Connect email (Gmail / Outlook)

Two layers, in order

Email connects in two layers. You only need the first to get value; the second unlocks the assistant being able to send mail for you.

1. Forwarding address (default, no setup). The moment your account exists, you have a dedicated assistant email address. Forward or CC anything you want the assistant to see.
2. Outbound mailbox (optional). Connect a real Gmail or Microsoft 365 account so the assistant can send email on your behalf — drafts, follow-ups, nudges to clients.

Most people start at layer 1 and add layer 2 once the assistant is part of their daily flow.

Layer 1: Use your assistant's forwarding address

Really Focus does not read your inbox. There's no Gmail or Outlook authorisation needed to start, no scope creep, no "share everything and we'll figure it out". Instead, your assistant has its own address — and you decide what it sees.

That's how a real EA works. You CC them on what matters; you don't hand them your password.

Find your assistant's address

1. Open the Really Focus app and go to Integrations.

2. The first card is Assistant Email. It shows your address — something like acme-co-x7k2m9@assistant.reallyfocus.com.

3. Hit Copy. Save it as a contact in Gmail/Outlook so it autocompletes when you type "assistant".

The address is auto-generated when your team is created and stays the same for the life of the account.

Two ways to use it

CC the assistant on outbound emails. When you reply to a client, add your assistant address to the CC field. The assistant captures the thread, classifies it against the right account, and pulls out commitments you (or the client) just made.

Forward emails to the assistant. For inbound mail you want logged after the fact, just forward. The assistant inspects the original — including the real sender and recipients — and matches it to the right account.

Make it frictionless

Add the assistant address as a contact called "Assistant" in Gmail Contacts (contacts.google.com) or Outlook People. Once it's in your address book, typing "assist" autocompletes it into the CC line.

Layer 2: Let the assistant send email on your behalf

By default the assistant can ingest mail and capture commitments, but it can't reply or send fresh email out into the world. To unlock that, connect a real mailbox.

Microsoft 365 (the easy path)

Standard OAuth, one click, no developer setup.

1. On the Integrations page, find the Microsoft 365 card and click Connect Microsoft 365.

2. Sign in with the Microsoft account you want the assistant to use (the dedicated assistant mailbox you created, ideally — not your personal one).

3. Approve the requested permissions. The assistant asks for: read your profile, read mail, send mail, and read/write calendars. These are the minimum needed to act as a chief-of-staff.

4. You'll be returned to the Integrations page with the Microsoft 365 card showing as connected. The assistant can now send email and book calendar events from that mailbox.

Gmail (the harder path)

Google does not let third-party apps act as a Gmail account without each customer setting up their own Google Cloud project. It's a Google policy, not ours — and there's no way around it for now.

The good news: the in-app setup screen walks you through it step by step.

1. On the Integrations page, find the Gmail card and click Configure. You'll land on the Gmail setup screen with the full walkthrough.

2. Create a Google Cloud project and enable the Gmail API. (~5 minutes, links provided in-app.)

3. Create an OAuth 2.0 Client ID, paste the Client ID and Client Secret into the setup form, and authorise.

4. The assistant is now linked to that Gmail account and can send on its behalf.

If your team already has a Google Workspace admin, ask them to do the Cloud project setup once and share the credentials — much faster than each user wrestling with it.

What if I connect both?

You don't need to. If both are connected, the assistant prefers Gmail for outbound. If neither is connected, the assistant simply won't send email on your behalf — it'll still ingest, classify, and surface drafts for you to copy and send manually.

What the assistant does with each message

• Classifies the message against one of your accounts (using participants, subject, and conversation history).
• Extracts commitments — anything that looks like "I'll send you the proposal Friday" or "Can you confirm by EOD?" — and adds them to your 1-3-5.
• Updates account memory with anything new and useful (a new contact, a changed timeline, a stated preference).
• Surfaces it in your next briefing if it's important enough to need your attention.
• Drafts replies when appropriate. If you've connected a mailbox at layer 2, the assistant can send those drafts after your review.

Troubleshooting

I CC'd the assistant but nothing shows up

Email delivery can take a minute or two. If after five minutes you don't see the message ingested under the relevant account in Memory, check that the address is exactly right — typos in the random suffix are the most common cause. Copy it directly from the Integrations page if in doubt.

The email got classified to the wrong account

Open the email in the app and reassign it. The assistant remembers the correction and is more likely to get the same sender right next time.

My Microsoft 365 connection expired

Microsoft refresh tokens can expire if your tenant enforces strict policies. Click Reconnect on the Microsoft 365 card and walk through the OAuth flow again. The assistant flags this proactively as a nudge so you're not surprised.

I want to swap which Gmail / Outlook account is connected

Disconnect the current one on the Integrations page, then reconnect with the new account. There's no merge — outbound history stays attributed to whichever mailbox sent it.

What's next

• Connect Telegram — for capturing things on the go.
• Back to Getting started