Your AI can draft email replies for you — but it never sends anything automatically. The workflow is always: Claude reads the thread, writes a draft, you review and edit it, you approve, then it sends. That sequence is fixed. No email leaves your inbox without your explicit sign-off. This is a Pro feature in Connect My Email, and the review step is by design, not an afterthought.
If you've ever spent more time wording a reply than the reply deserves, this workflow cuts that overhead while keeping you fully in control of what you send.
What You Need
A Connect My Email Pro account ($9/month) and access to Claude. CME connects your inbox — Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Fastmail, ProtonMail, Yahoo, and others — via OAuth or app password. Write actions, including drafting and sending, are enabled on Pro.
Once connected, Claude can read your inbox threads, compose drafts in context, and show them to you for review. Nothing sends until you say so.
The Workflow: Draft → Review → Approve → Send
Step 1: Point Claude at the Thread
Tell Claude which email needs a reply — by name ("the last message from Jordan about the contract") or by asking Claude to find threads that need responses ("which emails have been waiting on a reply from me for more than three days?"). Claude reads the full thread, not just the latest message.
Step 2: Ask for a Draft
Give Claude direction on tone and content:
"Draft a reply to Sarah's message about the project timeline. Two short paragraphs. Confirm I'm targeting next Friday and ask if she needs anything before then."
"Reply to the vendor invoice follow-up. Politely confirm payment is processing and I expect it to clear by end of week."
"Respond to Marcus's intro email. Warm but professional. Open to a 20-minute call next week."
"Draft a reply to the client asking about scope expansion. Acknowledge the ask, explain it requires a change order, and say I'll send a revised estimate."
Claude produces a draft and shows it to you. It does not send it.
Step 3: Review and Edit
Read the draft. Check the tone, facts, and any commitments it makes on your behalf. Ask Claude to revise specific sentences, adjust the register, shorten it, or start over. The draft is a starting point — you're the author, Claude is the ghostwriter.
Step 4: Approve and Send
When it looks right, tell Claude to send it. CME executes the action through your connected inbox. The email goes out from your actual address, in the same thread, with your reply history intact.
Tone and Context
Claude takes tone cues from the thread it reads and the instructions you give. Formal thread? It drafts formally. Casual back-and-forth? It matches. You can always override: "make this more direct" or "add a little warmth" are valid at any point.
Claude also handles consolidated replies — if someone asked three questions across two emails and you want one reply that answers all of them, Claude can do that without you restating the questions.
What Claude Won't Do
- Auto-reply to any email without your review
- Send from your inbox without your explicit approval in the session
- Take action because something "seemed obvious" — every outbound message requires your instruction
If you ask Claude to handle a thread and walk away mid-session, nothing happens. Actions require active participation.
Privacy and Write Access
CME's write permissions are scoped: authorizing Pro enables sending when you explicitly request it in a session. The token does not allow background sending. You can revoke write permissions and drop to read-only at any time from the CME dashboard. No draft or sent content is used for training. If you're connecting a work inbox, review your organization's email policies before enabling write actions.
FAQ
Will Claude ever send an email without me seeing the draft first?
No. Every outbound email goes through draft → review → approve. There is no auto-reply mode. Claude will not send unless you explicitly approve.
Can I edit the draft before sending?
Yes — and you should. Ask Claude to revise it, paste in your own edits for cleanup, or rewrite from scratch. The draft is a first pass.
What if I don't like Claude's tone?
Tell it: "make this warmer," "cut it in half," "less corporate." Claude adjusts on instruction. You can also share a writing sample and ask it to match your style.
Is drafting available on the Free plan?
No. Write actions — drafting, replying, sending, moving, flagging — require Pro ($9/month). The Free plan covers read and search.
What providers support write actions?
Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Yahoo, Fastmail, and ProtonMail on Pro. IMAP accounts may have limited write support — check the tools page for provider-specific details.
Can I draft replies to multiple emails in one session?
Yes. Ask Claude to identify threads needing replies, work through them one at a time, and approve each draft before moving to the next.
Spend less time composing. Upgrade to Pro ($9/month) to enable AI-drafted replies with the review workflow described above. Explore the full set of write and read capabilities on the tools page, or start with a free read-only session using the free inbox cleaner before committing to a plan.