Claude Cowork turns email and Slack into one to-do list
He has Claude Cowork read his emails, meeting notes and Slack messages and write the action items into a to-do list on a Slack canvas. He then built a small Mac menu bar app that shows the list so he can tick things off without opening Slack. The idea that works for anyone: one place where every 'can you send me' and 'let's follow up' ends up, written as a task with who asked and when.
Copy this prompt
Every weekday at 8am, read my email, meeting notes and Slack messages from the last 24 hours. Pull out anything I've been asked to do or promised to do. Add each one to my to-do list in [PLACE] with who asked, the deadline if there is one, and a link to the message. Don't reply to anyone or mark anything as read.
Our own prompt, written from what the source describes. We haven't run it ourselves. Text in [BRACKETS] is what you replace.
Watch out for
- Give it read access only to start, so it can't send messages by mistake.
Where this comes from
Original post by @georgemjustin on X, Nov 4, 2026. We rewrote it in our own words. The result is what the poster reports.
Read the originalWant to do this yourself?
Our guide compares which agents can do this job, with steps and a prompt.
Turn a messy inbox into a 5-minute daily summary
Paste in today's emails and get back what needs a reply today, what can wait, what to ignore, and a one-line reply for each. It also flags emails that look like scams.