Frequently Asked Questions

Shunbox is a private, background AI triage assistant that sorts, urgency-scores, and drafts reply suggestions for your Gmail inbox before you even open it. Once connected, our background worker listens to real-time Google webhooks, evaluates incoming mail against your custom categories, moves them to correct folders, and prepares context-aware response suggestions for priority messages.

Unlike standard rule filters or basic algos that rely on rigid keyword matches, Shunbox understands semantic intent. We group emails conceptually (e.g. knowing a contract draft belongs in "Legal" even if it doesn't match predefined rules). SaneBox uses standard folders and retains email caches; Superhuman is a premium email client app. Shunbox is a stateless background layer that deletes email content immediately and works inside your existing mail client.

When a new email lands, our background system receives a webhook notification. It extracts a temporary content snippet and passes it securely to a sandboxed AI. The AI maps the text against plain-English categories you define during onboarding (e.g., "messages from current active clients") and returns the target folder ID. The message is then dynamically labeled and archived from the main inbox.

Every classified email is rated on a 0 to 10 scale based on semantic urgency. Newsletter updates or transactional invoices are scored low (1-3), while time-sensitive requests, critical production errors, or urgent client queries receive high scores (8-10). These scores help structure your dashboard feed so you address bottlenecks first.

For folders designated as "Coached," our system writes reply suggestions matching the email context and your preferences. The draft displays on your web dashboard. We never send emails automatically; you have absolute control to review, edit, copy, or discard the suggestion before sending it from your standard mail client.

Insight cards are executive summaries populated on your dashboard. They distill long, messy email threads into a single sentence outlining the core request, the urgency score, and a prompt for a drafted reply. This allows you to review key status details at a glance without reading through dense threads.

Yes. Because Shunbox operates directly at the server level via API integrations and real-time webhooks, the email sorting happens before your phone even syncs. Any mail app on iOS or Android (like Apple Mail, Spark, Gmail, or Outlook Mobile) will display your sorted folders automatically. The Shunbox dashboard is also fully responsive for mobile browsers.

Currently, Shunbox supports personal Google Gmail accounts. Outlook and IMAP integrations are on our product roadmap, but we are prioritizing robust Gmail sync reliability during our initial launch phase.

Yes. Shunbox utilizes Google OAuth2 for authentication. We never request, see, or store your passwords. Sensitive API tokens are encrypted in transit via TLS 1.3 and at rest on our databases using 256-bit AES-GCM encryption with rotated key structures.

No. We operate on a Zero-Retention architecture. Email body snippets are loaded strictly in-memory during classification and are permanently discarded immediately afterward. We do not maintain any database of your historical email content, nor do we write message bodies to server logs.

No. We process data strictly through enterprise AI API connections. Every request is sent with parameters specifying that data must not be stored, audited, or used for model training. Your private correspondence remains entirely private.

We store only what is required to run the service: your account email, display name, encrypted Google OAuth credentials, your folder structure definitions, and a rolling cache of the 20 most recent generated summary cards on your dashboard. No email bodies are saved.

When you request account deletion, we immediately revoke our API tokens and delete your account profile, custom category definitions, and dashboard insights database entries. Since we do not retain email contents, no message data remains to be deleted.

Shunbox is currently undergoing formal Google OAuth API verification. During this stage, you will see a standard Google "unverified app" warnings screen when connecting your inbox. You can proceed safely by clicking "Advanced" and choosing "Go to Shunbox (unsafe)". The warning will disappear once our review is complete.

CASA (Cloud Application Security Assessment) Tier 2 is Google's security assessment designed for integrations requesting restricted API permissions (like Gmail access). Shunbox is currently in active assessment status, completing the security checkpoints to secure final approval.

Shunbox Premium is $9.99/month. We believe in direct pricing: there are no volume surcharges, no limits on the count of sorted emails, and no unexpected upsells.

Our Free tier supports up to 3 custom categories and does not include AI Insight cards or coached drafts. The Premium subscription ($9.99/mo) unlocks unlimited custom categories, dashboard access, urgency scoring, and coached reply drafts.

Yes. You can cancel your subscription inside your dashboard settings. You will retain premium features until the end of your paid billing period, with no cancellation fees.

Yes. If you are not satisfied with Shunbox, contact alberty.mps@gmail.com within 14 days of your purchase, and we will issue a full refund.

Yes. Every new user gains full access to a 30-day free trial of the Premium features upon connection, allowing you to test categorization and coached drafts without risk.

Click "Connect Gmail Inbox" on the homepage, link your Google account via our secure OAuth gateway, and state how you want your email organized using our onboarding chat. Shunbox will handle folder configuration automatically.

Instead of manually typing keyword filters, you describe your workflow to our onboarding assistant in natural language (e.g. "Create a folder for active projects and a folder for cold outreach"). The AI chatbot automatically translates this conversation into structured classification rules.

Yes. You can edit, add, or delete categories and update their plain-English descriptions at any time directly through the "Priorities & Folders" settings on your dashboard.

Instantly. The moment you finalize setup, Shunbox registers active labels inside Gmail. Incoming unread messages are triaged and routed according to your guidelines as they land.

No. Shunbox operates inside its own nested label tree (folders prefixed with Shunbox:). We do not touch, modify, or archive emails outside of this nested structure, leaving your existing labels and filter configurations untouched.

We use OpenAI's GPT-4o-mini for quick categorization and GPT-4o for deep coaching drafts and insight calculations.

We register a Gmail Watch subscription that sends immediate Google Cloud Pub/Sub webhooks to our server whenever a new email lands, allowing us to process messages within seconds.

We request gmail.modify to read text snippets and move messages, and gmail.labels to create sorting folders. We do not ask for full account access.

Currently, no. Shunbox is a hosted web application. We are looking into releasing a self-hosted open-source version in the future.

Yes. While SaneBox uses standard algorithms and caches your email content, Shunbox uses custom AI rules and deletes all email content immediately after sorting.

No, they are complementary. Superhuman is a premium email client app. Shunbox runs in the background at the server level, sorting mail before you open it in Superhuman.

Shortwave is a full replacement email client that caches your messages on their servers. Shunbox is a background organizer that lets you keep using your current email app.

Inbox Zero requires running your own server infrastructure and manages rules sequentially. Shunbox is fully hosted, handles complex semantic classification out of the box, and provides coached draft suggestions.

Gmail's priority inbox is limited to "Important" vs "Everything Else." Shunbox lets you build unlimited custom semantic folders and draft reply suggestions automatically.