Skip to content

Workflows

The Upstream MCP server includes prompt workflows — pre-built multi-step instructions that guide your AI assistant through common email tasks. These are registered as MCP prompts and can be triggered as slash commands in clients that support them (e.g., /inbox-zero in Cursor).

You can also trigger them by asking your AI assistant directly, e.g., “Help me reach inbox zero.”

Prompt name: inbox-zero

Processes your inbox towards zero unread. The assistant will:

  1. Find your Primary inbox split
  2. Get unread threads
  3. Summarize each thread
  4. Present a triage table with suggested actions (done, snooze, reply, star)
  5. Group threads by urgency: needs-reply, FYI-only, can-archive
  6. Wait for your confirmation before executing any actions

Example: “Help me reach inbox zero” or use /inbox-zero

Prompt name: draft-reply

Loads thread context and generates an AI draft reply with optional custom instructions.

ArgumentRequiredDescription
threadIdYesThread ID to reply to
instructionsNoTone/content guidance (e.g., “be brief”, “decline politely”)

The assistant will:

  1. Read the full conversation with read-thread
  2. Get a quick overview with get-thread-summary
  3. Generate an AI draft with generate-draft
  4. Apply your custom instructions if provided
  5. Present the draft for review before sending

Example: “Draft a polite reply to thread abc123” or use /draft-reply

Prompt name: weekly-digest

Summarizes your email activity across your inbox, snoozed items, starred threads, and sent messages.

The assistant will present:

  • Inbox Status — unread count, threads needing attention
  • Snoozed & Returning — threads reappearing this week
  • Starred/Flagged — items you marked for follow-up
  • Sent Activity — recent outgoing threads
  • Recommendations — threads to archive, snooze, or reply to

Example: “Give me my weekly email digest” or use /weekly-digest

Prompt name: triage-split

Reviews all threads in a specific inbox split and suggests actions for each.

ArgumentRequiredDescription
splitFilterYesThe split filter from list-inbox-splits (category name, split ID, or system split)

The assistant will:

  1. Find the matching split
  2. Get all threads in that split
  3. Summarize each thread
  4. Present a triage table with recommended actions: Done, Snooze, Reply, Star, or Label
  5. Wait for your confirmation before batch-executing

Example: “Triage my Promotions split” or use /triage-split