# Reviewing Drafts Before Sending

|                      |                                                                                             |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Time to complete** | 15 minutes                                                                                  |
| **Difficulty**       | Beginner                                                                                    |
| **Prerequisites**    | Email or Slack connection                                                                   |
| **You'll build**     | An assignment that drafts outbound messages and waits for your approval before sending them |

***

### Why Automate This?

**The Problem**: Sending the wrong message to a customer or stakeholder is costly — once it's out, you cannot take it back. Teams either review every draft manually (slow) or skip the review entirely and accept the risk (dangerous).

**The Solution**: A Duvo assignment that drafts each message and pauses for your approval before sending. You see exactly what will go out, approve or revise it, and the assignment handles delivery — all without switching between tools.

**Expected Results**:

* Every outbound message reviewed before it is sent
* Approval decisions reachable from Slack or the Activity Inbox — no need to open the message editor
* Full audit trail of what was approved, denied, and revised

***

### What You'll Build

By the end of this tutorial, you'll have an assignment that:

1. Reads a list of customer cases or emails that need a response
2. Drafts a personalized reply for each one
3. Pauses and shows you the draft — recipient, subject, and full body
4. Sends the message only after you approve it
5. If you deny a draft, asks you what to change and regenerates before re-requesting approval

***

### Before You Start

Make sure you have these ready:

* [ ] **Email connection** — Connect Gmail or Outlook. [Connect a connection](/connections/how-to-add-connection.md)
* [ ] **A source for your messages** — This could be a Gmail inbox, a support queue, a spreadsheet of contacts, or a Slack channel. Connect whichever system holds the inputs.

***

### Step 1: Create Your Assignment

1. Click **"+ Create Assignment"** from your dashboard.
2. Select **"Use Assignment Builder"**.

![Create Assignment Button](/files/oGMkQRXIVPImH6Q6k667)

***

### Step 2: Describe Your Workflow

Paste this prompt into the Assignment Builder and adjust it to match your source system:

```
Check my Gmail inbox for emails labeled "needs-reply" that have not yet been answered.

For each email:
1. Read the full message and any prior thread context.
2. Draft a professional reply that addresses the customer's question directly.
   Keep the tone friendly and concise.
3. Before sending, request approval with:
   - Title: "Send reply to [sender name] — [email subject]"
   - Description: include the full draft body so I can review it
4. If I approve, send the reply and remove the "needs-reply" label.
5. If I deny, ask me what to change. Revise the draft and request approval again.
```

Click **"Generate"** to create the assignment SOP.

***

### Step 3: Review the Generated SOP

Duvo will generate a structured SOP. Check that:

* The source system is correctly identified (Gmail, in this case)
* The approval title format includes enough detail to decide without opening a separate window
* The revision loop is present — the assignment should ask what to change when a draft is denied, not just stop

Edit the SOP directly if anything needs adjusting.

***

### Step 4: Configure Connections

Click **"Connections"** and confirm:

1. **Gmail** (or your email provider) — Connect the account you want to send from.
2. **Human-in-the-Loop** — Already available automatically. No setup needed.

***

### Step 5: Test the Approval Flow

Run the assignment on a single test email before using it in production:

1. Click **"Start Work"**.
2. Watch the session log as the assignment drafts the reply.
3. When the assignment reaches the approval gate, a request will appear in your [Activity Inbox](/assignment-features/activity-inbox.md).

![Assignment Running](/files/vGwCCc7nCeBlBC1U7TpG)

**Try each path:**

* **Approve the draft** — Verify the email is sent and the label is removed.
* **Deny the draft** — Verify the assignment asks you what to change, revises the draft, and requests approval again.

***

### Step 6: Respond Directly from Slack

If you have Slack notifications enabled, you can approve or deny drafts without opening Duvo:

1. Go to **Settings > Notifications** and connect your Slack account.
2. Run the assignment again.
3. When the approval request is created, the Duvo bot sends you a direct message in Slack with the full draft.
4. Tap **Approve** or **Deny** directly in the Slack message.
5. The assignment receives your response and continues — sending the email if approved, or asking for revision if denied.

The Slack message updates to show the outcome after you respond, giving you a record of each decision.

***

### Step 7: Schedule the Assignment

Once testing is successful, set the assignment to run automatically:

1. Go to **Assignment Settings > Schedule**.
2. Choose how often to check for new emails — every hour, or on a custom schedule.
3. Save the schedule.

New drafts will appear in your Activity Inbox (or via Slack) as they are generated, ready for your review.

***

### Expected Results

When your assignment runs successfully, you should see:

**In your Activity Inbox:**

* One pending approval for each draft, with the full message body visible in the detail panel
* Requests resolve automatically once you approve or deny

**In your email sent folder:**

* Only messages you explicitly approved
* Nothing sent that you did not review

**In Duvo:**

* A complete session log showing each draft, your decision, and the final action taken

***

### Troubleshooting

#### The approval request does not show the full draft

* **Check the SOP instruction** — Make sure the description field in the approval request explicitly includes the draft body. Edit the SOP and add: "Include the complete email body in the approval description."
* **Check character limits** — Very long drafts may be trimmed. Break long messages into shorter ones or include a summary in the description.

#### The assignment stops after a denial instead of asking for revisions

* **Check the fallback instruction** — The SOP must tell the assignment what to do when denied. Add: "If approval is denied, ask the user what to change, revise the draft, and request approval again."

#### Slack notifications are not arriving

* **Check notification settings** — Go to **Settings > Notifications** and verify Slack is connected and notifications are enabled.
* **Check the Duvo bot** — Make sure the Duvo app is authorized in your Slack workspace.

#### Emails are sending without approval

* **Check the SOP** — The phrase "only send after I approve" (or equivalent) must appear before the send step. Without it, the assignment may send immediately after drafting.

***

### Take It Further

Once your basic approval workflow is running, consider these enhancements:

**Add a priority flag for urgent emails**

```
If the email is marked as urgent or the subject contains "URGENT", set the approval title to
"[URGENT] Send reply to [sender] — [subject]" so I can prioritize it in my inbox.
```

**Skip approval for routine replies**

```
If the email is a standard acknowledgment with no specific questions (e.g., "Got it, thanks"),
send the reply without requesting approval. Only request approval for substantive messages.
```

**Include a confidence note in the description**

```
In the approval description, briefly note why you drafted the reply this way and flag
any part you are uncertain about.
```

**Apply to other channels**

The same pattern works for Slack messages, social media comments, or any other outbound communication. Replace the Gmail instructions with the appropriate connection and source.

***

### Related Resources

* [Human-in-the-Loop](/assignment-features/human-in-the-loop.md) — Full guide to approval gates and how to write them into your SOP
* [Activity Inbox](/assignment-features/activity-inbox.md) — Where all pending approvals appear
* [Customer Response Emails](/examples/examples/customer-response-emails.md) — A tutorial for drafting and sending personalized responses at scale
* [Expense Report Approval](/examples/examples/expense-report-approval.md) — A tutorial showing threshold-based approval gates in a finance workflow


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