Inbox to reply in 6 seconds with Crade
Most of the time spent on email is not the typing. It is the reading. Crade reads the thread on your screen, gets the actual ask, and drafts a reply you can send or tweak. Here is exactly how it works.
Inbox to reply in 6 seconds.
Hi Sam,
Two quick things before we kick off:
1. Are we still good for Jun 24? Want to make sure the team can clear the calendar.
2. On the estimate you sent — does “Sub-pages × 3” cover the customer portal page too? That one will have a logged-in state and might be more work than pricing/about/changelog.
Let me know and I’ll sign by EOD.
Cheers,
Maya
Hi Maya,
Yes — Jun 24 still works on our end. We’ll block the calendar.
On sub-pages: the estimate’s 3 sub-pages covered pricing, about, and changelog. The customer portal with a logged-in state is a separate scope — happy to add it as a line item (rough +$1,800 / 15h).
Sound good? If yes, I’ll send a revised estimate today.
Best,
Sam
What's this email about — draft a reply.
✓ Read email from Maya at Arclight ✓ Identified ask — kickoff date + sub-page scope ✓ Drafted reply confirming Jun 24, flagged portal as new scope ✓ Saved to Drafts, opened in Mail
Most replies follow the same pattern. You read a long thread, you find the actual question buried inside it, you decide on a stance, and you write three sentences. The writing takes thirty seconds. The reading and the deciding eat ten minutes. Multiply that by an inbox of fifty threads and you have lost the morning. Crade flattens the loop by reading the thread on your screen and drafting the reply for you to send.
What you put on your screen
Crade reads whatever email client is open: Apple Mail, Gmail in a browser, Outlook web, Spark, Superhuman. The thread does not have to be selected or expanded, just visible.
- A single inbound message you need to reply to
- A long thread where the actual ask is buried in the middle
- A back-and-forth where the client changed their mind twice
- A pitch email where you need to politely say no
If the thread is long, scroll to the most recent message before you ask Crade. Crade reads what is visible at the moment of the prompt, not the messages above the fold.
What you say to Crade
One sentence in Crade. Say the tone you want and the stance you want to take:
Or shorter: "Draft a reply." Crade reads the thread, picks a sensible default tone (polite, professional, length matched to the inbound message), and gives you a draft you can refine.
Step-by-step: how to do this in Crade
From inbound thread to reply ready in your clipboard in well under ten seconds.
Open the email thread
Apple Mail, Gmail, Outlook, whichever client you use. Scroll to the latest message so it is visible.
Click the Crade icon
Expand the Crade window from the ∞ icon. It stays on top of Mail, so the thread does not get covered.
Type your draft request
Say the stance and tone in one line. "Draft a reply that politely declines", "Draft a friendly yes", "Draft a question asking for clarification".
Read the draft
Crade pulls the actual ask out of the thread and writes a reply that addresses it directly. Subject line, body, sign-off. No "I hope this email finds you well" filler unless you ask for it.
Tweak in place
If the tone is off, reply in the same Crade window: "make it shorter", "warmer", "more formal", "add a question about the deadline". Crade rewrites the reply with the thread still on screen.
Copy and paste into the reply window
Select the final draft, Cmd+C, switch to Mail, paste, send. The Mail send button is still your call.
What you get back
A reply that matches the length and tone of the inbound message. It addresses the actual question, not the meta-question. The sign-off uses your name if the thread shows it, or a placeholder if it does not.
Crade respects the thread's context. If the client has been mostly friendly with one terse message, the reply stays friendly. If the thread is formal, the reply stays formal. You do not have to specify tone explicitly each time.
Tips for better replies
- Say the stance, not the tone. "Say yes to the deadline" is more useful than "be agreeable". Crade infers the tone from the thread.
- If the thread is long, scroll to the most recent message before prompting. Crade reads what is on screen at the moment of the prompt.
- Use "make it shorter" liberally. Crade defaults to medium-length replies, but most inbox replies should be two or three sentences.
- Ask for a question to be included if you need clarification: "Draft a yes but also ask for the final budget".
- If you keep hitting the same tone problem (too formal, too cold), say it once: "Always use a warm casual tone in replies". Crade carries that forward in the chat.
Free vs Pro vs Premium
Every plan handles the basic reply-drafting flow well. The difference is volume.
- Free ($0): drafts replies in the chat window, copy-paste into Mail. Good for occasional use, ten to twenty replies a day.
- Pro ($7.99/mo or $49.99/yr): higher daily usage, Agent mode (Crade can save drafts to a file or run scripts if you ever need that). Right tier for inbox-heavy roles.
- Premium ($19.99/mo or $149.99/yr): 10x more daily usage than Pro. Right tier for sales, customer support, or anyone whose job is mostly email.
Frequently asked questions
Does Crade send the email for me?
No. Crade drafts the reply in the chat window. You copy it into Mail and press send yourself. This is intentional: sending an email is irreversible, and a human pressing send is the right boundary.
Will the reply sound like an AI wrote it?
Less than you would expect, especially if you guide the tone. Crade is trained to match the length and voice of the inbound message. The first draft is often usable; one round of "make it shorter" or "warmer" usually gets it across the line.
Can Crade read attachments in the thread?
Only what is visible on your screen. If an attachment is open in Preview or a PDF viewer, Crade can read it as a separate window. If the attachment is just an icon in the thread, Crade does not click it.
Does it work with Gmail keyboard shortcuts like R for reply?
Yes, Crade does not interfere with your email client. You can hit R to open the reply window, switch to Crade, get the draft, switch back, paste. The whole flow takes a few seconds.
What if the thread is in another language?
Crade replies in the language of the inbound message by default. If you want to reply in a different language, say so: "Draft a reply in English even though the thread is in Estonian."
The whole loop in one sentence
Thread on screen, one prompt in Crade, draft in the chat window, paste into Mail, send. Six seconds, on the average reply.
An email you typed too casually. A Slack message that came out blunter than you meant. A first draft that lacks polish. Crade reads what you wrote and rewrites it cleaner without losing your voice.
Crade reads the person's profile on your screen and drafts a cold message that mentions something specific from their work. Not generic outreach.
A meeting you cannot take, a project you cannot accept, an introduction you cannot make. Crade reads the request on your screen and writes a decline that keeps the relationship intact.