Ashford

An intelligent email automation agent for Gmail that automatically classifies and acts on incoming emails using deterministic rules and LLM-powered intelligence.

Overview

Ashford is a self-hosted, single-user email automation system that:

• Automatically classifies incoming Gmail messages using rule-based logic and AI
• Executes configured actions (archive, label, delete, etc.) with approval workflows
• Provides a web interface for managing rules and viewing action history
• Integrates with Discord for notifications and interactive approvals
• Maintains full traceability and undo capabilities for all actions

Architecture

┌─────────────────┐     ┌──────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐
│   Gmail API     │────▶│   Rust Agent     │────▶│    Discord      │
│   (Pub/Sub)     │     │   (axum + queue) │     │   (approvals)   │
└─────────────────┘     └────────┬─────────┘     └─────────────────┘
                                 │
                                 ▼
                        ┌──────────────────┐
                        │   SvelteKit UI   │
                        │   (web interface)│
                        └──────────────────┘

Components

• Rust Agent Service (server/) - Core backend with job queue, Gmail integration, rule engine, and Discord bot
• SvelteKit Web App (web/) - Web interface for rules management, action history, and settings
• libsql Database - Durable storage for messages, rules, decisions, and job queue

Tech Stack

Backend:

• Rust (2024 edition)
• Axum HTTP server
• libsql (SQLite fork)
• Tokio async runtime
• OpenTelemetry for observability

Frontend:

• SvelteKit 2
• TypeScript
• Tailwind CSS
• Bits UI components

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Rust (1.85+)
• Node.js 20+ / Bun
• pnpm
• Gmail API credentials
• Discord bot token (optional, for approvals)

Configuration

Create a configuration file (see docs/configuration.md for all options):

database_path = "./ashford.db"

[gmail]
credentials_path = "./credentials.json"
token_path = "./token.json"

[discord]
bot_token = "your-discord-bot-token"
channel_id = "your-channel-id"

Running the Server

cd server
cargo run --release

Running the Web UI

cd web
pnpm install
pnpm dev

Project Structure

ashford/
├── server/                 # Rust backend
│   ├── crates/
│   │   ├── ashford-core/   # Core domain logic, queue, database
│   │   └── ashford-server/ # HTTP API server
│   └── migrations/         # SQL migrations
├── web/                    # SvelteKit frontend
│   └── src/
│       ├── routes/         # Pages and layouts
│       └── lib/            # Shared components
├── docs/                   # Architecture documentation
└── tasks/                  # Development milestones (rmplan)

Documentation

See the docs/ directory for detailed documentation:

• Overview - High-level architecture
• Data Model - Database schema
• Decision Engine - Classification logic
• Rules Engine - Rule evaluation
• Gmail Integration - Gmail API setup
• Discord - Discord bot integration
• Web UI - Frontend specification
• Configuration - All config options

Milestones

1. Rust skeleton & queue
2. Gmail ingest (Pub/Sub + History)
3. Rule engine & decision pipeline
4. Gmail actions
5. Discord bot integration
6. SvelteKit web UI
7. Rules assistant (chat interface)

License

MIT