Talking to Nora¶

Just write what you want, in plain English. Forward a thread (or write to Nora) and say it the way you'd ask an assistant:

"reply warmly and suggest Tuesday"
"summarize this" · "give me a critical analysis" · "write a short report on the risks"
"get me the Q4 deck and summarize it" · "propose a meeting with Sarah next week"

Nora works out what you mean — the action, the tone, the length, who it's for. No syntax to learn.

Two words always matter (so they're never guessed):

AG to approve something Nora proposed (e.g. a meeting email), ANG to cancel. Nothing goes to anyone else until you reply AG.
KL ("keep local") to keep a message fully private / on-device — never sent to the cloud.

Safety first

Your replies, summaries, analyses, and reports are always drafts you send yourself — Nora never sends them, and never sends as you (no impersonation, ever). The one thing Nora can send is a meeting-proposal email, and only from her own clearly-labeled assistant address after you approve it with AG. Nora never takes any third-party action without your explicit confirmation.

Shortcuts (optional)¶

Plain English is all you need — but if you like speed, every action has a short code you can put on the first line instead.

A code sequence starts with NB and is dash-split; refinements attach with dots. Example: NB-RE-MN.I = reply, in my name, informal.
A bare single code also works: RE, S.
Extra instructions go in [square brackets]: RE [keep it brief and warm].

Actions¶

Code	Meaning	Available now
`RE`	Reply — draft a reply	✅
`SC` / `S`	Summarize the email and its attachments	✅ reads PDF, Word, Excel & text
`AC`	Analyze — a critical, constructive analysis	✅ (incl. attachments)
`AR`	Analyze a report	✅ (incl. attachments)
`PR`	Prepare a report — email text, plus an Office file on request	✅ text + Word/Excel/PowerPoint
`FI` / `I`	Find / research info on people & company	🔒 built; off by default (researching the web sends names off your boundary)
`BM` / `SM`	Propose a meeting to the other party	✅ drafts a proposal; sends only after your `AG`
`SH`	Share a company file with the other party	✅ proposes; sends the file from Nora's address only after your `AG`
`TR`	Triage several threads at once — a ranked digest	✅ read-only digest of a bundled forward
`RM`	Review what Nora has saved about a contact	✅ forward their thread + send `RM`; `NB-RM FORGET` wipes it
`VP`	Review your saved writing-style profile	✅ email `VP`; `NB-VP FORGET` wipes it
`HELP`	Get this command guide back by email	✅ email `HELP` to your Nora address

For BM / SM, Nora drafts a short meeting-proposal email in her own labeled assistant voice (never as you) and sends it back for your review. She emails the other party only after you reply AG — and from her own address, never yours.

Calendar holds (SM.A): add .A to put a hold on your calendar instead of (or as well as) emailing a proposal. Include the time in brackets — e.g. NB-SM-A [meet 2026-07-01 15:00] — and Nora reads it into a concrete hold that she creates only after your AG. A plain hold is private — the other party is listed but never notified. Before she asks for your AG, Nora checks your calendar and flags any clash in the proposal (e.g. "⚠ Heads up: you already have 'Board call' at that time") so you can confirm or pick another time — she never reschedules on her own.

Inviting the participant (SM.A.IV): add .IV and, after your AG, Nora also sends a calendar invitation to the participant — from her own labeled calendar identity, never as you. Example: NB-SM-A-IV [meet 2026-07-01 15:00]. Without IV the hold stays private; inviting someone always needs your AG first. (Calendar features activate once a Google/Microsoft calendar is connected to your Nora.)

Triaging high volume (`TR`)¶

Drowning in threads? Forward one email that bundles several of them (most mail apps let you forward a batch, or you paste several "Forwarded message" blocks into one) with NB-TR on the first line. Nora splits them apart and replies with a priority-ranked digest — one line per thread: an urgency flag, a one-sentence gist, and a suggested action (reply / FYI / can wait) — so you decide what's worth opening without reading every thread.

Familiar senders rank higher. When memory is on, Nora notes how often you've dealt with each sender before and weighs it into the ranking — a long-standing contact's request can outrank a first-time blast — flagging recurring vs first-time senders in the digest. (Uses only the who-and-how-often breadcrumb + facts you curated; off by default, like all memory.)

Act on items straight from the digest — just reply to it. Put one item per line, e.g.:

2 RE [keep it warm]
4 S

Nora drafts a reply to item 2 and summarizes item 4 — no re-forwarding. Per-item codes: RE, S, AC, PR (with refinements/[notes]). You always send; Nora only ever drafts back to you from a triage. An out-of-range number or an unsupported code gets a short note rather than acting on the wrong thread. The consent-gated actions (SM/SH) aren't available per-item — forward that thread on its own to use them. TR can't be combined with KL yet (triage runs on the cloud model); forward keep-local threads individually with KL.

Sharing a file (`SH`)¶

NB-SH [file: Q3-deck.pdf] proposes sending that company file to the other party on the thread. Nora shows you the proposal and sends the file only after your AG — attached to an email from her own labeled address, never as you. The file is read fresh from your store at send time (nothing is stored in between). Reply ANG to cancel.

If the name matches more than one file, Nora won't guess — it lists the matches and asks you to reply with the exact name, so a file is never shared to the wrong person.

For large files, NB-SH-G [file: ...] shares by granting access (a link) instead of attaching a copy: after your AG, Nora grants the recipient read access in your store silently (no store-sent email) and sends them the link from her own address — so it's never an "the exec shared a file" message in your name.

Teaching Nora about a contact (`[remember: …]`)¶

On any thread, tell Nora a durable fact about the person you're emailing and she'll keep it for next time:

NB-RE [remember: prefers morning meetings; assistant is Sarah] — drafts your reply and remembers those facts for this contact. Next time you email them, the facts ride into Nora's draft so it's more on-point.
[forget] — clears everything Nora has remembered about this contact.

Nora can also pick facts up on her own (optional, off by default): when auto-learn is enabled, Nora notes durable things she observes in a thread (a preference, a role) and folds them into future drafts as unconfirmed hints — never asserted, never shown to the recipient. When she learns something she tells you on the spot (Learned: … (reply FORGET to drop)), so nothing is silent. Curated [remember: …] facts always stay authoritative.

See or wipe what she knows (RM). Forward a thread from a contact and send RM — Nora replies (to you only) with everything she has on that person, separating Confirmed (what you told her) from Observed (what she inferred). NB-RM FORGET clears it all.

Your writing style — per contact (`VP`)¶

Nora picks up your style preferences from the refinements you use (.F formal, .Short, in your name…) and starts future drafts that way — off by default, and from your coded choices only, never the words of your messages. Style is tracked per recipient, so drafts to the board can read formal while drafts to a teammate stay casual. Send VP to see your saved profile, or NB-VP FORGET to wipe it.

Nora only ever remembers what you explicitly tell her to (nothing is inferred from message content), the facts stay on the R1 path and never leave to a third party — they only shape your future drafts. (Active once cross-thread memory is enabled for your Nora.)

Reading attachments¶

When you forward something with an attachment and ask for a summary, analysis, or report, Nora reads the text inside the attachment — PDF, Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx), and plain text/CSV — not just the email body. You can also point at a file by name ([file: Q4-earnings.pdf]) or just ask in plain language ("get me the Q4 earnings file and summarize it") and Nora finds it in your connected Drive. Reading happens on Nora's own machine; only with KL it stays fully on-device. If a file can't be read (e.g. a scanned image, or it's too large), Nora tells you by name rather than ignoring it.

Report files (`PR.W` / `PR.X` / `PR.PPT`)¶

Add a format to a report and Nora writes it as email text and attaches the file:

PR.W → Word (.docx) · PR.X → Excel (.xlsx) · PR.PPT → PowerPoint (.pptx)
PR.E (or plain PR) → email text only, no file.
PR.SV → also save the report to your Drive and reply with the link (when a Drive is connected). E.g. NB-PR-W-SV.

⏳ means Nora understands the code and tells you it isn't available yet, offering the closest text deliverable instead — it never silently fails. 🔒 means the feature is built but off by default because turning it on sends information outside your boundary; it's enabled per-deployment on request.

Web research (FI / I): when enabled, Nora researches the people and company on the thread using web search and returns a short, sourced briefing — to you only, never to anyone else. It's off by default because researching names on the web sends them to an external search service; ask to enable it for your Nora.

Code	Effect
`.MN`	Write in your own name / voice
`.F` / `.I`	Formal / informal tone (default: neutral)
`.Long` / `.Short`	Longer / shorter
`@from` / `@cc` / `@<email>`	Who the message is aimed at
`.A` / `.A.IV`	Calendar: place a hold / hold and invite the participant (after `AG`)
`C`	Confidential — keep internal
`KL`	Keep local — process this email entirely on Nora's on-device model; never sent to the cloud (see below)
`P`	High priority
`[ ... ]`	Extra instructions in plain text
`[file: NAME]`	Use a company file by name — Nora reads it (read-only) and works from its contents

Keeping an email private (on-device)¶

By default Nora prepares your draft using a cloud AI service. For sensitive material, add KL ("keep local") and Nora processes the email entirely on its own on-device model — the content is never sent to the cloud.

Combine it with any action: NB-RE-KL (private reply), NB-S-KL (private summary).
Every keep-local draft ends with a short confirmation that the content stayed on-device.
It's sticky: reply to a keep-local draft to revise it and the follow-up stays on-device too.
Fail-safe: if the on-device model isn't available, Nora declines rather than falling back to the cloud — sensitive content never leaks.

Examples¶

You send	Nora does
`NB-RE-MN.I [keep it brief]`	A brief, informal reply in your name
`NB-SC.Short`	A short summary
`AC`	A critical analysis
`NB-PR.E [focus on risks]`	A report (email text) emphasizing risks
`NB-PR.W [Q3 review]`	A report as both email text and a Word file
`NB-S` (with a PDF attached)	A summary that includes the PDF's contents
`NB-S [file: Q3-deck.pdf]`	A summary that pulls in the named company file (read-only)
`NB-RE-KL`	A reply drafted entirely on-device (kept private)
`NB-SM [propose Tue or Wed afternoon]`	A meeting-proposal email, sent to the other party only after your `AG`
`NB-SM-A-IV [meet Tue 3pm]`	A calendar hold and an invitation to the participant, both after your `AG`
plain English: "reply declining politely"	A polite declining draft

Approving and revising¶

Revise a draft: reply to Nora's email with the change — "make it warmer", "shorter", "mention Tuesday" — and Nora returns a revised draft. You always send the final email yourself.
Approve a proposal: when Nora shows you a meeting proposal (BM/SM), reply AG to authorize her to send it (from her own labeled address), or ANG to cancel. Nothing goes out until you reply AG.

Nora on your inbox (connected mailbox)¶

Instead of forwarding each email, you can connect a mailbox and let Nora work in the background. She still never sends — everything below is a draft you send or a reversible inbox tidy-up you can undo. All of it is off by default.

Drafts waiting for you (ambient auto-draft)¶

Connect your inbox and Nora pre-drafts a reply, in your voice, into your Drafts folder for genuine person-to-person mail — threaded to the original, waiting for you to review and send. Newsletters, no-reply and bulk mail are skipped. She never sends; the draft just sits there.

She learns from what you do (optional): if you delete a draft instead of sending it, that's a signal — after two deletions for a sender, Nora stops drafting for them. Send one of her drafts and she picks it back up. It only ever reduces drafting, and it's reversible.

Do something to an email — "star and archive"¶

Forward any email to your Nora command address (a +nora alias on your own inbox, e.g. [email protected]) with a plain-English instruction in the body:

You forward with…	Nora does (to the original)
`star and archive`	stars it and files it out of the inbox
`label as ProjectX and archive`	applies the label ProjectX (creating it if new) and archives
`mark read` · `mark important`	marks it read / important

Safe and reversible only — star, archive, label, mark read/unread, mark important. Nora will never delete or trash anything.

…and it remembers (per-sender rules)¶

Every command also becomes a rule for that sender, automatically — no "remember" needed. So after you forward one email from a newsletter with star and archive, future mail from that sender is auto star+archived for you. You stay in control:

add once ("star and archive, once") → just this one, no rule;
forward another email from that sender with stop → removes the rule;
send rules? to your +nora address → Nora replies with a list of all your active rules.

Anything a rule handles for you gets a visible Nora/filed label, so nothing silently disappears — you can always find it. (And if a rule archives a sender's mail, Nora skips drafting a reply to it — no point drafting something you're filing away.)

Still the same promise

These are inbox-organization actions on your own mailbox — star, archive, label, read. Nora never sends, never contacts anyone, and never decides on her own what matters: a rule is your declared preference, like a Gmail filter written in plain English.