Track client reply SLAs in Gmail with OpenAI, Google Sheets, and Slack
Go to Workflow
Samruddhi Mokal
Description
Quick overview
This workflow runs hourly to find Gmail threads where a client is waiting for your reply, uses OpenAI to triage and summarize new overdue messages, logs SLA timing in Google Sheets, and posts new and escalated reminders to a Slack channel.
How it works
Runs every hour on a schedule.
Reads recent Inbox and Sent messages from Gmail and matches them by thread to identify client emails that are still awaiting your reply.
Compares the currently-waiting threads against a Google Sheets “Reply Log” to detect newly-due threads, threads that have become overdue, and threads you have already replied to.
For newly-due or overdue unlogged threads, sends the email preview to OpenAI to decide whether a reply is needed, assign a priority, and generate a short summary.
Appends each new thread evaluation to the Google Sheets “Reply Log” and posts a formatted alert to Slack only when OpenAI indicates a reply is needed.
For still-unanswered threads that cross 2× the reply target, updates the row as overdue in Google Sheets and posts an escalation message to Slack.
When a reply is detected for an open thread, updates the Google Sheets row with replied time and calculated response hours.
Setup
Connect credentials for Gmail, Google Sheets, OpenAI, and Slack.
Create a Google Sheets tab named “Reply Log” with columns matching the fields the workflow writes (including inbound_message_id, thread_id, client_email, subject, summary, priority, stage, status, received_at, flagged_at, replied_at, and response_hours).
In the workflow’s settings values, set your email address, internal domains to exclude, reply_target_hours and lookback_days, the Google Sheet ID, and the target Slack channel (and optionally set client_domains to limit monitoring).
Requirements
Gmail account (used for both inbox and sent mail)
OpenAI API key, a Google Sheet with a Reply Log tab, and a Slack workspace
Customization
List client_domains to watch only specific clients, and adjust reply_target_hours
Change the Gmail search to watch one label or a shared client inbox
Add a weekly Slack summary of average response hours per client from the Reply Log
This workflow was created by Samruddhi Mokal and shared publicly on the n8n community template library. n8nFind indexes it for discovery — the workflow remains the property of its original creator.