1 router, 3 paths: auto-route every email
Use Make's Router and filters to send each sorted email down its own path: leads get a reply draft, billing drafts an invoice reminder, support answers from your FAQ only.
What you’ll build
This is block 3 of the inbox assistant: a Router with three routes. Each email that the AI classifier labels
lead, billing or support goes down its own route. Emails labelled ignore match no route, so they just stop and
cost no extra operations.
- Lead → an AI reply draft in your voice, logged in your sheet with a follow-up date
- Billing → finds the client’s unpaid invoice in your sheet and drafts a polite reminder
- Support → answers only from your FAQ doc, and leaves anything the FAQ doesn’t cover for you
Every customer route ends in Gmail Create a draft, never Send an email. You review the draft and press Send yourself.
Who it’s for
Small-business owners and freelancers who already have the first two blocks running (or are following the full build video) and want each type of email handled differently instead of one generic reply.
Prerequisites
- A Make account (the free plan is enough to start)
- A Gmail inbox connected in Make. Personal @gmail.com accounts may need Make’s own-Google-client setup; see Make’s Gmail connection guide.
- An OpenAI API key (platform.openai.com › API keys). API billing is separate from a ChatGPT subscription.
- Blocks 1 and 2 already built in the same scenario: Gmail › Watch emails → OpenAI classifier → JSON › Parse JSON with the keys
category,name,companyandsummary. The full build video covers these. - A Google Sheet called Inbox Log with a
Logtab and anInvoicestab, and a Google Doc called FAQ (layouts are in the templates section).
Tools used
| Tool | What it does here | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Make | Router, filters and all the modules | Free plan to start |
| Gmail | Source emails and the reply drafts | Free |
| OpenAI API | Writes the lead reply, billing reminder and support answer | Pay per use |
| Google Sheets | Logs every email and holds your open invoices | Free |
| Google Docs | Holds the FAQ the support route answers from | Free |
Time estimate
Setting up the router and three filters takes a few minutes. Building and testing the three routes is most of the work. Plan on about 45 minutes if blocks 1 and 2 are already working. This is an estimate; it depends on how many test emails you run.
🔒 The rest of this guide is for members
The numbered steps, test checklist, troubleshooting and copy-paste templates are part of the membership. The video stays free on YouTube.