AI Assistant

MailCopilot includes an optional AI assistant that can help you manage your email more efficiently.

What Can the AI Assistant Do?

• Summarize emails -- get a quick summary of long messages or entire conversation threads.
• Draft replies -- the assistant can prepare a draft reply based on the message content.
• Send emails -- the assistant can compose and send an email on your behalf. It will show you a preview of the email and ask for your confirmation before sending.
• Find key decisions -- extract the most important decisions and action items from a conversation.
• Extract tasks and deadlines -- identify tasks, responsible persons and due dates from your correspondence.
• Create a daily digest -- get an overview of today's unread messages.
• Identify emails needing a reply -- the assistant can analyze your inbox and highlight messages that may need your attention.
• Smart search -- find emails using natural language instead of search operators.
• Manage emails -- the assistant can archive, delete, or mark emails as read on your behalf (with your confirmation).
• Unsubscribe from mailing lists -- the assistant can help you unsubscribe from unwanted newsletters.
• Search the web -- the assistant can search the internet for information to help answer your questions or compose messages.
• Answer questions about your mail -- ask anything about the emails in your inbox.

Setting Up the AI Assistant

1. Open Settings and go to the AI tab.
2. Choose a provider:
   • Claude subscription -- use your existing Claude Pro or Max subscription. You must be authorized via claude login in the terminal.
   • Anthropic API key -- enter your Anthropic API key for pay-per-token billing. Keys start with sk-ant-....
   • OpenAI API key -- use OpenAI models (GPT-4o, etc.). Keys start with sk-....
   • Google Gemini API key -- use Google Gemini models. Keys start with AIza....
   • Corporate RAG backend -- connect to your company's AI backend (requires a base URL and access token from your IT team).
3. Select a model from the available options for your chosen provider.
4. Click Check connection to verify everything is working.
5. Save the settings.

Additional Settings

• Response language -- choose the language for AI responses (Auto, Russian, or English). "Auto" detects the language automatically.
• Show sources -- when enabled, the assistant shows which emails were used to form its response. This helps you verify the information.
• Daily / Monthly budget -- set spending limits for API-based providers to control costs. Leave at 0 for unlimited.
• Send key -- choose whether messages are sent with Enter or Ctrl+Enter.

Using the AI Assistant

Opening the AI Panel

Click the sparkle icon in the sidebar or use the command palette (Ctrl+K, then type "AI") to open the AI assistant panel. The panel appears on the right side of the window and can be resized by dragging its border.

Quick Summarize

Press Ctrl+Shift+S to instantly summarize the currently selected email or thread. The AI panel will open automatically and show the summary.

Quick Actions

When you have a message selected, the AI panel shows quick action chips:

• Summarize -- summarize the selected email.
• Reply -- draft a reply to the selected email.
• Summarize thread -- summarize the entire conversation thread.
• Key decisions -- extract key decisions from the thread.
• Tasks & deadlines -- extract tasks, responsible persons and deadlines.
• Today's digest -- summarize today's unread emails.
• Needs reply? -- identify which emails need a response.
• Smart search -- find emails using a natural-language description.

Click any chip to instantly start that action.

Chat Interface

You can also type your own questions and instructions in the chat input at the bottom of the AI panel. The assistant has context about the currently selected email and can reference it in its responses.

Mail Actions

The assistant can perform actions on your emails, such as archiving, deleting, or marking them as read. Before any action is executed, the assistant will show you a preview of what will be done and ask for your confirmation. No changes are made without your explicit approval.

The assistant can also help you unsubscribe from mailing lists if the email contains an unsubscribe link.

Sending Emails

You can ask the assistant to compose and send an email. The process works in two steps:

1. The assistant prepares the email and shows you a preview with the recipient, subject and body.
2. You review the preview and confirm sending. The email is only sent after your explicit approval.

This allows you to quickly send messages without opening the compose window, while still keeping full control over what gets sent.

Sources

When the "Show sources" setting is enabled, the assistant displays a list of emails that were referenced in its response. Click on any source to navigate to that email.

Prompt Examples

Here are some useful prompts you can try with the AI assistant:

Prompt	What it does
Summarize this email in 3 bullet points	Creates a concise summary of the key points in the current email.
Draft a polite reply declining this meeting invitation	Prepares a ready-to-send reply with the appropriate tone.
What tasks and deadlines are mentioned in this thread?	Scans the entire conversation and lists all action items with due dates.
Help me unsubscribe from this mailing list	Finds the unsubscribe link and walks you through the process.
Archive this email	Moves the current email to the archive (asks for confirmation first).
Translate this email into Spanish	Translates the email content into the requested language.
Is this email legitimate or could it be phishing?	Analyzes the email for suspicious signs and gives a safety assessment.
Write a brief thank-you reply for the team's work	Drafts a short, friendly response you can send right away.
Send a quick reply saying I'll be there at 3pm	Composes and sends a reply after showing you a preview for confirmation.
What's the weather in Berlin?	Searches the web and provides current information.

You can combine and modify these prompts as needed. The assistant understands natural language, so feel free to phrase your requests however is most comfortable for you.

AI Memory

AI Memory allows the assistant to remember important context about you across conversations. Instead of starting fresh every time, the assistant can recall your preferences, work context, and other relevant information.

How It Works

The assistant stores notes in a local file on your computer. These notes are automatically included in the context when you chat with the AI, helping it give more relevant and personalized responses.

Managing Memory

1. Open Settings and go to the AI tab.
2. Scroll to the Memory section.
3. You can view and edit the memory content in the text area.
4. Click Save to save your changes, or Clear to erase all memory.

The character counter shows how much memory is being used (maximum 4000 characters).

What Gets Remembered

The assistant can remember things like:

• Your name and role.
• Your communication preferences (e.g., "I prefer formal replies").
• Project names and important contacts.
• Any other context you ask it to remember.

You can also ask the assistant directly: "Remember that I prefer replies in Spanish" or "Remember that John is my project manager".

Privacy

Memory is stored locally on your computer and is included in the context sent to your AI provider when you chat. If you want to ensure certain information is never shared, do not include it in the memory.

Privacy

When you use the AI assistant, the content of your emails is sent to the selected AI provider for processing. A privacy notice will appear the first time you use the assistant, and you must agree before proceeding.

The AI assistant is entirely optional -- if you do not configure it, no email data is ever sent to any AI service.