30+ School Emails a Week Down to One Daily Digest: A Dad's Grok Bot Rules After 6 Weeks and 44 Digests
- Level Intermediate
- Setup1–3 hrs (estimated)
- Evidence Strong evidence
- CostNot stated in source
- No-codeNo
What they did
Two kids at two schools meant about 200 school emails in 6 weeks, plus a separate TalkingPoints app. His Grok Bot reads the school mail and TalkingPoints every afternoon, follows newsletter links, and sends one digest grouped by school with must-dos first. It checks his calendar, marks items 'Already in calendar' or gives an 'Add to calendar' link, and sends nothing if there's nothing new. It sent 44 digests from Sept 9 to Oct 20, which he estimates saves 30-45 minutes of reading a week. It caught a TalkingPoints-only event, conflicting dates and a wrong-year parade date. His rules: it sends only from its own account to a family list, never changes the calendar, never replies to the school, and never invents a detail. 5 of the 44 digests were corrections.
How it went
Blog post by Geoff (redgeoff, Oct 26, 2026, cross-posted to dev.to): ~200 school emails in 6 weeks, 44 digests, 30-45 min/week saved, catches listed, failures turned into written rules. He found quiet failures, like wrong weekdays and a skipped source. Add a rule that the digest warns you when a source couldn't be checked
Worth knowing
- Blog post by Geoff (redgeoff, Oct 26, 2026, cross-posted to dev.to): ~200 school emails in 6 weeks, 44 digests, 30-45 min/week saved, catches listed, failures turned into written rules.
- He found quiet failures, like wrong weekdays and a skipped source. Add a rule that the digest warns you when a source couldn't be checked.
Prompt
Cleaned version rewritten from the source — not a direct quote.
Every afternoon, read new school emails in my Gmail (read-only) and new messages in [school app]. Follow links to full newsletters. Write one digest grouped by school: must-dos first, then this week, then coming up. Give every event a time or say 'time not listed'. Check my calendar and mark items 'Already in calendar' or add an 'Add to calendar' link. Send it only from your own email to [family list]. Never reply to the school, never change my calendar, never guess details, and send nothing if there's nothing new.
Recommended
Try it in Grok Bot
- Copy the prompt (button below).
- Open Grok Bot chat and paste it. Replace any [bracketed] placeholders.
- Connect the listed tools (Gmail, Google Calendar, Email) as connectors when Grok Bot asks.
- If the task repeats, ask: "Make this a daily routine."
Alternatives: the same prompt works in Claude, ChatGPT Agent, OpenClaw.
Set it up
Tools: Gmail, Google Calendar, Email · Stack: Grok Bot
- Read the original source for full context.
- Connect the tools your agent needs.
- Paste the prompt and replace [bracketed] placeholders.
- Run once manually and check the output before scheduling it.
Generic suggested steps, not from the source.
Evidence
Blog post by Geoff (redgeoff, Oct 26, 2026, cross-posted to dev.to): ~200 school emails in 6 weeks, 44 digests, 30-45 min/week saved, catches listed, failures turned into written rules. He found quiet failures, like wrong weekdays and a skipped source. Add a rule that the digest warns you when a source couldn't be checked
Source: Web · 2026-10-26 · Verified by us: not yet · Report broken or outdated