ClearMakes Inbox · Workflows
Describe a workflow in plain English. Inbox builds it.
Type what should happen when a new email or chat message arrives. Inbox writes the steps, asks at most one question, and runs them every time.
The ClearMakes Inbox team · Last updated 29 September 2026
What is a workflow in ClearMakes Inbox?
A workflow in ClearMakes Inbox is a set of steps that runs by itself when a new message arrives in Gmail, Outlook, Slack or Teams. For example, it can post to a channel or add a HubSpot contact. You describe it in one sentence, check the steps, and switch it on. The free plan includes two new workflows a month.
How the one-sentence planner works
You write one sentence; Inbox turns it into steps you can read. If it truly needs to know something, it asks one question, and only about how the workflow should behave.
Say what should happen
“When someone emails to ask about prices, draft a reply for me.”Answer at most one question
For example: should the reply send by itself, or wait for you? Never about wording or names.Check the steps
Each step is written in plain words, with what it will do. Change any of them.Switch it on
It runs on every new message that fits, and each run is listed afterwards.
“When someone emails to ask about prices, draft a reply for me.”
- When an email arrives
- Check it asks about prices
- Draft a reply
- Wait for you to check it
The planner only offers steps from apps you have connected, and each tool is checked against that app's own list, so a workflow can't be saved with a step that doesn't exist.
What a workflow can do
A workflow starts when a new message arrives and then runs its steps in order. The steps below are the ones the Inbox app offers today.
| Kind | Steps |
|---|---|
| Starts when | An email arrives in Gmail or Outlook; a message arrives in Slack or Teams. Narrow it with “only when”: from certain people, mentioning certain words, or sounding upset. |
| Reply | Send a reply; draft a reply for you to check. |
| Pass it on | Tell your team (Slack, Teams or email); do something in another app, such as add a HubSpot contact or a Notion page. |
| Understand it | Summarise it; pull out the details (names, amounts, dates, order numbers); find related messages; add a label; save a note; create a task. |
| Control | Check a condition; stop if it matches; wait a while; wait for a reply; try again if it fails. |
| Your own tools | Call your own MCP server or HTTP endpoint, described once. |
Waiting that survives our updates
“Wait a while” and “wait for a reply” are saved, not held in memory, so a workflow picks up where it left off even after we update Inbox. “Wait for a reply” pauses until the person who wrote writes back, or until the time you set runs out, and then carries on with the next steps.
12 email automation examples you can copy
Copy a sentence, change the names, and paste it into Inbox. Each one is written the way you would type it.
Customers and support
- “When a customer emails support@, post the sender, subject and a two-line summary to #support in Slack.”
- “When someone sounds upset in an email, message the account owner in Slack straight away.”
- “When an email asks about an order, pull out the order number and add it to the note in Notion.”
Sales and leads
- “When a new enquiry arrives in Gmail, add them to HubSpot and draft a reply for me to check.”
- “When someone emails sales@ asking for a quote, tell #sales in Slack with what they need.”
- “When a lead asks for a quote, draft a reply, wait up to three days for them to write back, then post the thread to #sales.”
Money and admin
- “When a supplier emails an invoice, post the amount and due date to the Finance channel in Teams.”
- “When an email mentions a payment or a refund, add the label Billing.”
- “When a contract arrives as an attachment, save a note in Notion with who sent it and when.”
Your own team
- “When a message in #urgent mentions a customer name, email me the message.”
- “When a new email comes from the board, create a task for me in Linear.”
- “When an email from a client arrives out of hours, tell the on-call person in Teams.”
The apps in these examples must be connected first. Set-up pages: Gmail to Slack, email details to Slack, Gmail to Google Sheets, Outlook to Teams, email leads to HubSpot.
Limits, and who this is not for
Inbox workflows start from a message. If your automation starts from a spreadsheet row, a form or a database, a general tool such as Zapier or Make fits better.
- AI steps (summaries, checks, pulled-out details, drafted replies) can be wrong now and then. Prefer drafts over automatic sending for anything important.
- Free: 2 new workflows a month, up to 3 steps each, 100 runs a month. Starter: 30 new workflows, 10 steps, 5,000 runs.
- Comparing tools? Read Zapier alternatives for email and chat.
Questions people ask
Do I need to know how to code?
What question will Inbox ask me?
Can a workflow use apps other than email?
Are there workflow templates for email?
What happens if a step fails?
How many workflows can I have?
Keep reading
- Smart FAQSaved answers to the questions you get every day.
- IntegrationsEvery app a workflow can use.
- Lead response automationReply to new email enquiries in minutes.
- GuidesStep-by-step guides for email and chat work.
- DocumentationSet-up help for ClearMakes Inbox.
- PricingFree, Starter, Growth and Enterprise.
Say it once. Inbox does it every time.
Connect an app and describe your first workflow.
Free plan: 3 apps, 2 new workflows and 100 runs a month.