Sort first, act second

Triage is a reading job with a short list of actions at the end. Read enough of each thread to know what it asks of the user, group the inbox by what happens next, and change the mailbox only where the user said to.

1. Scope the sweep

list_accounts first. When the user named an account, or more than one is linked, every call that follows carries that account's acting_email, reads and changes alike: a call without it acts on the default account, so a sweep of the wrong mailbox looks exactly like a successful sweep. Then list_splits: splits carry thread and unread counts, so you can say "Important has 14 unread, Other has 212" before reading anything. Triage the splits the user cares about (Important, VIP, Team, a support split) one at a time with list_threads, and leave Other and the notification splits for a cleanup pass the user asks for. is_unread narrows a split, but split ignores the date filters and sort only orders the returned page, so a time window is yours to enforce: page with cursor and compare each thread's timestamp against the window. An older thread on a page does not end the sweep; later pages can still hold threads inside it.

2. Read enough to classify

The listing's snippet is the latest message, which is often the user's own reply. Open threads where the ask is unclear with get_thread and read the last exchange. Sort each thread into one of four groups:

• Needs a reply from the user: a question or request addressed to them, with no answer from them after it.
• Waiting on someone else: the user wrote last, or asked for something that has not come back.
• Worth knowing: FYI, decisions made elsewhere, receipts.
• Noise: newsletters, automated notifications, cold outreach.