Purpose
Bring nearby written context into a workflow without treating the inbox as the only source of truth.
When to use it
- A meeting references previous email agreements.
- A person or project has unclear background.
- You need source evidence for a decision timeline.
Inputs
- People
- Topics
- Date range
- Mailbox or email export
Outputs
- Relevant threads
- Evidence snippets
- Search gaps
Steps
- Build queries from people, project names, and key phrases.
- Search narrow date windows first, then widen intentionally.
- Return thread IDs and short context summaries.
- Flag missing access or likely off-channel decisions.
Quality checks
- Results include query terms and date boundaries.
- Email snippets are not over-quoted.
Failure modes
- Alias, forwarding, or shared mailbox names hide relevant mail.
- The important decision happened in chat or a document.
Privacy notes
- Email search can expose unrelated private messages.
- Only pull the minimum snippets needed for context.
Example prompt
Search for related email threads about these people and topics. Return thread IDs, why each result matters, and gaps.
Example structured output
{"threads":[{"id":"thr_123","why":"Prior approval for routing rule","confidence":"high"}],"gaps":["No customer reply after May 20"]}