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Email replies drafted by AI and approved by email

by Mindketn8n workflowProductivity
Newversion 1 · updated
Nodes10Apps3Like

Overview

  1. Email Trigger (IMAP)
  2. OpenAI Chat Model
  3. DeepSeek Chat Model
  4. Markdown
  5. Email Summarization Chain
  6. Write email
  7. Set Email text
  8. Approve Email
  9. Approved?
  10. Send Email
Email replies drafted by AI and approved by email, picture 1
‹2 / 2›

An n8n workflow that drafts a reply to each new email with AI, then emails you the original and the draft. The reply goes to the sender only after you press Approve.

Email replies drafted by AI and approved by email is an n8n workflow in the Productivity category, listed by Mindket. It is free. This is version 1, last updated on . Download it on this page or copy its JSON, then import it into an n8n canvas. Nothing runs until you activate it in n8n.

At a glance

Runs in
  • n8n Cloud: bring in the file, connect your accounts and switch it on
  • Your own n8n server: the same file, with the server reachable for the approval link
  • A local install: it runs, but the approval link then opens only on that same computer
  • Any account that offers IMAP and SMTP: a personal one or a company one

Platform

n8nWorkflow automation, in n8n’s cloud or on your own server
Connects 3 apps

How it works

Trigger

New unread email

It starts when an unread email arrives in the mailbox. Set first:

  • An IMAP credential and an SMTP credential
  • DeepSeek and OpenAI credentials
  • Two addresses in Approve Email

Actions

  1. The IMAP node picks up each new unread email and marks it read
  2. The email’s HTML is turned into Markdown
  3. A chain on DeepSeek summarizes it in up to 100 words
  4. An agent on OpenAI drafts a reply from the summary
  5. An approval email shows the original and the draft, then waits for a click on Approve
  6. After the click, the reply is sent to the original sender as HTML

Result

A reply to the sender, sent only after a person pressed Approve

Integrations

What you need before you start.

Email (IMAP and SMTP)

Mailbox

Reads each new email, sends the approval email and sends the approved reply.

NeedsIMAP and SMTP details

DeepSeek

Language model

Summarizes each email.

NeedsDeepSeek API key

OpenAI

Language model

Writes the draft reply from the summary.

NeedsOpenAI API key

Workflow check

Checked by Mindket on 13 Nov 2026

Steps
It has no trigger node, so a run reaches no step
API keys
No API key is left in the file

Read from the workflow’s file, not from a run.

About

What it is

This n8n workflow writes a reply to each new email and holds it until a person approves it. It reads an inbox over IMAP, summarizes each message and lets an AI agent draft an answer from that summary and from the instructions stored in the workflow. It then emails you the original and the draft, with an Approve button. Pressing the button sends the reply to the sender. Nothing goes out unchecked. Ten nodes run it, beside six sticky notes.

Who it suits

Small businesses, support desks and freelancers who answer many routine emails and still want to read every reply before it goes out. It fits a mailbox that gets the same questions again and again. You stay in charge. Skip it if you want replies sent with no check. Skip it too if the answers depend on company documents, because this one writes from the email alone. Its sibling listing, Company knowledge email replies with approve or disapprove, adds a knowledge base and a Disapprove button.

Who uses it, and how
IndustryWho uses itHow they use itExample
Small businessShop ownersAnswer routine customer questions from one inboxAn owner reads each draft on her phone and approves the good ones.
SupportSupport agentsSpeed up first replies while a person stays in chargeAn agent approves a reply about a delivery in one tap.
FreelancingConsultantsKeep replies on time between client callsA consultant approves quick answers between two meetings.
PropertyLetting agentsReply to viewing requestsAn agent checks a reply to a viewing request before it goes out.

You need an IMAP and SMTP mailbox, a DeepSeek key and an OpenAI key.

Where to use it

Any n8n that can reach your mail server, DeepSeek and OpenAI will run it. The workflow must be switched on so the inbox is watched. The approval button is a link to your n8n, so you must be able to open it where you read the email.

  • n8n Cloud: bring in the file, connect your accounts and switch it on
  • Your own n8n server: the same file, with the server reachable for the approval link
  • A local install: it runs, but the approval link then opens only on that same computer
  • Any account that offers IMAP and SMTP: a personal one or a company one

Setup

Download saves a zip with workflow.json and Mindket’s setup notes in your downloads folder. Import the file, add the credentials and two addresses, and switch the workflow on.

What you need first
NeedDetail
n8nOn n8n Cloud or on a server of your own
MailboxIMAP and SMTP details for one account
DeepSeekAn API key
OpenAIAn API key
ReviewerAn address that gets the approval emails
  1. In n8n, create a workflow, open its menu, choose Import from File and pick workflow.json.
  2. Add an IMAP credential to Email Trigger (IMAP). Add the same account’s SMTP credential to Send Email and Approve Email.
  3. Add a DeepSeek credential to DeepSeek Chat Model and an OpenAI credential to OpenAI Chat Model.
  4. In Approve Email, replace <YOUR_REVIEWER_ADDRESS> with the address that approves replies, and <YOUR_SENDER_ADDRESS> with the address of the SMTP account.
  5. OpenAI retires gpt-4o-mini on 14 January 2027, so pick gpt-6-luna in OpenAI Chat Model when you set this up after that date, or earlier if you like.
  6. Save the workflow, switch it on and send a test email to the mailbox.

How to use it

Leave the workflow on. Each unread email that arrives gets a draft, and you receive an approval email with the original and the draft. Press Approve to send the reply. Ignore the email to send nothing. No click, no reply.

What to change for a different result
To changeWhere
Tone and length of the replyThe instructions in Write email
Length of the summaryThe two prompts in Email Summarization Chain
Who approvestoEmail in Approve Email
The modelsDeepSeek Chat Model and OpenAI Chat Model
How long it waitsAdd Limit Wait Time in the options of Approve Email

Example

A florist gets an email that asks whether she delivers on Sundays. The workflow summarizes it and drafts a short, polite answer.

Minutes later an approval email arrives, with her customer’s message above the draft. The draft promises a delivery time that she does not offer. She ignores the email, and nothing is sent. A later draft is right. She presses Approve. The customer receives it under the subject Re: plus the original subject.

For newcomers and experts

If you are new. n8n draws a workflow as boxes joined by lines, and each box, a node, does one job. IMAP is how a program reads an inbox, and SMTP is how it sends mail. An agent is a model that follows instructions to write text. You are the person in the loop. The run stops at the approval email until you answer.

For experts. The summary step runs a chain in binary mode with no binary file, so the prompt carries the text.

Where to look closer
NodeWhat it doesWhat to know
Email Summarization ChainSummarizes the Markdown text in up to 100 wordsThe mode reads a binary file, but none exists. The text enters through {{ $json.data }} in the prompt, and binaryDataKey has no effect
Write emailDrafts the reply under its system instructionsIt reads only the summary at response.text, never the full email
Approve EmailSends the approval email and pauses the runSend and wait with one Approve button and no time limit. It resumes with data.approved
Approved?Tests data.approvedThe false output has nothing connected
Send EmailSends the draft as HTMLThe recipient is the original from, and the sender is the original to

Good to know

Replies come from a summary, and an unanswered approval waits without end.

  • Summary: the agent writes from 100 words, so a detail the summary drops cannot reach the reply. Read each draft against the original
  • Waiting: Approve Email has one button and no time limit. If you never press it, nothing is sent, and the run waits in n8n until you delete it
  • Link: the button points to your n8n, so open it from a device that can reach that address
  • Braces: the email text sits inside a prompt template, so a message with curly braces may make the summary step fail
  • Unread only: the trigger takes unread mail, so an email you open in your own mail app first is marked read and skipped
  • Repairs: the original copy ran deepseek-chat, which DeepSeek announced as discontinued on 24 July 2026. Mindket’s copy uses deepseek-flash on the DeepSeek sub-node, which thinks before it answers by default, so a summary can take longer. Its addresses became placeholders, and two sticky notes were rewritten
  • Model: the agent runs gpt-4o-mini. OpenAI’s deprecations page, read on 12 November 2026, gives 14 January 2027 as its shutdown date, with gpt-6-luna as the replacement. This agent has no tools, so gpt-6-luna fits
  • Billing: DeepSeek and OpenAI bill each run, and your mail provider may cap how many messages you send
  • Your data: the email text goes to DeepSeek, the summary goes to OpenAI and the approval email travels through your SMTP account
  • Credentials: the JSON holds none

README and files

README

Email replies drafted by AI and approved by email

An n8n workflow that answers incoming email in two steps. An AI drafts each reply, and an approval email asks a person to
check it. Only after the Approve button is pressed does a reply go out to the sender.

What is inside

  • workflow.json: the workflow as n8n exports it, 10 nodes and 6 sticky notes. It holds no credential.
  • README.md: these notes.

What we changed from the original copy

  • The summary step ran deepseek-chat on an OpenAI Chat Model node. DeepSeek announced that name as discontinued on 24
    July 2026. The step now uses DeepSeek Chat Model, the sub-node n8n has for DeepSeek, set to deepseek-flash. The
    agent's model node, once called OpenAI, is now OpenAI Chat Model.
  • Approve Email held its author's address twice. They now read <YOUR_REVIEWER_ADDRESS> and <YOUR_SENDER_ADDRESS>.
  • Two sticky notes described a vector database and a Gmail or Outlook swap that this file does not hold. We rewrote them
    in a line each.

Before you start

  • An n8n instance, on n8n Cloud or your own server.
  • One mailbox you can read over IMAP and send from over SMTP, with its server, port, user and password.
  • A DeepSeek API key and an OpenAI API key.
  • The address that should receive the approval emails.

Set it up

  1. In n8n, create a workflow, open its menu, choose Import from File and pick workflow.json.
  2. Add an IMAP credential to Email Trigger (IMAP). Add the same account's SMTP credential to Send Email and
    Approve Email.
  3. Add a DeepSeek credential to DeepSeek Chat Model and an OpenAI credential to OpenAI Chat Model.
  4. In Approve Email, replace <YOUR_REVIEWER_ADDRESS> with the address that approves replies, and
    <YOUR_SENDER_ADDRESS> with the address of the SMTP account.
  5. OpenAI retires gpt-4o-mini on 14 January 2027, so pick gpt-6-luna in OpenAI Chat Model when you set this up
    after that date, or earlier if you like.
  6. Save the workflow, switch it on and send a test email to the mailbox.

How a run goes

  1. Email Trigger (IMAP) watches the INBOX. It fires for each unread email and marks it read, which are its own
    defaults. The message body sits in textHtml.
  2. Markdown turns that HTML into Markdown and puts it in data.
  3. Email Summarization Chain asks DeepSeek Chat Model for a summary of at most 100 words. The chain is set to read a
    binary file, and there is none, so the email text reaches the model through the prompt, which holds {{ $json.data }}.
  4. Write email is an agent on OpenAI Chat Model. Its instructions ask for a short, professional business reply, with
    the body only. It gets the summary, not the whole email.
  5. Set Email text copies the reply into a field called email.
  6. Approve Email sends you a message with the original email and the AI reply, plus an Approve button. It then waits.
  7. Approved? checks data.approved. On true, Send Email sends the reply as HTML to the sender, under the subject
    Re: plus the original subject. The false output has nothing connected.

Change the look

  • Tone and length of the reply: the instructions in Write email.
  • Length of the summary: the two prompts in Email Summarization Chain.
  • Who approves: toEmail in Approve Email.
  • The models: DeepSeek Chat Model and OpenAI Chat Model.
  • How long it waits: add Limit Wait Time in the options of Approve Email.

Good to know

  • The facts below come from pages and n8n source read on 12 November 2026.
  • A reply is written from the 100 word summary. A detail that the summary drops cannot appear in the reply, so read each
    draft against the original.
  • Approve Email has one button and no time limit. The run waits until you press it. If you never do, nothing is sent,
    and the waiting run stays in n8n until you delete it.
  • The button is a link to your n8n. You must be able to open that address from where you read the approval email.
  • The text sits inside a prompt template, so an email that holds curly braces may make the summary step fail.
  • The trigger takes unread mail only. An email you open in your own mail app first is marked read and is skipped.
  • deepseek-flash thinks before it answers by default, so a summary can take a little longer.
  • gpt-4o-mini is the agent's model. OpenAI's deprecations page gives 14 January 2027 as its shutdown date, with
    gpt-6-luna as the replacement. This agent has no tools, so gpt-6-luna fits.
  • Billing: DeepSeek and OpenAI bill each run. Your mail provider may limit how many messages you can send.
  • Your data: the email text goes to DeepSeek, the summary goes to OpenAI and the approval email travels through your SMTP
    account.
  • Credentials: the JSON holds none.
Files
NOTICE.md  685 B
README.md  5 KB
workflow.json  9 KB

3 files, 15 KB, downloaded as a zip.

What’s new

  • Version 1 · 2026-11-12

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