How to write InboxBriefs rules that actually work
A good rule doesn't describe an email, it describes a decision. Here's how to write them so your summaries truly become yours.
Personalization rules are the one thing that separates a generic summary from one that matches the way you work. InboxBriefs reads every rule before sorting your emails: they shape what rises to the top, what counts as “important”, and what fades into the noise. Written poorly, they have no visible effect. Written well, they completely change what you see in the morning.
1. Describe a decision, not a keyword
The temptation is to write “invoices” and hope for the best. But a rule isn't a keyword filter, it's a plain-language instruction given to a model that understands context. Tell it what you want it to do, and why.
- Too vague: “invoices”
- Effective: “Mark as urgent any email that mentions an unpaid invoice, a payment deadline or a reminder from a supplier”
- Too vague: “clients”
- Effective: “Prioritize emails from my direct clients, especially when they ask a question or are waiting for a reply from me”
2. Separate “prioritize” from “ignore”
A rule that tries to do everything at once waters down its own signal. Write short, single-purpose rules: one for what should rise, one for what should be muted. The model applies each rule independently, so several small, clear rules always beat one big catch-all rule.
Rule of thumb: if you can't sum up a rule in one sentence starting with a verb (“Prioritize…”, “Ignore…”, “Mark as…”), it actually contains two. Split it in half.
3. Name your real senders and topics
Concrete context beats abstraction. “Prioritize my team” is fine; “Prioritize emails from Sarah, my accountant and any address ending in @myclient.com” is far better. The more real anchors you give, names, domains, ongoing projects, the closer the sorting matches your reality.
4. Mute the noise explicitly
Half of a digest's value comes from what it doesn't show. Be direct about what should never reach the top: “Ignore promotions, marketing newsletters, automatic social-media notifications and delivery confirmations.” These emails stay in your Gmail inbox, they just stop cluttering your summary.
5. Iterate over a few days, not all at once
You don't need to nail everything on the first try. Start with two or three rules, read the next few digests, and adjust: if something important ended up too low, add a rule that targets it. If noise rose to the top, add a rule that mutes it. You can create up to 25 active rules, plenty to cover your priorities without turning setup into a chore.
Turn rules on and off any time from Preferences → Personalization rules. A disabled rule is kept but ignored on the next summary, handy for testing a rule's effect without deleting it.
After a few days of tweaks, your digests stop being “today's emails, summarized” and become “what matters to you today, first.” That's the whole point.