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Connecting accounts

FlowMail works with Gmail and Microsoft Outlook, and uses AI models for its intelligent features. You'll need to connect at least one email account to get started.

Beta Notice

FlowMail is currently in beta. Email provider integrations have some limitations during this stage — see the notes below for Gmail and Outlook.

Gmail​

  1. Open Settings in FlowMail.
  2. Click Add Account and choose Gmail.
  3. Sign in with your Google account in the browser window that opens.
  4. Review and approve the permissions FlowMail requests.

Permissions requested:

  • Read email — So FlowMail can fetch and display your messages.
  • Send email — So you can send replies and new messages from within FlowMail.
  • Modify labels — So FlowMail can mark messages as read, archive them, and manage labels on your behalf.
  • Calendar access — So FlowMail can create calendar events when you schedule tasks.
Beta Limitation

FlowMail's Google integration is not yet verified by Google. During the beta period, your Google account must be added as a test account by the developer before you can connect. Please reach out to us to get your account added.

Microsoft Outlook​

  1. Open Settings in FlowMail.
  2. Click Add Account and choose Outlook.
  3. Sign in with your Microsoft account in the browser window that opens.
  4. Review and approve the permissions FlowMail requests.

Permissions requested:

  • Read mail — So FlowMail can fetch and display your messages.
  • Send mail — So you can send replies and new messages from within FlowMail.
  • Modify mail — So FlowMail can mark messages as read, move them, and manage folders.
  • Calendar access — So FlowMail can create calendar events when you schedule tasks.
  • Offline access — So FlowMail can sync your email in the background even when you're not actively using the app.
Beta Limitation

Outlook integration is currently configured as single-tenant for Dartmouth College users only. Support for additional organizations is coming soon.

AI models​

FlowMail's intelligent features — email classification, planning, smart drafting, and learning — require AI models.

We recommend using local open weight models by default so that your information never leaves your computer. FlowMail includes built-in support for running models directly on your Mac using Metal GPU acceleration — no API key or account needed.

FlowMail uses a three-tier model system, each optimized for different tasks:

  • Fast (4B parameters) — Used for quick tasks like email triage and classification.
  • Standard (8B parameters) — Used for triage, task extraction, and general generation.
  • Deep (32B parameters) — Used for complex planning, drafting, and multi-step reasoning.

Supported model families include Qwen 3, Qwen 3.5, Gemma 3, and Gemma 4.

  1. Open Settings and navigate to the Models section.
  2. Select a local model for each tier. FlowMail will download it automatically on first use.

Local models run entirely on your device using Apple Silicon (Metal) acceleration. Your email content is never sent to any external service.

Cloud AI providers (optional)​

If you would like faster or more powerful models, you can connect your own API keys to a cloud AI provider:

  1. Open Settings and navigate to the Models section.
  2. Click Add AI Account.
  3. Choose your provider:
    • Claude (recommended) — From Anthropic. Best results for email understanding and drafting.
    • OpenAI — From OpenAI.
    • Google Gemini — From Google AI Studio.
  4. Enter your API key from your chosen provider.

If you don't have an API key yet, visit your provider's website to create an account and generate one.

Security​

All credentials — email OAuth tokens and AI API keys — are stored securely in your macOS Keychain. They are never saved to disk as plain text and never leave your machine except to authenticate with the respective services.