Obvious/Help Center

Email Integration

Published February 27, 2026 · Last updated March 7, 2026 · 3 min read

This guide walks you through connecting your email account to Obvious and sending, reading, and replying to email without leaving your workspace.

The Quickest Way: Ask the Agent

Open a thread and tell the agent what you need. It handles the rest.

Draft an email to jamie@acme.com letting them know we're pushing the launch to March 15

The agent composes the email and shows you a preview card right in the chat. You can edit the subject, body, and recipients before you send — nothing goes out until you click Send.

A few more prompts worth trying:

  • "Find the last email from our design vendor"
  • "Reply to that thread and ask for the updated timeline"
  • "Search my inbox for anything from @notion.so this week"

The agent can read, search, compose, and reply. If your email account is connected, it sends directly. If it isn't, the preview card gives you an Open in Gmail or Open in Outlook button so you can send from there.

Connecting Your Email Account

Connecting your account lets the agent send email on your behalf and search your inbox — no copy-pasting required.

  1. Open Settings → Connectors.
  2. Find Gmail or Outlook in the list and click Connect.
  3. Sign in with your email account and authorize Obvious.

That's it. Once connected, the agent can send directly from the preview card and pull up your full inbox when you ask.

Tip: You don't have to connect an account to use email in Obvious. The agent can still compose messages for you — you'll just send them from Gmail or Outlook yourself.

What You Can Do With Email in Obvious

Compose and Send

Ask the agent to draft an email or write one from a prompt. The agent builds a preview card with your recipients, subject, and body. Review it, make edits if needed, and hit Send.

If you have CC or BCC recipients, include them in your prompt:

Send an email to alex@acme.com, CC dana@acme.com, about the Q3 renewal timeline

Ask the agent to find specific emails or check your inbox:

Show me my latest emails from this week

Search for emails about "contract renewal"

The agent pulls up summaries first. Ask it to open a specific email to see the full thread.

Reply in Thread

When you're looking at an email, ask the agent to reply:

Reply to that email and confirm we're good to proceed

The reply goes out in the same thread, keeping the conversation intact.

Drafts (Gmail)

If you're connected to Gmail, the agent can also create and manage drafts:

Create a draft to the sales team about the new pricing tiers

You'll find it in your Gmail drafts folder, ready to review and send when you're ready.

How the Agent Works With Email

The agent shows you everything before it sends. When it composes an email, you get a preview card in the chat with:

  • Recipients (To, CC, BCC) displayed as tags
  • Subject line you can edit
  • Body you can review and modify
  • Send button (when your account is connected)
  • Open in Gmail / Outlook option (always available)

The agent never sends an email without your approval. You're always in control of what goes out.

Next Steps

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