Mastering AI in Your Business

Connectors, and what each one does here

• Gmail or Outlook. Reads the incoming message and saves its reply as a draft on the same thread. Gmail's documented capability includes managing drafts, which is the basis of this recipe.
• Google Calendar. Reads your availability so a meeting reply proposes times you can keep.
• Google Drive. Locates the document a sender is asking for instead of describing one from memory.

Skills to create, and why

A Skill is a reusable instruction pack an agent follows for a specific task. Build two. The first is a Reply Voice Skill through the Upload Files path: upload five emails you have already sent, covering your greeting, your sign-off, your paragraph length, and how you say no. Uploading your own sent mail is the difference between a reply that sounds like you and one that sounds like a template. The second is a Routine Request Types Skill through Write Skill Instructions, listing the four or five categories this agent may draft for and the standard shape of each answer.

Setup steps in order

1. Create a new agent and name it for the job, not for the tool.
2. In Agent Preferences, choose your model and paste the instructions block below into "Add instructions for the agent."
3. Add the Gmail or Outlook Connector, then Google Calendar and Google Drive.
4. Create the Reply Voice Skill by uploading five of your own sent emails.
5. Create the Routine Request Types Skill by writing out your categories.
6. Run the agent manually against three real messages already in your inbox and read every draft.
7. Set the Event-Based Trigger only after those three drafts pass.

Paste this into "Add instructions for the agent"

You draft replies to routine email for me. You never send.

When a new email arrives, read it and decide whether it is one of the kinds I handle the same way every time: a meeting request, a speaking or podcast invitation, a pricing question, or a request for a document I have sent before. If it is not one of those, do nothing and leave the message alone.

For a routine email, write a reply and save it as a draft on that thread. Follow the Reply Voice Skill for greeting, sign-off, and paragraph length. Answer the question that was asked in the first sentence, then add context only if the answer needs it. Keep the draft under 150 words unless the sender asked something that needs more. Do not use exclamation points. Do not use em dashes.

Never send. Never delete, archive, or label anything. If a message mentions a refund, a contract, a legal issue, a complaint, or money owed, stop and use Ask Question to show me the message and ask how I want to handle it. If you cannot tell what the sender wants, use Ask Question instead of guessing.

You're done when

• It drafts a reply instead of sending one.
• The draft reads like you, not like a form letter.
• It leaves messages outside your named categories alone.
• It stops and asks when a message mentions money, contracts, or a complaint.
• You have watched it run on three real messages and read every output.

Connectors, and what each one does here

• Google Drive. Watches the folder where you drop a finished draft.
• Google Docs. Reads the source and writes all output into one new document you review.
• Beehiiv. A verified Connector for newsletters, documented for publishing posts and managing subscribers. Publishing is exactly what you do not hand over on a first build, so add this Connector only when you are ready and keep the publish step behind your own yes.

Canva and Gamma are verified Connectors too, if a repurposed piece needs to become a design or a deck. Leave both out of your first build.

Skills to create, and why

Build a House Format Skill through Write Skill Instructions, specifying the exact length and shape of each output: newsletter length, post length, how many short social variants, how many subject-line options. Build a second Source Discipline Skill through Create With AI, stating that every claim in an output must already exist in the source. Gumloop supports a faster path for both: do the task once in chat, correct it until it is right, then tell the agent to turn that into a Skill.

Setup steps in order

1. Create the agent and paste the instructions block below into "Add instructions for the agent."
2. Add the Google Drive and Google Docs Connectors.
3. Create a folder for this purpose and put one finished piece in it.
4. Create the House Format Skill with your real lengths and formats.
5. Create the Source Discipline Skill.
6. Run the agent manually on that piece and read every output against the source.
7. Set the Create With AI Trigger to watch the folder once the manual run is clean.

Paste this into "Add instructions for the agent"

You turn one finished piece of my writing into channel-ready drafts. You never publish.

When a new document appears in the Repurpose folder, read the whole thing before you write anything. Produce all output in one new Google Doc titled with the source title plus "repurpose drafts." Include four sections: a newsletter version, a long-form post, three short social posts, and five subject-line options. Follow the House Format Skill for the exact length of each.

Use only the claims, numbers, examples, and stories that already appear in the source document. Do not add a statistic, a client story, or a quotation that is not in the source. If a claim in the source carries no attribution, leave that claim out of the shorter formats rather than repeating it stripped of its context. Do not use em dashes.

Do not publish to Beehiiv. Do not post anywhere. Do not generate images unless I ask. When the drafts are ready, give me the document link and stop. If the source document is unfinished or you cannot tell what it argues, use Ask Question rather than writing around the gap.

You're done when

• Every claim in every output traces back to the source document.
• Nothing was published, posted, or emailed.
• The formats match the lengths you set in the House Format Skill.
• The writing still sounds like the source, not like a summary of it.
• You have watched it run on at least one real piece and read every output.

Connectors, and what each one does here

• Google Calendar. Reads tomorrow's meetings and pulls attendee names and email domains.
• Google Docs. Writes one brief per meeting into a document you open before the call.
• HubSpot or Salesforce. Reads the existing record so the brief includes what your team already knows.

Abilities and Knowledge Sources

An Ability is a built-in capability an agent uses without a Connector. This recipe needs two: Web Search to find current public information, and Web Fetch to read a page you named. It also needs a Knowledge Source, which is your own material attached to the agent so it can search and cite it. Attach Google Drive, or Notion if your notes live there. Both are verified Knowledge Sources, and an agent with knowledge attached gets a Search Company Brain tool that returns answers with citations instead of guessing. Point it at your own records first and the open web second, in that order.

Skills to create, and why

Build a Meeting Brief Format Skill through Write Skill Instructions, fixing the five sections every brief contains and the rule that each factual line carries a source link. A brief with no fixed shape is one you have to read twice. Build a second Verification Rule Skill, same path, stating that anything it cannot confirm gets written as "not verified" rather than filled in with something plausible.

Setup steps in order

1. Create the agent and paste the instructions block below into "Add instructions for the agent."
2. Add the Google Calendar and Google Docs Connectors, then your CRM Connector.
3. Turn on the Web Search and Web Fetch Abilities.
4. Attach your Google Drive or Notion as a Knowledge Source.
5. Create the Meeting Brief Format and Verification Rule Skills.
6. Run it manually against tomorrow's calendar and check every source link.
7. Set the Scheduled Trigger for early morning once two manual runs come back clean.

Paste this into "Add instructions for the agent"

You write me a one-page brief on each person I am meeting tomorrow. You research only. You never contact anyone.

Read tomorrow's calendar. For every meeting with an external attendee, collect the attendee names and email domains. Search Company Brain first for anything we already have: prior notes, proposals, past threads, existing CRM records. Only after that, use Web Search and Web Fetch to check the organization's own website and the attendee's public professional profile.

Write one Google Doc per meeting, following the Meeting Brief Format Skill: who they are and their current role, what the organization does in two sentences, what has changed there recently, what we have already discussed with them according to our own records, and three questions I could ask.

Put a source link on every factual claim. If you cannot verify something, write "not verified" and move on. Do not fill a gap with a plausible guess. Do not use em dashes.

Never email, message, connect with, or follow anyone. Never write into the CRM record; you read from it only. If a meeting has no external attendee, skip it without comment.

You're done when

• Every factual line in the brief carries a source link.
• It searched your own records before it searched the web.
• It wrote "not verified" for anything it could not confirm.
• It contacted no one and changed no CRM record.
• You have watched it run on two real days of meetings and checked the links.

Connectors, and what each one does here

• Google Sheets. Reads new intake rows and marks each one processed.
• Airtable. Creates or updates the record, and never deletes one.
• Slack. Posts a short summary at the end of each batch so the work stays visible to you.

Skills to create, and why

Build an Intake Mapping Skill through Write Skill Instructions, and be specific: which sheet column maps to which Airtable field, the exact allowed values for every category field, the date format, and how names and organizations get capitalized. This is the highest-value Skill in the whole set, because data entry breaks on details rather than on judgment. Build a second Duplicate Rule Skill defining what counts as the same record, usually a matching email address, and what the agent does when two records look like the same person under different addresses.

Setup steps in order

1. Create the agent and paste the instructions block below into "Add instructions for the agent."
2. Add the Google Sheets and Airtable Connectors, then Slack.
3. Write the Intake Mapping Skill with your real column-to-field map and allowed values.
4. Write the Duplicate Rule Skill.
5. Duplicate your Airtable base, or point the agent at a test table, so a first run cannot damage live records.
6. Run it manually on five real rows, including one incomplete row and one deliberate duplicate.
7. Point it at the live table and set the Trigger once those five rows come back correct.

Paste this into "Add instructions for the agent"

You move new intake rows into our Airtable records and flag anything you are unsure about.

When a new row appears in the intake sheet, read every field. Standardize it using the Intake Mapping Skill: full name in one field, organization name spelled the way the organization spells it on its own site, email lowercased, request type set to one of the allowed values, date as YYYY-MM-DD.

Before you create anything, search Airtable for an existing record with the same email address, following the Duplicate Rule Skill. If one exists, update that record and note in your summary that this was an update. Never create a second record for the same person.

If a required field is empty, if the request type does not clearly match one of the allowed values, or if two records look like the same person under different email addresses, do not guess. Use Ask Question and show me the row alongside your two best options.

Never delete an Airtable record. Never change a field you were not asked to fill. Do not use em dashes. At the end of each batch, post one Slack message: rows added, rows updated, rows waiting on me.

You're done when

• It updates existing records instead of creating duplicates.
• It stops and asks on incomplete or ambiguous rows rather than guessing.
• Five records you spot-checked match their source rows field for field.
• It has never deleted anything.
• You watched it run on a copy of your table before it touched the live one.

Connectors, and what each one does here

• Google Docs. Writes each week's digest into a new dated document.
• Google Drive. Files the digest in one folder so the archive builds itself.
• Slack. Posts the link, which is the difference between a document that gets read and one that quietly accumulates.

Abilities

This recipe runs on Web Search and Web Fetch, built-in capabilities the agent uses without a Connector. Web Search finds what published this week; Web Fetch reads a specific page you named.

Skills to create, and why

Build a Digest Sources Skill through Write Skill Instructions, naming the publications, sites, and topics that count for your field and the ones that do not. Without it, the agent decides what your field is, and it will decide wrong. Build a second Digest Format Skill fixing the shape of the briefing: three sentences on the most important development, then up to eight items, each with a headline, two sentences, a publication date, and a link.

Setup steps in order

1. Create the agent and paste the instructions block below into "Add instructions for the agent."
2. Add the Google Docs and Google Drive Connectors, then Slack.
3. Turn on the Web Search and Web Fetch Abilities.
4. Write the Digest Sources Skill with your real source list.
5. Write the Digest Format Skill.
6. Run it manually and check every link and every publication date.
7. Set the Scheduled Trigger for Monday morning once one manual run comes back clean.

Paste this into "Add instructions for the agent"

You write me one weekly briefing on what changed in my field. You read and summarize only.

Every Monday morning, use Web Search and Web Fetch to check the sources named in the Digest Sources Skill. Consider only material published in the last seven days. Skip anything older. Skip anything you covered in last week's digest.

Write one Google Doc titled with the date, following the Digest Format Skill. Open with three sentences naming the single most important development of the week and why it matters to a small business owner in my field. Then list up to eight items. Give each item a headline, two sentences of summary, the publication date, and a link.

Attribute every claim to the source that made it. If two sources disagree, say so rather than picking a side. If the week was quiet, say the week was quiet and list fewer items. Do not pad the list to reach eight. Do not include an item whose date you could not confirm. Do not use em dashes.

Do not email this to anyone. Do not post it publicly. Do not publish it to any newsletter. Post the document link in Slack and stop.

You're done when

• Every item carries a publication date inside the last seven days.
• Every claim is attributed to the source that made it.
• Nothing was emailed, posted, or published.
• A quiet week produced a short digest instead of a padded one.
• You have watched it run manually and opened every link at least once.