Summarize a long Gmail thread

The job

You come back to a 45-message Gmail thread where three teams argued through a launch timeline. Replies are nested, old context is collapsed, and the useful parts are scattered across quoted messages. You need the final decision, the current deadline, open questions, and the tasks assigned to you.

Why this is hard without Sephir

Gmail hides older replies, repeats signatures, and mixes fresh answers with quoted history. The usual workaround is to expand the thread, select a noisy wall of text, paste it into another ChatGPT tab, then explain what to ignore. By then you are cleaning the transcript instead of understanding the decision.

How Sephir does it

1. Expand the Gmail thread until the full message history is visible.
2. Open the Sephir sidepanel with Cmd+Shift+S.
3. Ask for the final decision, deadlines, owners, and unresolved questions.
4. Invoke /thread-tldr if you saved this trace as a skill.
5. Watch the audit timeline: extractPageText(tab) → synthesis.
6. Export the Markdown summary into your notes or task system.

The skill behind it

This skill reads the visible Gmail thread, strips away inbox chrome, and returns a compact brief you can act on before replying.

skill: /thread-tldrtools: extractPageTextintent: Read the active Gmail thread and extract decisions, timelines, owners, and action items.

What it costs

Sephir runs this recipe on your own ChatGPT Plus / API key. Typical token usage: ~3,000-8,000 input + ~500-1,500 output per run on a frontier model (Claude Opus 4, GPT-5, or Gemini 3 Pro). ChatGPT Plus via Codex OAuth uses your existing account limits. See pricing for the Free and Pro Lifetime split.

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