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Relegate — Marketing Plan

Positioning

Tagline: Put old email accounts on autopilot.

One-liner: Relegate is a background service that monitors neglected email accounts with AI triage, SMS alerts, calendar integration, and full autopilot — so you never miss what matters from accounts you stopped checking.

Category: Email management service / AI email automation

Status: Beta release June 1, 2026. All features testable NOW in GideonMail.

What Makes Relegate Different (2026 Feature Set)

The feature list has grown far beyond basic email filtering. Relegate is now a complete AI email operations platform:

AI Intelligence Layer

  • Voice Learning — AI samples your sent emails and learns your writing style. Every draft sounds like you wrote it.
  • Thread Summarization — long email chains condensed to 1-2 sentences for SMS alerts
  • Commitment Tracking — AI scans your outgoing emails for promises ("I'll send that by Friday"), tracks them, texts you before deadlines
  • Sender Reputation Learning — tracks which senders you open, reply to, delete, or ignore. Suggests role changes over time.
  • Standing Instructions — persistent rules the AI follows on every check ("always flag emails from my accountant", "delete anything from noreply addresses")

Full Autopilot (Low Touch Mode — Experimental)

  • Auto-Categorize — AI sorts every unknown email: spam, newsletter, receipt, notification, action, meeting, deadline
  • Auto-File — moves to Newsletters/Receipts/Notifications folders automatically
  • Auto-Draft — AI writes replies in your learned voice, sends to your phone for one-tap approval
  • Auto-Unsubscribe — detects List-Unsubscribe headers on newsletters, unsubscribes via mailto or HTTP one-click
  • Auto-Nudge — when your sent emails go unanswered for N days, auto-sends a polite follow-up in your voice
  • Auto-Schedule — creates calendar events with AI-extracted date, time, location, and meeting links

Smart Sender Management (People — 6 Roles)

Role What happens
VIP Always texts you. Meetings auto-detected + auto-scheduled. Spam filters skipped.
Watch AI analyzes every email. Configurable: SMS, auto-calendar, flag, auto-reply.
Daily Update Batched into AI-summarized morning briefing. Green in inbox. No individual alerts.
Blocked Dark red. Auto-deleted after 7 days. Always spam-filtered.
Muted Grey. No notifications. Spam filters skipped.
  • Domain-wide rules (@domain.com)
  • Inline role switching
  • Add from any open email (sender or entire domain)

Phone-Based Control (Action Email Relay)

  • Branded HTML action emails with one-tap buttons (Accept, Decline, Reschedule, Reply, Later, Ignore)
  • Security-coded — each action email has a unique 12-char hex verification token
  • Replies without valid code are rejected and logged
  • Processed action emails auto-delete from inbox
  • Meeting action emails include full details: date, time, location, meeting link, reschedule from→to

Calendar Intelligence

  • ICS attachment parsing — reads calendar invites from VIP and Watch senders
  • Meeting link extraction — Zoom, Teams, Meet, Webex URLs included in SMS and calendar events
  • AI constructs links from partial info — "Zoom ID: 123 456 7890" becomes a full join URL
  • Reschedule detection — same sender updates existing event instead of creating duplicates
  • Conflict detection — checks calendar before scheduling
  • Permanent OAuth with refresh tokens — stays connected

Daily Intelligence

  • Smart Digest Email — daily branded HTML email with AI summaries:
    • Needs Your Attention (red) — VIP/Watch emails
    • FYI — New & Unread (amber)
    • Auto-Handled by GideonMail (green)
    • Your Open Commitments (purple)
    • Sender Suggestions (cyan) — reputation-based role recommendations
  • Morning Briefing SMS — unread count, VIP count, calendar, + Daily Update group summaries
  • Daily Update Groups — batch senders like Amazon, UPS, PayPal into one daily digest instead of individual alerts

Security (8 Filters)

SpamAssassin, Spamhaus ZEN, VirusTotal, Safe Browsing, PhishTank, AbuseIPDB, ClamAV, Bayesian learning. VIP/Watch/Muted/Daily immune from filtering.

Target Audience

Primary

  • Small business owners with old business emails from past ventures
  • Server admins drowning in automated notifications from ISPConfig, cPanel, Plesk
  • Domain owners with catch-all addresses collecting spam and occasional real mail
  • IT professionals managing multiple legacy email accounts

Secondary

  • Developers who run their own mail servers
  • Privacy-conscious users who run self-hosted email (no cloud, no telemetry)
  • Side project owners with shared inboxes that occasionally get real customers
  • Busy professionals who want AI to handle routine email without changing providers

Key Messages

  1. "You can't delete it. You won't check it. Relegate it."

    • Everybody has at least one email account they ignore
    • Relegate makes ignoring it safe — and smart

  2. "AI reads your email, learns your voice, and handles it for you"

    • Claude triages every incoming message
    • Drafts replies that sound like you
    • Tracks your commitments so nothing falls through the cracks

  3. "Your phone is your inbox"

    • SMS alerts for what matters
    • Action emails with one-tap approve/decline/reply
    • Daily digest with AI summaries
    • You never need to open the app

  4. "8 security filters for the inbox you forgot about"

    • Neglected accounts are security risks
    • Relegate keeps them clean and threat-free

  5. "Set it up once. It runs forever."

    • Windows service — starts on boot, runs silently
    • Standing instructions persist
    • AI learns and improves over time

Content Strategy

Pre-Launch (Now through May 2026)

GitHub:

  • Comprehensive README with feature showcase
  • Full feature documentation
  • Architecture documentation
  • API setup guide
  • Troubleshooting guide
  • Marketing strategy (this document)
  • Issue templates
  • Security policy
  • Social preview image (1280×640)
  • Demo screenshots/GIFs

Content pieces to write:

  • Dev.to: "How I built an AI email autopilot that learns my voice"
  • Dev.to: "I put 5 old email accounts on autopilot — here's what happened"
  • Blog: "The email accounts you forgot are security risks"
  • Blog: "Why I built a commitment tracker into my email client"
  • Blog: "From 500 daily emails to 3 texts per week: a server admin's story"

Reddit warm-up (before beta):

  • r/selfhosted — "Show off: AI email triage for my ISPConfig server"
  • r/sysadmin — "Built a service to filter cron email with AI — open source"
  • r/homelab — "Background service that manages old IMAP accounts with AI"
  • r/email — "Put neglected email accounts on autopilot"

Launch Week (June 1, 2026)

Day 1:

  • GitHub release v0.1.0-beta with full documentation
  • Product Hunt launch
  • Hacker News: Show HN post
  • Reddit launch posts (all target subreddits)
  • Twitter/X announcement thread

Day 2-3:

  • Respond to all comments/questions
  • Cross-post to r/node, r/javascript, r/opensource
  • LinkedIn article

Day 4-7:

  • Follow up on Product Hunt comments
  • First issue triage and responses
  • Dev.to launch article

Post-Launch

  • Video demo: "Watch Relegate manage an email account in real time"
  • Case study: server admin mailbox scenario
  • Comparison article: "Relegate vs SaneBox vs email forwarding"
  • Feature spotlight posts (commitment tracking, voice learning, smart digest)
  • User testimonials (if beta testers provide feedback)

Channel Strategy

GitHub (Primary)

  • Professional README with clear problem/solution narrative
  • Comprehensive docs/ directory
  • Issue templates for bugs and features
  • Release notes with every update
  • Cross-links to GideonMail for immediate testing
  • Topics: email, imap, ai-email, email-automation, sms-notifications, windows-service, self-hosted, ai-assistant, claude, background-service

Reddit

Subreddit Angle Key Feature to Highlight
r/selfhosted "Open-source AI email triage that runs as a service" No cloud, local-only, self-hosted
r/sysadmin "Stop drowning in cron email — AI filters the noise" Smart categorization, SMS for real alerts
r/homelab "Background service for managing old IMAP accounts" Windows service, set-and-forget
r/email "AI autopilot for neglected email accounts" Voice learning, auto-draft, auto-unsubscribe
r/node "Built a complete email AI platform in Node.js" Technical architecture, Claude integration
r/javascript "Electron → Windows service: AI email management" Engine extraction story
r/opensource "MIT-licensed AI email manager with 8 security filters" Open source, privacy-first
r/artificial "Using Claude to manage email — voice learning + commitment tracking" AI capabilities showcase

Hacker News

  • Show HN: "Relegate — AI background service that manages old email accounts"
  • Technical focus: Node.js, IMAP, 8 security filters, Claude API integration
  • Emphasize: open source, self-hosted, no telemetry, no cloud

Product Hunt

  • Category: Productivity / Email / AI Tools
  • Maker story: solo developer + Claude, dog-fooded on own ISPConfig server
  • Hero feature: "Your phone becomes your inbox" (action emails + SMS)
  • Demo: screenshot of Smart Digest email + SMS alert

Dev.to

  • Technical deep dives on interesting features
  • "Building with Claude" series about AI-assisted development
  • Architecture posts about the engine extraction from Electron to service

Social Preview Image

Create 1280×640 image with:

  • Relegate logo (target + arrow icon)
  • "Put old email accounts on autopilot"
  • Dark theme (#111113 background, #7c6cff accent)
  • Feature highlights: AI Triage • SMS Alerts • Calendar • Autopilot
  • "Beta: June 1, 2026"
  • "Try it now → GideonMail"

Pre-Launch Funnel

See Relegate README / Reddit post / HN
    ↓
"All features available now in GideonMail"
    ↓
Clone GideonMail → npm install → npm start
    ↓
Test: AI triage, SMS alerts, calendar, Low Touch autopilot
    ↓
Star Relegate repo → Watch for beta notification
    ↓
June 1: Relegate beta release (background service)

Metrics to Track

Metric Source Target (month 1)
GitHub stars (Relegate) GitHub 100+
GitHub stars (GideonMail) GitHub 200+
GideonMail clones git traffic 50+
Issues opened GitHub 20+ (means engagement)
Reddit upvotes Reddit 50+ per post
HN points HN 50+
Product Hunt upvotes PH 100+
Textbelt signups Indirect 10+ active users

Competitive Landscape

Competitor Price Weakness Relegate exploits
Email forwarding Free No AI, no filtering, no calendar, no smart alerts
Server-side Sieve Free No AI, no SMS, no calendar, hard to configure, no learning
SaneBox $7/mo Cloud-dependent, no self-hosted, no SMS, no calendar, no voice learning
Clean Email $10/mo Cloud-dependent, privacy concerns, no SMS, no action emails
Thunderbird filters Free Needs app open, no AI, no SMS, no calendar, no autopilot
Gmail filters Free Google lock-in, no AI triage, no SMS, no commitment tracking
Hey.com $99/yr Expensive, cloud-only, no self-hosted, limited automation

Relegate's edge: Open source. Self-hosted. AI-powered. Learns your voice. Tracks your commitments. Runs as a service. Free (bring your own API keys). Privacy-first — no telemetry, no cloud sync, everything local.

Feature Comparison for Marketing

Feature Relegate SaneBox Clean Email Gmail Thunderbird
AI email triage ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Learns your voice ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Auto-draft replies ✅ ❌ ❌ ✅* ❌
Commitment tracking ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
SMS alerts ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Action emails (phone control) ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Meeting link extraction ✅ ❌ ❌ ✅ ❌
Calendar auto-create ✅ ❌ ❌ ✅ ❌
Reschedule detection ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Auto-unsubscribe ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌
8 security filters ✅ ❌ ❌ Partial ❌
Runs without UI ✅ N/A N/A N/A ❌
Self-hosted ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ✅
Open source ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ✅
Free ✅ ❌ ❌ ✅ ✅

*Gmail Smart Reply is limited and cloud-only

Announcement Draft (for June 1)

Title: "Relegate: Put old email accounts on autopilot — AI triage, SMS alerts, calendar integration, and full autopilot mode"

Body:

I built Relegate because I have 5 email accounts I never check but can't delete. My ISPConfig server gets 200 emails a day — 3 of them matter. My old business email still gets client inquiries. My domain catch-all is 99% spam but my bank uses it.

Relegate connects to any IMAP account and becomes its full-time manager:

  • AI reads every email and decides: important, routine, or junk
  • Texts you when something actually needs your attention
  • Learns your writing style and drafts replies that sound like you
  • Tracks promises you make in emails and nudges you before deadlines
  • Auto-creates calendar events with meeting links
  • Sends you a daily digest email with AI summaries
  • 8 security filters protect neglected inboxes

Runs as a Windows service. Starts on boot. No window. No tray icon. Just quiet, reliable email management in the background.

All features are testable RIGHT NOW in GideonMail, the desktop version: git clone https://github.com/gbroeckling/gideonmail && npm install && npm start

Open source. MIT licensed. Self-hosted. No telemetry. No cloud.

GitHub: github.com/gbroeckling/relegate

Built by Garry Broeckling. AI-assisted with Claude by Anthropic — all architecture, product decisions, and testing are human-directed.