# How Gravel works, step by step

Gravel reads the mail and calendars you connect, decides what is worth interrupting you for, and texts you first. You say yes once, and it handles the whole plan and tells you when it's done.

*Example conversation (Moves an appointment with one yes), recorded in Apple's Messages app:*

> **Gravel:** Want me to move the dentist to Thursday at 3:30? I’d cancel Tuesday, book Thursday and update your calendar.
>
> **You:** yes
>
> **Gravel:** Done. Thursday at 3:30 PM with Dr. Lee. It’s on your calendar.

## Step 1: You connect your mail and calendar, read-only first

You link a messaging app, then connect a mailbox and a calendar. Gravel starts with read-only access, so it can look but not change anything.

During early access, Gravel talks to you in **Telegram or WhatsApp**. iMessage is coming. You link your channel with a one-time code or link, so Gravel knows the messages are really yours.

It reads Gmail and Outlook, where you sign in with Google or Microsoft. It also reads iCloud Mail, GMX, WEB.DE, T-Online, freenet, mailbox.org, Posteo and other IMAP mailboxes, where you use an app password. It reads Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, iCloud Calendar and any CalDAV calendar. The full list, with how each one connects, is on the [integrations page](https://gravel.chat/integrations).

With Google and Microsoft, Gravel gets an access token from the provider and never sees your password. For the other mailboxes, you create an app password at your provider and enter it on Gravel's connect page, never in the chat.

The first time an action needs more than reading, such as sending a reply or adding a calendar entry, Gravel asks for that extra permission. Then it picks your request back up.

## Step 2: Gravel reads and learns what matters to you

Right after you connect, Gravel looks back through about 90 days of mail. After that it keeps up with new mail and calendar changes and builds a memory of your preferences, people and plans.

Once the first read is done, it texts you the one thing you most likely forgot. If nothing qualifies, it tells you that instead of inventing a reason to write.

What it learns looks like this: you prefer afternoon appointments, your landlord is Dana, Mom's birthday is October 26. A fact Gravel picks up from someone else's email stays a candidate until a second message agrees or you confirm it.

Gravel keeps the facts it finds, such as "flight 70 minutes late", rather than whole emails. It caches raw email for 30 days at most, unless an open task needs that message.

## Step 3: Gravel decides what is worth a message

Gravel weighs how urgent something is, how much it matters and how sure it is of the facts. Then it checks whether now is a good time to tell you.

It scores each possible message on three things:

- **Urgency:** how much time is left.
- **Importance:** whether it involves money, a deadline or a person you care about.
- **Confidence:** how sure Gravel is that the facts are right.

It also looks at how you reacted to similar messages before. If you ignore a kind of message, Gravel sends fewer of them.

Then it applies your limits:

- **Quiet hours:** 10 PM to 7:30 AM by default, in your time zone.
- **Meetings:** messages that can wait hold until your meeting ends.
- **A few messages a day at most**, and fewer if you ignore them.
- **A morning brief:** anything that can wait goes into one short message, like the example beside this section: four things that came in overnight, none urgent.

Text "stop telling me about packages" (or any topic) and Gravel mutes it at once.

*Example conversation (A short morning brief), recorded in Apple's Messages app:*

> **Gravel:** Good morning! 4 things came in overnight, nothing urgent:
> • Chase statement is ready
> • Your UPS package ships today
> • Maya replied about Friday
> • Netflix goes up $2 next month

## Step 4: Gravel texts you first

When something clears the bar, Gravel sends a short message that says what it noticed, what it suggests, and a question you can answer in a word. You don't have to open an app or ask first.

Here is one from the example conversation on the [home page](https://gravel.chat/). Earlier that morning Gravel had told you a 10:00 meeting moved and now clashes with the dentist. Then it offered a fix:

> Want me to move the dentist to Thursday afternoon? You usually prefer those.

Some first messages come with a draft attached. Gravel writes replies the way you write, and sends them from your own mailbox only when you say send.

Gravel always presents itself as an AI.

The conversations on this page are examples, recorded in Apple's Messages app to show how Gravel is designed to work. They are not chats with a running Gravel.

## Step 5: You say yes once, and it covers the whole plan

Before Gravel acts, it tells you exactly what it will do. One yes covers every step of that plan.

The example at the top of this page shows it. Gravel proposes moving the dentist and lists three steps: cancel Tuesday, book Thursday, update your calendar. You say "yes", and it does all three. Your yes covers exactly what you were shown, so if the plan changes, Gravel asks again.

How much Gravel does on its own is your call, set separately for each kind of action. There are four levels:

- **Just do it.**
- **Only when I ask.**
- **Ask me first.**
- **Hand it to me:** Gravel prepares everything and you do it yourself.

Gravel starts read-only and asks for more access the first time it needs it. Some things can never run on their own, including payments, cancellations and deletions. Messages to other people go out in your name only after you approve the exact text.

Over time, Gravel can earn a little more room. After several clean approvals of one narrow kind of action, such as adding calendar entries without guests, it offers to stop asking. If you accept, it does that one kind of thing on its own, with a short chance to undo it first, and tells you afterwards. You can take that back any time. Read more in [autonomy levels explained](https://gravel.chat/learn/autonomy-levels).

## Step 6: Gravel acts, then tells you what happened

After your yes, Gravel carries out each step and texts you the result. In the example it answers "Done." with the new time, and the change is already on your calendar.

Once you've said yes, Gravel can:

- Send a reply from your own mailbox, in your voice.
- Add or change a calendar entry.
- Run a routine you describe, like "every Monday at 8, send me an overview of my week".
- Watch a web page and tell you when a price drops or a text appears.
- Write to an app you've connected, such as Notion, Todoist or Linear.

Gravel never phones businesses or people on your behalf. See more examples in [use cases](https://gravel.chat/use-cases), like [calendar conflicts](https://gravel.chat/use-cases/calendar-conflicts) and [email follow-ups](https://gravel.chat/use-cases/email-follow-ups).

## Step 7: You can see, change and stop everything

You can ask Gravel what it knows, what it did, and tell it to stop, all by text.

- **What it knows.** Ask "what do you know about me?" and it lists it in plain words. Tell it to forget anything, as in the example beside this section.
- **What it did.** Ask "what did you look at today?" and the activity log shows what Gravel read and did.
- **Pause.** Text "pause" and all background work stops until you say so: proactive messages, routines and page watches. Gravel still answers when you write to it.
- **Who can see your data.** It's encrypted with a key that belongs to your account only, and it's hosted and processed in the EU. If a person ever has to look, for example because you asked support for help, it's written to your activity log before they can.
- **Leaving.** Export all your data with a one-time link. Delete your account and your key is destroyed, so nothing left can be read.

Gravel does not train AI models on your data, and neither do its providers.

*Example conversation (Shows what it knows, forgets on request), recorded in Apple's Messages app:*

> **You:** what do you know about me?
>
> **Gravel:** You prefer afternoon appointments, your landlord is Dana at Hollis, you fly United in an aisle seat, and Mom’s birthday is Oct 26.
>
> **You:** forget the flight stuff
>
> **Gravel:** Done. I’ve forgotten your airline and seat.

## Questions

### How does Gravel know what needs my attention?

It reads the mailbox and calendar you connect and scores each possible message on urgency, importance and how sure it is of the facts. It also learns from how you react: if you ignore a kind of message, it sends fewer of them.

### Does Gravel read all of my email?

It reads the mailbox you connect, starting read-only. When you connect, it looks back about 90 days, then follows new mail. It keeps the facts it finds, not whole emails, and caches raw email for 30 days at most.

### Can Gravel send emails or change my calendar on its own?

Only if you allow it. For each kind of action you pick one of four levels: just do it, only when I ask, ask me first, or hand it to me. Gravel starts read-only, and payments, cancellations and deletions can never run on their own. After several clean approvals of one narrow kind of action, it can offer to stop asking, and you can take that back any time.

### How often will Gravel text me?

A few unprompted messages a day at most, and fewer if you ignore them. It stays quiet from 10 PM to 7:30 AM by default and saves anything that can wait for a short morning brief. Text “pause” and it stops all background work.

### What if Gravel gets something wrong?

Like any AI, Gravel can miss or misread things. That is why it shows you the exact plan before it acts, and why anything that reaches other people or costs money asks first by default. Say no or tell it what to change, and it sends fewer messages like that one.

### Do I need to install an app?

No. During early access Gravel lives in Telegram and WhatsApp, so you use the app you already have. iMessage is coming. The way in today is the waitlist.

### Can I see what Gravel knows and delete it?

Yes. Ask “what do you know about me?” and change or remove anything. You can export all your data with a one-time link, and when you delete your account, your key is destroyed, so nothing that's left can be read.

## Related

- [What you can hand to an AI assistant that texts you first](https://gravel.chat/use-cases.md)
- [How much should an AI assistant do without asking?](https://gravel.chat/learn/autonomy-levels.md)
- [One plan, €12 a month](https://gravel.chat/pricing.md)

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Gravel · https://gravel.chat/how-it-works · Updated 2026-10-19 · Status: Early access, €12 a month