Turn important emails into clear Todoist tasks without copy and paste. The flow watches your Gmail inbox, builds a task when a new or starred email appears, and adds a short summary with next steps and a draft reply. It also closes the task when you remove the star from the email, so your list stays clean.

On a schedule or when new mail arrives, it reads unread and starred messages from Gmail. New unread items can be marked as read and starred to show they need action. The flow checks open Todoist tasks and matches them to email subjects. If no match exists, it pulls the full message, sends it to OpenAI to create structured fields content, description, actions, and answer, then creates a Todoist task with that detail. A guard step checks the AI output before creating the task. Another path detects emails that lost the star and closes the linked Todoist task.

To run it, connect Gmail, your email IMAP inbox, Todoist, and an OpenAI key. Pick the Todoist project where new tasks should go and adjust the optional read and star actions if you prefer different inbox rules. Teams that triage support or sales email will cut manual entry and miss fewer follow ups, often saving an hour a day.

• Runs on a schedule or when new mail arrives through IMAP so inbox events trigger task updates quickly.
• Reads unread and starred Gmail messages and can mark unread items as read and add a star automatically.
• Merges starred and unread lists and cross checks against open Todoist tasks to avoid duplicates.
• Fetches the full email body and uses OpenAI to produce structured fields like content, description, actions and answer.
• Creates a Todoist task with a clear title and a description that includes proposed actions and a draft reply.
• Validates AI output before creating tasks to prevent broken or empty items.
• Detects when an email is unstarred and closes the related Todoist task to keep lists aligned.
• Uses simple If and Merge logic to keep data matching based on the email subject and task content.

• Reduce manual email to task entry from 60 minutes to 5 minutes per day
• Automate up to 90 percent of task creation from email
• Cut missed follow ups by 70 percent with star based close rules
• Connect Gmail, IMAP, OpenAI and Todoist in one flow
• Handle five times more inbound messages without extra staff
• Keep task details consistent with AI summaries and proposed replies

1. Import the template into n8n: Create a new workflow in n8n > Click the three dots menu > Select 'Import from File' > Choose the downloaded JSON file.
2. You'll need accounts with Gmail, Todoist, OpenAI and IMAP. See the Tools Required section above for links to create accounts with these services.
3. In the n8n credentials manager, configure Gmail: double click any Gmail node such as Get Unread From Inbox, click Create new credential, choose Gmail OAuth2, and follow the on screen steps. Approve read, modify, and label scopes. Test the credential.
4. Set up IMAP access: open the Email Trigger node, enter your IMAP host, port, username and password, enable SSL if required, and select the mailbox folder such as INBOX. Click Test to confirm connection.
5. Configure Todoist: double click the Create Todoist Task node, click Create new credential, select Todoist API Key, and paste your token from the Todoist settings page. Save and test the credential.
6. Add OpenAI: open the OpenAI Chat Model node, click Create new credential, choose OpenAI API Key, and paste your secret key from the OpenAI dashboard. Save and test.
7. Select your Todoist project: in the Create Todoist Task node, choose the project where new tasks should be created. Adjust the description template if you want a different layout.
8. Review inbox rules: if you do not want unread emails to be marked as read and starred, disable or disconnect the Mark As Read and Star nodes.
9. Check matching logic: the merge step links emails and tasks using the email Subject and the task content. Keep subjects clear to prevent duplicates.
10. Run a test: click Execute on the manual trigger, send a new email to your inbox, and confirm a task is created with summary, actions, and a draft reply.
11. Validate AI output: if the If AI responded properly step fails, open the Summarize Message node and adjust the prompt or output schema, then test again.
12. Enable continuous runs: set the Schedule Trigger to your desired frequency and activate the workflow so it monitors and syncs in the background.
13. Troubleshoot: if no Gmail items appear, review label filters in the Get Unread and Get Starred nodes. If tasks do not close, confirm the email was unstarred and the Todoist credential is valid.