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Automations are jobs Parker runs on your inbox. It reads new mail, decides which emails match, and drafts replies or tells you about them. You decide what is sent.

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Before you begin

Connect your mailbox. Automations work with Outlook and Gmail.

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What is an automation?

An automation is a job Parker does when new email arrives. You tell it:
  • Which emails to look out for, in your own words.
  • What to do with them, such as drafting a reply.
  • How far it may go, and when to tell you.
With Draft replies, “Drafts land in your Outlook Drafts. Nothing is ever sent on its own.” You send each reply yourself.
An automation is different from a routine. A routine runs a saved prompt on a schedule. An automation reacts to your incoming email.
Automations page listing four automations under Needs you, Running, and Not running, with examples and a preview panel showing When, If, and Then.

The Automations page groups your automations by status.

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Create an automation

1

Start a new automation

Go to Automations in the sidebar and select Create with Parker. You can also select New blank to fill in the form yourself, or pick one of the cards under Start from an example.
2

Describe what you want handled

In What should it do?, describe the job in a sentence or two. Select Fill in the form. Parker names the automation and fills in the form. To try again, change your description and select Ask again.
3

Answer Parker's questions

If Parker needs a decision from you, it shows Worth deciding before you save with a few options. Picking one rewrites the form for you. You can still change every word.
4

Check the form

Read each field and edit anything that isn’t right. The What Parker will and won’t do box sums up what the automation can do. See Form fields.
5

Save and preview

Select Save and preview. Parker saves the automation, paused, and runs a preview on your recent email. To save without a preview, select Save as paused.
New automation page with a description, What Parker will and won't do, questions worth deciding, and the filled-in form.

Parker fills in the form from your description. Check it before you save.

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Form fields

Writes as shows which Parker agent writes the drafts, “using its knowledge and rules, in your writing style.” See Writing style.
Drafts you have not changed move to Deleted Items after 7 days.

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Preview and turn it on

After you save, the automation’s page opens with Preview · nothing is written. It shows what the automation would have done with your recent email: how many it would reply to, how many were already answered by you, and how many it would pass over, with a reason for each email. If the preview looks wrong, select Edit, change the wording, save, and select Run preview again.
Preview of a new automation on the last 50 emails: 0 would reply, 0 already answered, 29 would pass over, each with a reason.

The preview shows what the automation would do. Nothing is written.

When you’re happy with it, select Turn on. As the preview says, “When you turn it on, you choose: also draft the emails from the last 3 days that still need a reply, or start with mail that arrives from then. Nothing is sent either way.”

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Check it worked

  • The automation’s badge changes from Paused to Healthy, and the panel shows Working normally and the next check time.
  • The Activity tab lists its checks.
  • New drafts show up in the Review tab, and the Automations link in the sidebar shows how many are waiting. See Review drafts and runs.
To run a check straight away, select Run now.

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Edit an automation

Open the automation and select Edit. The form is the same one you used to create it. Make your changes and select Save. Saving makes a new version. Drafts already written keep the version that wrote them. The Setup tab lists the automation’s settings and its Versions.
Setup tab listing When, Which emails, Only if, It may, What to do, Tell me, and Limits, with writing style, knowledge, and versions.

The Setup tab shows what the automation does and its versions.

You can also change an automation while you review its drafts. When you revise a draft, choose This automation under Remember this change for. See Revise a draft.

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Pause, duplicate, or delete

  • To pause, open the automation and select Pause. To start it again, select Turn on.
  • To copy it, open the More (…) menu and select Duplicate.
  • To delete it, open the More (…) menu and select Delete. Type the automation’s name to confirm, and select Delete. A deleted automation “stops for good and cannot be restored.” What it did stays in your organization’s activity log.

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Example descriptions

Enter one of these in What should it do? and adjust it to your business.

Draft replies to group booking enquiries

Flag emails that need you

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Troubleshooting

Make Which emails more specific, including what to skip. You can also teach it from the Review tab: on an email it passed over, select Should have drafted. See Review drafts and runs.

Review drafts and runs

Send, revise, or discard what your automations draft.

Routines

Run a saved prompt on a schedule.

Writing style

Make drafts sound like you.

Connect your mailbox

Link Outlook or Gmail so automations can read your email.
Last modified on October 12, 2026