Build Your Own WhatsApp Email Assistant with OpenClaw in 30 Minutes

What We're Building

An AI agent that:

1. Checks your email every 30 minutes

2. Summarizes important messages

3. Sends summary to your WhatsApp

4. Allows you to reply via WhatsApp

5. Agent sends email reply automatically

No coding. No servers. Just configuration.

Prerequisites

Step 1: Get Your API Keys

OpenAI API Key

1. Go to platform.openai.com/api-keys

2. Create new secret key

3. Copy it somewhere safe

Gmail App Password

1. Go to myaccount.google.com/security

2. Enable 2-factor authentication

3. Generate App Password for Gmail

4. Copy the 16-character password

WhatsApp Business API

1. Go to developers.facebook.com

2. Create app > WhatsApp

3. Generate access token

4. Note your Business Phone ID

Step 2: Create Configuration File

Create `email-assistant.yaml`:

# AI Model Configuration
model:
  provider: openai
  api_key: ${OPENAI_API_KEY}
  model: gpt-4o
  temperature: 0.7

# Agent Configuration
agent:
  name: EmailAssistant
  description: "Personal email management agent that monitors inbox and sends summaries"
  
# Tools the agent can use
tools:
  - name: fetch_emails
    description: "Retrieve recent emails from inbox"
    config:
      email: ${GMAIL_EMAIL}
      app_password: ${GMAIL_APP_PASSWORD}
  
  - name: summarize_email
    description: "Create concise summary of email content"
  
  - name: send_whatsapp
    description: "Send message via WhatsApp"
    config:
      business_phone_id: ${WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_PHONE_ID}
      access_token: ${WHATSAPP_ACCESS_TOKEN}
  
  - name: send_email_reply
    description: "Send reply to email"
    config:
      email: ${GMAIL_EMAIL}
      app_password: ${GMAIL_APP_PASSWORD}

# Messaging Platform
platforms:
  - type: whatsapp
    business_phone_id: ${WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_PHONE_ID}
    access_token: ${WHATSAPP_ACCESS_TOKEN}
    your_whatsapp_number: ${YOUR_WHATSAPP_NUMBER}

# Scheduling
schedules:
  - name: check_email
    trigger: "every 30 minutes"
    action: "fetch_emails"

Step 3: Set Environment Variables

Create `.env` file:

# OpenAI
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

# Gmail
export GMAIL_EMAIL="your-email@gmail.com"
export GMAIL_APP_PASSWORD="abcd efgh ijkl mnop"

# WhatsApp
export WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_PHONE_ID="123456789..."
export WHATSAPP_ACCESS_TOKEN="EAADk..."
export YOUR_WHATSAPP_NUMBER="1234567890"

Load it:

source .env

Step 4: Define Agent Behavior

Create `agent-prompt.txt`:

You are an email assistant. Your job:

1. Every 30 minutes, fetch the last 10 emails from inbox
2. Identify important ones (from boss, urgent, new clients)
3. Create a concise summary:
   - Sender name
   - Subject line
   - 1-2 sentence summary
   - Action required (yes/no)
4. Send summary to WhatsApp
5. Wait for user reply
6. If user asks you to reply to email, compose and send reply

Be concise. No fluff. Time is valuable.

Step 5: Launch the Agent

openclaw run email-assistant.yaml --prompt-file agent-prompt.txt

Output:

✓ Agent started: EmailAssistant
✓ Connected to WhatsApp
✓ Email monitoring active
✓ Listening for commands...

Agent is now running.

Step 6: Test It

1. Send email to your address (from another account)

2. Wait 30 seconds (or manually trigger: "@agent check email")

3. Check WhatsApp

4. You receive summary:

📧 Email Summary:

From: John Smith (boss)
Subject: Q2 Budget Review

Needs your approval on budget allocation for Q2. $500k marketing, $200k engineering.

Action: Yes - needs reply

You reply: "Approved. Let's discuss details tomorrow."

Agent automatically sends email reply to John.

Advanced Configuration

Multi-Email Account Support

tools:
  - name: fetch_emails
    configs:
      - name: work_email
        email: ${WORK_EMAIL}
        app_password: ${WORK_APP_PASSWORD}
      
      - name: personal_email
        email: ${PERSONAL_EMAIL}
        app_password: ${PERSONAL_APP_PASSWORD}

Custom Summarization Rules

summarization:
  priority_keywords:
    - urgent
    - important
    - approve
    - deadline
  
  ignore_from:
    - newsletter@*
    - notifications@*
  
  max_summary_length: 100  # characters

Multiple Notification Channels

platforms:
  - type: whatsapp
    # WhatsApp config
  
  - type: telegram
    bot_token: ${TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN}
  
  - type: slack
    webhook_url: ${SLACK_WEBHOOK}

Troubleshooting

Problem: "Cannot connect to WhatsApp"

Solution:

1. Check access token is valid

2. Verify Business Phone ID

3. Ensure app is approved by Meta

Problem: "Emails not fetching"

Solution:

1. Verify Gmail App Password (not account password)

2. Check 2FA is enabled

3. Test connection: `openclaw test-email-connection`

Problem: "Agent not responding"

Solution:

1. Check OpenAI API quota

2. Verify internet connection

3. Check agent logs: `openclaw logs email-assistant`

Cost Analysis

One month (30 days):

Sounds expensive? Compare to:

OpenClaw: $5.24 for similar functionality

Extension Ideas

Add Sentiment Analysis

Agent rates email sentiment (positive, negative, neutral) and alerts you to angry customers.

Add Calendar Integration

Agent checks calendar, only notifies about emails related to upcoming meetings.

Add Database Logging

All emails logged to database for analytics and future reference.

Add CRM Integration

Agent updates CRM with customer emails automatically.

Security Considerations

✅ Do:

❌ Don't:

Performance Tips

1. Increase email check interval if costs get high

- From every 30 min → every 60 min

- Cuts costs in half

2. Filter emails before summarization

- Only summarize flagged/important emails

- Reduces processing time

3. Use cheaper model if acceptable

- ChatGPT: $0.0001/1k tokens

- Claude: $0.0003/1k tokens

- Local Ollama: Free (but slower)

4. Batch email checks

- Check once per hour instead of every 30 min

- Reduces costs by 50%

Next Steps

1. Complete this tutorial (30 min)

2. Add 2nd platform (Telegram, Slack)

3. Add more tools (calendar, CRM, database)

4. Build a second agent for different task

5. Orchestrate multiple agents

Conclusion

You now have a personal AI email assistant.

No coding. No servers. Just configuration.

This same pattern works for:

OpenClaw makes it possible for anyone to build AI agents.

Your turn: Build something cool.