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Cards (Mental Contexts)

Your brain doesn't organize information by date received or sender name. It organizes by context — the project you're working on, the person you're collaborating with, the topic you're tracking. Cards bring that same natural organization to your email.

What Is a Card?​

A Card is a mental bucket — a container for everything related to one area of your life or work. Each card groups emails, plans, and AI context together in one place.

Examples of cards:

  • "Project Alpha" — all emails, plans, and context for a specific project
  • "Team Standup" — recurring meeting coordination and follow-ups
  • "Sarah (Design Lead)" — your working relationship with a specific person
  • "Q2 Budget" — a time-bound topic with its own context
  • "Personal / Travel" — non-work emails about an upcoming trip

Hierarchical Organization​

Cards can contain subcards for more granular organization. Your "Engineering" card might have subcards for "Frontend", "Backend", and "Infrastructure." This lets you zoom in when you need detail and zoom out when you want the big picture.

AI-Powered Context​

Each card has a system prompt — a description that tells the AI what this card is about. When the AI classifies emails, creates plans, or drafts responses related to this card, it uses that context to make better decisions.

For example, your "Legal Reviews" card might tell the AI: "Emails in this card are about contract reviews. They are always high priority and usually require a detailed response within 48 hours."

Automatic Email Routing​

You don't have to manually file emails into cards. FlowMail's AI reads each incoming email and assigns it to the most relevant card automatically. An email about a contract goes to your Legal card. A message from your design lead goes to that relationship card. If the AI gets it wrong, just drag it to the right card — and the AI learns from the correction.

Templates & Automation​

Cards can have templates — reusable response templates and automation rules that control how emails and plans are handled within that context. For example:

  • Auto-archive newsletter emails after you read them
  • Always mark emails from a VIP sender as Important
  • Skip triage for low-signal notifications
  • Automatically create lightweight plans from emails that match certain patterns
  • Apply a specific tone or formality level when drafting responses

Plans can also be created directly from emails within a card. When an email needs action, FlowMail extracts it as a plan in your Focus Queue, linked back to the email and card it came from.

Card Detail​

When you open a card, you get a single detail view organized into four tabs:

  • Emails — All emails assigned to this card
  • Plans — Active plans and actions linked to this card
  • Templates — Response templates tailored to this card's context
  • Instructions — The card's system prompt and configuration

Drag-and-Drop​

Reassigning an email is as simple as dragging it from one card to another. The AI takes note of the reassignment and uses it to improve future routing.