an outlook bot for the mail around your meetings

what a bot can do in Outlook

outlook work is often split between the calendar and the conversation that led to the meeting. a bot can collect both without moving the appointment or sending a reply. the useful starting actions are below.

composio, the connection service dusk bot uses for apps, lists 333 Outlook actions (catalog version 20261104_00, read 12 november 2026⁵). dusk bot treats 139 of them as reads, 29 as sends and the other 165 as changes. an action counts as a read only when its name starts with a read word like get, list or search, so a bot you allow only to read can never call the rest. a send is anything that reaches a person outside the app or moves money, like add mail attachment: it waits for your Allow unless you've given that bot a daily amount it may send alone.

connect Outlook

1. open Connected apps in the sidebar.
2. pick Outlook and sign in on Outlook's own page, so your password goes to them and never to a bot.
3. choose which bots may use it, and whether each may only read or may also change things. your bookkeeper doesn't need your Outlook.
4. ask in plain words. reading and drafting happen freely; sending asks you first.

choose outlook in Connected apps, complete microsoft's sign-in and enable it for your bot. label accounts clearly if you connect more than one. tell the bot whether a job concerns personal mail or work mail, and start with reading access for briefings that need no saved drafts.

routines to copy

these messages target the gaps around a working day, rather than asking the bot to take over your whole inbox. replace the project names with yours before sending.

every weekday at 8:30, read today's outlook events. for meetings about acme, find the related mail and give me the last agreed point, unanswered questions and relevant message subjects. do not move events or write to anyone.

every wednesday at 4, search my outlook mail from this week for replies where i promised to send something later. read the surrounding messages and list promises that do not have a clear follow-up. quote the promise and mark uncertain matches.

every other friday at 10, read the outlook folder acme renewal. find messages that still need a response and prepare draft replies where the answer is supported by the mail. leave the drafts unsent and list questions you need me to answer.

what it asks you first

saving a new email draft is different from sending it. one outlook quirk: a draft reply (Create draft reply) counts as a send in dusk bot, because its name carries "reply", so each one asks first like a send. an outlook send displays Allow and Deny by default; a daily sending amount can allow sends without that individual check. one exception: a bot on Full access with no sending rule of its own may send up to 25 a day without asking, so give full-access bots Ask every time under sending. keep that setting narrow while learning the bot's judgement.

moving mail between folders and changing calendar events are not documented as asking first under the sending rule. use read-only access for a background reader. when a folder routine needs writes, tell it "ask me before you change anything" if you want each change reviewed.

what it cannot do

• create outlook drafts with a read-only grant. reading mail and reporting in chat works within that boundary; a saved draft needs write access.
• work across an unconnected mailbox. an account signed in somewhere else is not automatically connected to dusk bot. connect each account you want the bot to use.
• prepare an early meeting brief on a sleeping desktop. local routines pause during sleep; move the bot to dusk cloud if it needs to work before your computer wakes.

read before inventing the answer

an email saying "can you confirm the price?" does not establish the price. ask the bot to show what the mail supports and leave missing decisions as questions. the meeting prep brief helps turn that evidence into a focused agenda.

keep each inbox job small

outlook has its own connected actions, so do not assume a gmail routine maps to exactly the same folders or controls. begin with a single project or a short date window. if the real problem is deciding which mail needs you, use the narrower email triage approach.