Analyze Email Thread

Comprehensive analysis of an email thread including conversation flow, participant interactions, timeline, key points, and attachment evolution.

When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:

• Understand complete conversation context
• Track discussion progression over time
• Identify key decisions and action items
• See how attachments evolved through the thread
• Get overview of multi-email conversations

Triggers:

English:

• "Analyze this email thread

  <message-id>

  "
• "Show me the conversation

  <message-id>

  "
• "What's the thread about

  <message-id>

  "
• "Thread analysis for

  <message-id>

  "
• "Summarize this thread

  <message-id>

  "

Chinese:

• "分析这个邮件线索

  <message-id>

  "
• "看看这个对话

  <message-id>

  "
• "整理一下这个线索

  <message-id>

  "
• "线索内容总结

  <message-id>

  "
• "这个讨论的脉络

  <message-id>

  "

Invocation Methods

Method 1: Natural Language (Recommended)

User: Analyze this email thread <E42FF77C-C563-466D-8544-3E0C16EA24EC@taler.net>
AI: [Proceeds to analyze immediately]

Method 2: Slash Command

User: /analyze-thread
AI: 请提供线索中任意一封邮件的 Message-ID
User: <E42FF77C-C563-466D-8544-3E0C16EA24EC@taler.net>
AI: [Proceeds to analyze]

Note: Any message-id from the thread works. The system will find all related emails.

Execution Steps

1. Get message-id (if not provided)

   Please provide any Message-ID from the thread
   
   💡 Quick method (recommended):
   In Mail.app: Select email → Press shortcut (⌘⇧C) → Message-ID copied
   See README "Setup Mail Quick Action" section if not configured
   

2. Read thread using MCP

   thread_data = mcp__mail__read_thread(message_id)
   

3. Handle truncation checks

   Check 1: Thread Result Oversized

   • If result indicates size overflow (>80KB):
     • Warn user about thread size
     • Suggest reducing max_body_length
     • Ask if user wants to retry with tighter limits

   Check 2: Individual Email Truncation

   • After successful load, check for truncated emails
   • Classify by importance:
     • ⚠️ Critical: Truncated + has attachments
     • ⚠️ High: Lost 60%+ content
     • ℹ️ Medium: Only quote-stripped
   • Suggest reading important emails individually if needed

4. Analyze thread structure

   • Count total emails
   • Identify all participants
   • Extract date range
   • Track subject evolution

5. Extract key information

   • Main discussion topics
   • Decisions made
   • Action items with owners
   • Attachments and their evolution
   • Important dates/deadlines

6. Present structured output

Output Format

🧵 Email Thread Analysis

### Thread Overview
- Total emails: [N]
- Time span: [start date] to [end date]
- Duration: [X days/weeks/months]
- Participants: [list of unique senders]

### Conversation Timeline
[Chronological summary of key emails]

1. [Date] - [Sender] - [Brief description]
2. [Date] - [Sender] - [Brief description]
...

### 💬 Main Topics
1. [Topic 1]
   - [Brief summary]
2. [Topic 2]
   - [Brief summary]

### ✅ Decisions Made
- [Decision 1]
- [Decision 2]

### ⚠️ Action Items
- [ ] [Action item] - [Owner] - [Deadline if any]

### 📎 Attachments Summary
[Total] attachments across thread:
- [filename] - [context/importance]
- [filename] - [context/importance]

### 📅 Important Dates
- [Date]: [Event/Deadline]

### ⚠️ Truncation Notice
[If applicable, warn about truncated emails]

Thread Content Truncation Handling ⚠️

CRITICAL: Thread reading has smart limits to prevent token overflow (1200 chars/email with quote stripping).

Check 1: Thread Result Oversized

If thread is too large:

⚠️ **Thread Too Large** (estimated XXX KB)

This email thread is too large to load with current settings.

**Options:**
1. 🔄 **[Recommended]** Reduce limit and retry
   - Current: 1200 chars/email
   - Suggested: 800 chars/email

2. 📧 **Read individual emails**
   - Use /analyze-email for specific messages

**Shall I automatically reduce the limit and retry?**

Implementation:

• NEVER try to process oversized results
• ALWAYS ask user first before retrying

Check 2: Individual Email Truncation

After loading, check for truncated emails:

truncated_emails = []
for email in thread['emails']:
    if email.get('truncated'):
        importance = assess_truncation_importance(email)
        if importance in ['Critical', 'High']:
            truncated_emails.append({
                'message_id': email['message_id'],
                'subject': email['subject'],
                'original_length': email.get('original_length'),
                'importance': importance
            })

User Prompt (only if critical/high truncations found):

⚠️ **Detected Truncated Emails**

[Number] emails were truncated. Important ones:

1. [Subject] ([Importance])
   - Original: [X] chars → Current: 1200 chars
   - Has attachments: Yes/No

**Recommendation**: Read important emails individually using /analyze-email

Example Scenarios

Scenario 1: Technical Discussion Thread

User: /analyze-thread AI: 请提供线索中任意一封邮件的 Message-ID User: E42FF77C-C563-466D-8544-3E0C16EA24EC@taler.net AI: 🧵 Email Thread Analysis

Thread Overview

• Total emails: 37
• Time span: Jul 2, 2025 to Dec 10, 2025
• Duration: ~5 months
• Participants:
  • Marc Stibane (marc@taler.net) - GNU Taler developer
  • Yang Xu (fatbobman@gmail.com) - SwiftUI consultant

Conversation Timeline

Phase 1: Problem Identification (Jul 2-3)

• Marc asks about SwiftUI Text layout sizing issue
• Yang explains SwiftUI layout behavior
• Marc provides screenshots and code examples

Phase 2: Solution Development (Jul 3-4)

• Yang implements TruncationDetectingText component
• Solution tested and working
• Marc extends to support two text components

Phase 3: Business Completion (Jul 4-8)

• MIT license agreed
• Payment: 150€ via Wise
• Invoice provided

Phase 4: Bug Discovery (Jul 8 - Dec 10)

• Layout flickering issue on iPhone XS (iOS 17)
• Multiple debugging attempts
• Issue still under investigation

💬 Main Topics

1. SwiftUI Layout Problem

   • Text component not returning correct size with lineLimit
   • Need for adaptive layout selection

2. Solution Implementation

   • TruncationDetectingText component
   • PreferenceKey-based truncation detection
   • ZStack + LayoutPriority approach

3. Ongoing Issue

   • Layout flickering on specific devices
   • Related to text width and timing

✅ Decisions Made

• Use MIT license for the solution code
• Payment amount: 150€
• Payment method: Wise transfer

⚠️ Action Items

• Resolve layout flickering on iPhone XS (Marc)
• Consider writing blog post about solution (Yang)

📎 Attachments Summary

9 attachments across thread:

• AdaptiveAmountRow.swift - Final solution code
• TruncationDetectingText.swift - Core component
• Invoice - SwiftUI Consultation.pdf - Paid invoice
• Various screenshots showing flickering issue

💡 Key Insights

• Solution works well for main use case
• Edge case issue on specific hardware/iOS version
• Successful commercial collaboration

Scenario 2: Short Thread (No Truncation)

User: Analyze this thread short@example.com AI: 🧵 Email Thread Analysis

Thread Overview

• Total emails: 3
• Time span: Jan 10, 2025
• Duration: 1 day
• Participants: Alice, Bob

Conversation Timeline

1. Alice asks about project timeline
2. Bob provides estimate
3. Alice confirms and schedules meeting

⚠️ Action Items

• Meeting on Jan 15 at 2 PM

📎 Attachments Summary

1 attachment: project_timeline.pdf

Related Skills

• /analyze-email

  - For single email analysis

• /analyze-attachments

  - For deep attachment analysis

Technical Notes

Quote Stripping: Thread reading automatically removes redundant quoted content while preserving context (first 10 lines of each quote block). This reduces token usage by ~80%.

Token Safety: Default 1200 chars/email limit ensures threads of up to ~50 emails can be analyzed safely within Claude Code's token limits.