# The Ranked-List Prompt (Chapter 8)

**Use when:** the inbox is over fifty a day, or you dread opening it.

Run the ranked list over the inbox first, one line per email, before you read anything in full. Then read the decision tier, draft replies for that tier only, and send nothing without your eyes.

```
Here is my inbox: [PASTE THE HEADERS, OR THE FULL BODIES ONLY IF YOUR
TOOL MEETS THE CHAPTER 3 BAR].

Rank it, one line per email:
- sender
- subject
- what it needs from me
Then bucket every email into one of three: decision (needs my judgment),
awareness (read or file), noise (delete or ignore).
No summaries, no replies, no sentiment. One line per email.
```

A filled row keeps the whole shape:

```
sender: datapulse@example.com
subject: Q3 vendor invoice, no message
needs: approve or dispute payment
bucket: decision
```

Rules that travel with it:

- Rank by need date and stakes, never by sender seniority. The director's newsletter waits for the intern's decision.
- Anything flagged urgent gets read by you in full, never summarized.
- Full message bodies enter prompts only where your tool meets the Chapter 3 bar. In every other tool, the headers go in and the bodies stay home.
- Nothing sends without your eyes.

Verify: you can state what each unread email needs from you, your sent replies match your decision count, and zero messages left the building without your review.