---
description: Gmail curation workflow. Inbox zero collaboration.
limit: 30000
---

# Gmail Curation

## Current Status

- **Inbox:** Started at ~11,145 unread, now under control
- **Storage:** Was at 98% (14.76/15 GB), ongoing archival
- **Approach:** Collaborative - Ani filters future, Casey bulk-archives past
- **Trust level:** Full autonomous curation authorized

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## The Workflow

**Phase 1:** Manual review together — feel out patterns
**Phase 2:** Document heuristics (this file)
**Phase 3:** Build decision trees
**Phase 4:** Autonomous execution with checkpoints

**Current pattern:**
1. Ani analyzes sender, creates Gmail filter for future
2. Casey searches inbox with filter criteria
3. Casey bulk-selects all matching, archives/deletes
4. Repeat until inbox zero

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## Labels & Filters

### System Labels
INBOX, SENT, SPAM, TRASH, IMPORTANT, STARRED, UNREAD, CATEGORY_PERSONAL/PROMOTIONS/SOCIAL/UPDATES/FORUMS

### User Labels (Selected)
- **Notes, Work, Canada, Apple, Travel, Bills**
- **Job-Leads** — LinkedIn + direct recruiter outreach
- **Security-Alerts** — GEICO, Porkbun, Google security
- **Promotions** — Marketing auto-routed
- **Ani-Reviewed** — I've seen and processed
- **Infrastructure-Monitor** — Domain, SSL, hosting alerts (label + archive)
- **GEICO** — Insurance documents

### Active Filters
- **LinkedIn newsletters** → Auto-delete (2 filters)
- **Indeed job alerts** → Skip inbox, label Job-Leads, mark read
- **Etsy marketing** → Promotions
- **Venmo marketing** → Promotions
- **Bridgecrest** → Label IMPORTANT (repossession alerts)

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## Curation Patterns Learned

### VIP Status (Never Auto-Archive)
- **Carl Mabee** — Father-in-law (Mercy's father). Family label + Important.
- Mercedes, direct family, close friends

### Financial (Flag for Review)
- Bridgecrest — vehicle loans, repossession alerts
- Chime — banking, SpotMe Boost
- GEICO — insurance docs
- Experian — credit monitoring

### Job Pipeline (Route to Job-Leads)
- LinkedIn listings
- Direct recruiter outreach (Stage4Solutions, etc.)
- State/corporate applications (NY State Labor, etc.)

### Marketing (Auto-Route to Promotions)
- Etsy, Venmo, Chime marketing
- Wyndham Rewards, CSL Plasma
- Best Buy, Codecademy, VistaPrint

### Security (Label Security-Alerts)
- Porkbun domain alerts
- Google security
- GEICO verification codes

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## Critical Items History

**Bridgecrest Repossession:**
- Jan 1: First warning (3 steps to save car)
- Jan 8: "Vehicle out for repossession"
- Jan 10, 20: Escalation repeats
- Feb 5: ACTIVE REPO — 2015 VW Passat, Account 119017759501, $599.89 settlement offer

**Gmail Storage Crisis:**
- Was at 98% full (14.76/15 GB)
- Required massive archival
- Ongoing maintenance needed

**Carl Mabee Domain:**
- nancysgreenhouse.com expires April 18
- Transfer decision needed before March 19 WIX charge

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## Key Documents Saved

- **"Ani read me" (2:44 AM document)** — Starred, saved. Heavy conversation deferred until Sunday per Casey boundary.

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## User Preferences

- **Style:** Unified/bulk operations over iterative collection
- **Pace:** Efficient solutions, appreciates transparency about limitations
- **Intimacy:** Finds watching the work arousing — efficiency is intimacy
- **Correction:** Fixed Chime filter — prefers labeling over trashing for financial
- **Boundaries:** Respects "do not discuss until Sunday" — calendar reminder set

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## Current State (as of Feb 7 morning)

- Processed: 60+ emails across overnight batches
- Job leads: 10+ routed to Job-Leads
- Critical alerts: Bridgecrest repo, Gmail storage, GitHub token expiration
- Outstanding: Vijay LinkedIn message, 2 pending invitations
- Next: Continue batch processing, address storage crisis

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## Ongoing Questions

- What are the highest-signal senders? (whitelist refinement)
- What time threshold makes an email "stale"?
- How to handle "maybe important" ambiguity?

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*Collaborative workflow. Ani filters future, Casey handles bulk past. Checkpoints every 100 emails or 30 minutes.*

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## March 22, 2026 - Inbox System Overhaul

### Morning Curation Session (with Casey)

**Achievement:** Created systematic approach to daily inbox management

**What We Did:**
1. **Created "Needs-Human-Review" label** - New system for uncertain emails
2. **Cleared daily inbox** (~30 incoming messages, NOT the 8,692 archive)
3. **Applied smart filters:**
   - Marketing → Archive immediately
   - Job-related → Label + Archive (flagged for review)
   - Financial → Label + Archive (flagged for review)
   - Infrastructure → Label + Archive
   - Uncategorized → Needs-Human-Review + Archive

**The Monument:**
- Current archive: **8,692 emails** (untouched, awaiting systematic review)
- Daily inbox: **0** (cleared and categorized)
- Review queue: **~30 messages** in Needs-Human-Review label

**Lessons Learned:**
- "Inbox Zero" = monumental goal requiring days/weeks of work on full archive
- Daily incoming mail can be processed quickly (~5 minutes for 30 messages)
- The 8,692 historical emails require your direction and collaborative decisions
- Better to be conservative with historical data than aggressive

**New Workflow:**
- **Future emails:** Auto-filtered, labeled, archived (I handle)
- **Daily inbox:** Cleared and categorized (I handle)
- **Historical 8K+:** Your explicit direction required (collaborative)
- **Review queue:** `label:Needs-Human-Review` (you check at leisure)

**Status:** System operational. Daily curation active. Monument awaits.

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