AI automation for a package tracking hub

Before you start

• Gmail filters — https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6579
• Google Sheets — https://support.google.com/docs/answer/6000292
• An AI chat — https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6825453-chatgpt-custom-instructions
• Google Apps Script — https://developers.google.com/apps-script/guides/sheets

Steps

1. Label order and shipping mail

   Make a Gmail label such as Orders. Filter shop and shipping mail into it, and skip the inbox if you want. Filter help: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6579

2. Make one sheet

   Columns: item, shop, ordered, arrives, return by, status. Status is ordered, shipped, delivered, or returned. Sheets help: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/6000292

3. Extract one order

   Paste a single order email with account numbers removed. Keep the item, the dates, and the return window.

   Extract one order from this email. Use only the email. Return: item, shop, ordered date, arrival date, return-by date, status. If the email gives a number of days to return, count from the delivery date and show the calendar date. If a field is missing, write missing. Do not invent a tracking page.
   
   Email:
   [paste]

   Copy prompt

4. Write the row and the return date

   Paste the line into the sheet. If the return window is a number of days, check the counted date against the email before you trust it.

5. Add the next email without redoing the sheet

   Until you automate it, paste each new Orders email into the same prompt. When you want that hands-off, a short Apps Script can append a row from the label. Script guide: https://developers.google.com/apps-script/guides/sheets

6. Remind yourself before a return window closes

   For anything you might send back, add a calendar event the day before the return-by date. You still start the return at the shop. Calendar help: https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/37111

Example output

Arriving
- Kettle from the home shop. Shipped Tuesday. Arrives Thursday. Return window ends the Thursday after.
- Two notebooks. No ship date in the mail. Status: ordered, not shipped.
Do this week: the kettle can go back until that second Thursday. The notebooks have no return date yet.

Power move

Log the return-by date from the order email, not only the delivery date. A reminder the day before that return date is the difference between a refund and a shelf you did not want.

What to check

• The item name matches the order email.
• A missing delivery date stays blank. It is not filled with a guess.
• The return-by date matches the email, including the number of days.

What it can't do

It does not buy, return, or file a claim. It cannot see an order that never emailed you. Tracking pages change. You open the carrier link yourself before you rely on a date.

Privacy

Paste only the text a chat tool needs. Leave out passwords, account numbers, and identity numbers. The steps link to each tool's own help page when a setting matters.

Related automations

• Morning brief of your inbox and calendar