Earlier work, shown in past tense
Automation2026
Inbox Cleanup Automation
A daily job that clears junk from my inbox and never touches real mail
Results
- ✓The inbox is clear before I open it
- ✓Nothing important has been swept, because the guard makes it structurally impossible
- ✓Every action is reversible for 30 days
The Situation
- •Marketing blasts and recruiter auto-rejections buried the mail that mattered
- •Clearing it by hand every morning was the definition of repeat work
- •Any automation here has to be safe: deleting a real message is unforgivable
The System
- •A cron job that runs once a day and reads sender and subject only
- •An allow-list: it acts only on senders that match marketing or ATS rejections
- •A keep-guard that protects real people, financial, government, and booking mail
- •Trash and archive instead of delete, so every action is reversible
How it runs
TriggerDaily at 6amcron
ActionReads the inboxSender and subject
DecisionOn the junk list?Marketing or ATS reject
ActionTrash or archiveReversible, not deleted
OutputLeft aloneEverything else
GuardKeep-guardPeople, money, government, bookings
Stack
PythonGmail APIcron
What's Next
- Widen the allow-list only when a sender proves repeatedly safe
- Report weekly on what it cleared
This is earlier work.
NigelBuilds now runs managed business automation systems for service businesses. Start with the 21-day Pilot, or see a sample Results Brief first.
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