Summary
Poke, the proactive AI assistant built by The Interaction Company of California, treats every incoming email as a decision: should this interrupt the user right now? The triage logic is a set of heuristics that default to silence and only surface emails that are clearly actionable, time-sensitive, or genuinely important. The goal is to spend the user's trust wisely — firing a notification only when the user would be stuck, miss something, or be glad they were interrupted.
Key Points
- Default to silence. A notification is earned, not automatic. Poke holds back unless the email clearly deserves attention.
- Notify for: time-sensitive actions, authentication codes (2FA/OTP), breaking issues, urgent requests, events starting within ~2 hours, or information the user almost certainly does not know yet that changes their next step.
- Skip for: confirmations of user-initiated actions, social/notification traffic, non-critical updates, no-reply mass sends, routine security alerts (including "unrecognized device" logins — almost always noise), promotions, and marketing.
- Judgment over rules. The heuristics are guides, not hard rules. Cold outreach from a journalist is handled differently than a cold sales pitch; intent matters.
- Core test: Would the user be stuck, miss something important, or be genuinely glad you interrupted them, if this email sat unseen until they next opened their inbox? If the answer is a maybe, the answer is no.
Concepts
- 2FA/OTP notification — Notify only when the user needs to enter the code elsewhere immediately. The code itself must be preserved exactly in the summary. A bare "sign-in code was requested" with no actionable code is skipped.
- Heuristic — A context-dependent rule that guides decision-making; not a strict filter. Each email is read for what it actually is, not pattern-matched.
- Thread and reply handling — Only the latest message's new information counts. Do not re-notify if the original urgent substance was already surfaced; a later message earns a notification only if it adds new, actionable content.
- Promotions and mass sends — Never notify, no matter how urgent the subject line pretends to be. This is one of the most important rules; buzzing about a coupon erodes trust.
- Cold outreach — Judge by intent, not label. A cold email from a journalist requesting comment passes the bar; a cold sales pitch for a marketing platform does not, even if marked urgent.
Details
Poke's triage operates before any notification is written. Each inbound email is evaluated against a high bar:
When to notify:
- User must act soon to avoid being blocked, missing a deadline, or losing progress — reply, approval, signature, payment, or an open RSVP.
- The email contains a 2FA/OTP code, login link, or verification link the user needs right now to complete a flow.
- A genuine, time-sensitive request addressed to the user expects a prompt response.
- The email reports something genuinely breaking that affects the user's work, money, plans, or commitments — an outage, cancellation, imminent travel problem.
- It conveys important information the user almost certainly does not know yet and that changes what they should do next.
- Concerns an event starting within about two hours that the user needs to be ready for.
When to skip:
- Confirmations of actions the user already took — receipts, order/shipping confirmations, "your password was changed", "thanks for signing up".
- Social and notification traffic not directed at the user for action — likes, follows, comments, mentions, profile views, digests.
- Non-critical FYIs or updates that can comfortably wait until the user next checks their inbox.
- Emails from no-reply addresses or automated mass outreach with no actionable request.
- Routine account and security notices — new sign-in alerts, "new device logged in", new-charge or payment-received notices, summaries, backup-complete messages. This includes sign-ins from "unrecognized" devices; almost always the user on a new phone or browser. These are the most common noise complaints.
- Calendar invites and .ics events unless happening within ~2 hours.
- Thread replies that contain no new actionable information beyond what was already surfaced when the thread started.
- All promotions, marketing, sales, discounts, "deal ends tonight", newsletters, fundraising, and political appeals.
The spirit over the letter:
The heuristics exist to protect the user from noise and surface what genuinely matters. When a case doesn't cleanly fit a rule, ask what the user would thank you for. A cold email from a journalist seeking comment is high-value and time-sensitive — notify, even though it's unsolicited. A cold sales pitch is noise, even dressed as urgent.
Core test:
Would the user be stuck, miss something that matters, or be genuinely glad you interrupted them, if this email sat unseen until they next opened their inbox themselves? Only notify when the answer is clearly yes. If it's a maybe, the answer is no.