Skip to main content
Time to complete: 15 minutesDifficulty: BeginnerPrerequisites: Email or Slack connectionYou’ll build: An agent 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 agent that drafts each message and pauses for your approval before sending. You see exactly what will go out, approve or revise it, and the agent handles delivery — all without switching between tools. Expected Results:
  • Every outbound message reviewed before it is sent
  • Approval decisions reachable from Slack or Requests — 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 agent 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. Add a connection
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.

Create Your Agent

  1. Click ”+ Create Agent” from your dashboard.
  2. Select “Use Agent Builder”.
Create Agent Button

Describe Your Workflow

Paste this prompt into the Agent Builder and adjust it to match your source system:
Click “Generate” to create the agent AOP.

Review the Generated AOP

Duvo will generate a structured AOP. 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 agent should ask what to change when a draft is denied, not just stop
Edit the AOP directly if anything needs adjusting.

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.

Test the Approval Flow

Run the agent on a single test email before using it in production:
  1. Click “Start Work”.
  2. Watch the session log as the agent drafts the reply.
  3. When the agent reaches the approval gate, a request will appear in your Requests.
Agent Running
Try each path:
  • Approve the draft — Verify the email is sent and the label is removed.
  • Deny the draft — Verify the agent asks you what to change, revises the draft, and requests approval again.

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 agent 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 agent 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.

Schedule the Agent

Once testing is successful, set the agent to run automatically:
  1. Go to Agent 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 Requests (or via Slack) as they are generated, ready for your review.

​
Expected Results

When your agent runs successfully, you should see: In your Requests:
  • 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

  • Check the AOP instruction — Make sure the description field in the approval request explicitly includes the draft body. Edit the AOP 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.
  • Check the fallback instruction — The AOP must tell the agent what to do when denied. Add: “If approval is denied, ask the user what to change, revise the draft, and request approval again.”
  • 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.
  • Check the AOP — The phrase “only send after I approve” (or equivalent) must appear before the send step. Without it, the agent may send immediately after drafting.

​
Take It Further

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

Human-in-the-Loop

Full guide to approval gates and how to write them into your AOP

Requests

Where all pending approvals appear

Customer Response Emails

A tutorial for drafting and sending personalized responses at scale

Expense Report Approval

A tutorial showing threshold-based approval gates in a finance workflow