the writing time, not the judgement time. Claude gets the words right 80% of the time. The other 20% would be embarrassing to send unreviewed.

Cost

Claude API for 50 emails/day ≈ $3–5/month. The time it saves is worth 100× that.