When one client or stakeholder emails, you can have ChatGPT brief you automatically. Connect Gmail, open Work, and set one event-triggered task filtered to that sender. Review the Trigger, Condition and Prompt, check it's saved under Scheduled, then open the original email from the first run before you act on the brief.
Steps follow OpenAI's Scheduled tasks in ChatGPT Help article and the ChatGPT Learn automations docs, checked 30 September 2026. The Harbourline example is made up.
For a time-based morning briefing with Gmail and Calendar, see Set up a ChatGPT daily briefing with Gmail and Calendar.
Which plan and Apps access do you need?
Event-triggered tasks need ChatGPT Work and an eligible Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu plan, or an eligible ChatGPT for Healthcare workspace. They aren't available on Free or Go, or in FedRAMP workspaces. In managed Enterprise, Edu and Healthcare workspaces, an admin has to turn on Allow event-triggered scheduled tasks first. Healthcare keeps it off by default, and OpenAI says these tasks aren't covered by a Business Associate Agreement.
Connect Gmail before you create the task. OpenAI's scheduled tasks article calls the place Settings > Apps; its newer Help pages call it Settings > Plugins. Create and edit trigger conditions on the web or in a supported mobile app. The desktop app shows existing event-triggered tasks but can't create or edit their triggers.
How many active tasks you can have depends on your plan. Across all your event-triggered tasks, OpenAI allows up to 30 runs an hour and 720 a day. If several matching emails land close together, ChatGPT may handle them in one run.
How do you create the task in Work?
Open Work and describe two things: the Gmail event to watch and what ChatGPT should do when it fires. You can ask ChatGPT to draft the task for you. Name the sender, either a contact's address or their organisation's domain, and say you want a short brief rather than a reply ready to send.
Review the Trigger, Condition and Prompt in the task panel, approve any app authorisation, then open Scheduled to confirm it saved. Put lasting instructions in the Prompt itself. One catch: a task created inside a Project can't read that Project's files.
What belongs in Trigger, Condition and Prompt?
Trigger is the event: a new incoming Gmail message. Condition narrows it, usually by sender and optionally by subject. Prompt tells each run what to produce: a short brief with who wrote, what they asked, any date or action in the email, and a way back to the message. Keep secrets out of the task title and Prompt, because a shared task link shows both to whoever opens it.
One task can have several event triggers, but OpenAI's Learn docs say it can't mix them with a time-based schedule. If you also want a fixed morning summary, keep that as a separate task.
Example: Harbourline client email brief
Say you support Harbourline Logistics and only want a heads-up when Maya Chen, their programme lead, emails you. Trigger stays on new Gmail messages. Condition filters to Maya's address. Prompt asks for a short brief you can skim and then check against the email.
Swap in your own stakeholder's name, address and organisation before you save. Only widen the Condition to a whole domain if you're happy to get briefs for everyone there.
When I receive a new Gmail message from Maya Chen at Harbourline Logistics (maya.chen@harbourline.example), write a short brief in British English under 120 words.
Include: sender name and address, subject, the ask or decision requested, any date, deadline or amount named in the message, and a direct link to the email when available.
Use only what appears in that message. Do not invent facts, commitments or next steps. Do not draft a reply for send. Do not send, delete or change any email. If several matching messages arrive close together and are grouped into one run, list each message separately.Where do you find and edit the saved task?
Open Scheduled to review, pause, edit or delete the task, or reach the same list from Settings > Notifications > Manage tasks. Select the task title to change the Trigger, Condition or Prompt on the web or mobile.
Under Settings > Notifications, choose Push, Email or both so you know when a run finishes. Mobile push needs the permission granted in the app. If an action needs your approval, the task pauses until you review it in Scheduled.
What do you check on the first run?
When the first matching email arrives, open Scheduled and read the brief. Then open the Gmail message it cites and check the ask, date and amount against the original before you reply, book time or escalate. If several emails were handled in one run, open each one.
If the brief fires for the wrong people, tighten the Condition. If it invents a deadline or drops a figure, pause the task, fix the Prompt, and wait for another real email before you rely on it. The brief points you to the email; the email is still the thing to trust. For a wider checklist, see how to check AI output before using it at work.
Sources
Scheduled tasks in ChatGPT, OpenAI Help Center. Plan eligibility including FedRAMP exclusion, Settings > Apps, desktop limits on editing triggers, run limits and grouping, Scheduled and Manage tasks, notifications, approval pauses, shared links, Project files, and Healthcare. Checked 30 September 2026.
Scheduled tasks, ChatGPT Learn (automations). Gmail sender or subject filters, several event triggers but no mix with a time-based schedule, the admin setting, and first-run review. Checked 30 September 2026.