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wtf is inbox-zero?

elie222/inbox-zero — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-06-24

10,685TypeScriptAudience · generalComplexity · 3/5Setup · moderate

TL;DR

Inbox Zero is an open source AI assistant for Gmail that auto-drafts replies in your tone, bulk-unsubscribes from mailing lists, and blocks cold emails, available hosted or self-hosted.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((inbox-zero))
    What it does
      AI email drafting
      Inbox organization
      Reply tracking
    Features
      Bulk unsubscribe
      Cold email blocker
      Drive attachments
    Integrations
      Gmail
      Slack and Telegram
      Google Drive
    Setup
      Hosted version
      Self-hosted Docker
      Local dev path

Code map

Detail Auto

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filefunction / class

Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Connect your Gmail to let an AI draft replies in your tone and automatically archive newsletters and cold emails.

REASON 2

Bulk-unsubscribe from mailing lists in one click and archive all past messages from those senders.

REASON 3

Automatically save email attachments to Google Drive or OneDrive without opening each email.

REASON 4

Self-host the full app on your own server using Docker to keep your email data under your control.

What's in the stack?

TypeScriptNext.jsPostgreSQLDockerUpstash

How it stacks up

elie222/inbox-zeroakveo/react-native-ui-kittenecomfe/vue-echarts
Stars10,68510,67910,692
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultymoderateeasyeasy
Complexity3/52/52/5
Audiencegeneraldeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Self-hosted setup requires Docker plus Gmail OAuth credentials and a PostgreSQL database.

Wtf does this do

Inbox Zero is an open source AI assistant for email, designed to help people spend less time managing their inbox. It connects to Gmail and can also work through Slack or Telegram, so you can deal with email without opening your mail app directly. The core feature is an AI assistant that reads your inbox, organizes it, and pre-drafts replies in your tone and writing style. You describe how you want your email handled in plain English, and the AI follows those instructions as rules. For example, you could tell it to archive all newsletters, or to draft a reply whenever a client asks about pricing. Beyond drafting, it tracks which emails still need a reply and which are waiting on someone else, so nothing slips through. Several additional features help with inbox maintenance. A bulk unsubscriber lets you leave mailing lists in one click and archive all past messages from them. A cold email blocker automatically removes unsolicited sales outreach. An attachments feature saves email attachments to Google Drive or OneDrive. Meeting briefs pull context from your email and calendar to give you a summary before each meeting. There is also basic email analytics to show your activity patterns over time. A hosted version is available at getinboxzero.com for people who want to get started without any setup. For those who want to run it themselves, the README provides a self-hosted path using a command-line tool that automates the setup, or a manual local development path for contributors. Both require Docker. The app is built with Next.js, uses PostgreSQL for storage, and integrates with Upstash for background job handling. The project is open source and the team welcomes contributions through GitHub issues and a Discord community.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
I want to self-host Inbox Zero. Walk me through the Docker setup and what environment variables I need for Gmail OAuth.
Prompt 2
How do I write a plain-English rule in Inbox Zero to automatically archive all emails from addresses containing 'noreply'?
Prompt 3
I'm contributing to Inbox Zero. How do I run the Next.js app locally and connect it to a local PostgreSQL database?
Prompt 4
How does Inbox Zero's AI learn my writing style to draft replies, what data does it use and where is it stored?

Frequently asked questions

wtf is inbox-zero?

Inbox Zero is an open source AI assistant for Gmail that auto-drafts replies in your tone, bulk-unsubscribes from mailing lists, and blocks cold emails, available hosted or self-hosted.

What language is inbox-zero written in?

Mainly TypeScript. The stack also includes TypeScript, Next.js, PostgreSQL.

How hard is inbox-zero to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is inbox-zero for?

Mainly general.

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