Microsoft Outlook
For all your email needs in your automation
1. Introduction
Here’s a comprehensive guide on using Outlook with Kognitos, focusing on the integration and manipulation of email functionalities through natural language. It is designed for users who wish to automate their email-related tasks within Outlook using Kognitos.
2. Setting Up Your Environment
To effectively use Outlook with Kognitos, it's essential to properly set up your environment. This section guides you through the requirements, installation, and configuration steps necessary to get started.
2.1. Requirements
Before you begin, ensure you have the following:
- An active Outlook account: To connect Kognitos with your Outlook account, you need specific credentials, including the client ID, client secret, tenant ID, and user ID. These credentials are essential for authentication and authorization processes.
- Access to the Kognitos platform
- Basic understanding of writing in Kognitos
2.2. Installation and Configuration
Setting up your environment involves obtaining necessary credentials from Outlook, installing the Kognitos platform, and configuring it to connect with your Outlook account.
Configuring Access to Outlook
You'll need a professional office 365 account - it can be created at https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/microsoft-365). And access to Azure portal url (https://portal.azure.com/) with the same account.
Then you register Kognitos in Azure Active directory with API permissions for: Read and Send Email.
You will also need to provide user ID for Microsfot Graph API to work for any user.
Creation of App in AD
- Login to Azure Portal > Open Active Directory > App registration (In left menu)
- Register a new app with a suitable name for the project.
- Go to API permissions > Add permissions > Select Microsoft Graph
- Select Application Permissions > Search for Mail and grant Read Write and Send Permissions.
- Grant admin consent for the granted permissions.
Steps to create user / Get user ID
- Login to Azure portal > Go to Active directory > click on Users in menu
- Create a new user or select any existing user.
- Copy the value Object ID in user profile page
Connecting to Your Outlook Account: Once you have your credentials, you can establish a connection between Kognitos and your Outlook account. This connection is crucial for performing email-related operations through Kognitos. This can be done through learning the Microsoft Outlook Book.
Learning the Microsoft Outlook Book (Integration)
To interact with Microsoft Outlook within Kognitos, establishing a secure connection to your Microsoft Outlook instance is the first critical step. This section outlines the credentials required for this connection and provides a detailed, step-by-step guide to connect successfully.
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Gather Credentials: Ensure you have all the required credentials: the client ID, client secret, tenant ID, and user ID
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Navigate to the Departments tab of Kognitos and search for Microsoft Outlook
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Click on + New Book button on the right of the Departments page
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Search for Microsoft Outlook and then click on the book which is shown
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Add in the credentials when you are prompted
Successful integration: Once the book has been learnt successfully, you are ready to perform various operations on Microsoft Outlook. This setup allows you to move on to automating your email operations, such as reading, marking read/unread, managing emails, organizing your inbox, and automating tasks using Kognitos.
Your Credentials You Use To Connect, Will Be the Credentials the Actions are Taken on Behalf Of
For example, if you send an email through Outlook, by default the sender will show as the account tied to the connection credentials we discussed in the above section.
3. Email Operations
Managing emails effectively is a crucial aspect of using Outlook with Kognitos. This section covers various operations you can perform on emails, such as sending, receiving, forwarding, replying to, and deleting emails. Each operation is illustrated with examples.
3.1. Sending Emails
Sending emails through Kognitos allows for customization of recipients, subject lines, message bodies, and even attachments.
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Example: Sending an Email
send an email with the recipients are "[email protected]" the subject is "Meeting Reminder" the message body is "Don't forget our meeting at 10 AM tomorrow." -
Example: Sending an Email with CC and Attachments
send an email with the recipients are ["[email protected]", "[email protected]"] the cc addresses are "[email protected]" the subject is "Project Update" the message body is "Please find attached the latest project update." the attachments are "/path/to/project_update.pdf"
3.2. Receiving Emails
Kognitos can be used to retrieve emails based on specific criteria, such as the last few emails received or unread emails.
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Example: Getting the Last 5 Emails
get outlook's last 5 emails -
Example: Getting Unread Emails
get outlook's unread emails
3.3. Forwarding Emails
Forwarding emails to other recipients or groups can be easily automated using Kognitos.
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Example 1: Forwarding an Email to a Team
get the email where the subject is "Monthly Report" forward the email to the team with the recipients are "[email protected]" the subject is "Forwarded: Monthly Report" -
Example 2: Forwarding an Email to the Manager with CC
get the email where the subject contains "Project Update" forward the email to the manager with the recipients are "[email protected]" the cc addresses are "[email protected]" the subject is "FYI: Project Update"
3.4. Replying to Emails
Automating replies to emails can save a significant amount of time, especially for frequently asked questions or standard communications.
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Example: Replying to an Email with Feedback
get the email whose subject is "Project Update" reply the email with the subject is "Re: Project Update - Feedback" the comment is "Thanks for the update, please see my feedback below." the cc addresses are "[email protected]" the attachments are "feedback.docx"
3.5. Deleting Emails
Managing your inbox also involves deleting unnecessary or unwanted emails.
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Example: Deleting Emails by Subject
delete the outlook emails with the subject is "Weekly Report" -
Example: Deleting Emails by Sender and Folder
delete the outlook emails with the sender is "[email protected]" the folder is "Inbox"
3.6. Marking Emails as Read or Important
Marking emails as read or flagging them as important can help in prioritizing your tasks and managing your inbox more efficiently.
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Example: Marking an Email as Read
get the email where the subject is "Urgent: Meeting Rescheduled" mark the email as read -
Example: Marking an Email as Important
get the email where the sender is "[email protected]" mark the email as important
By utilizing these examples, users can automate a wide range of email management tasks using Kognitos, streamlining their workflow and enhancing productivity within the Outlook environment.
4. Working with Email Attributes
This section delves into how to extract specific attributes from emails using Kognitos. These operations are essential for tasks that require information processing or decision-making based on email content.
4.1. Extracting Email Sender
Understanding who sent an email is crucial for many automated processes, such as filtering or responding to messages.
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Example: Getting the Email's Sender
get the email get the email's sender # <----
4.2. Extracting Email Recipients
Knowing to whom an email was sent can help in understanding the communication flow and is useful in scenarios like auditing email communications.
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Example 1: Getting the Email's Recipients
get the email get the email's recipients # <---- -
Example 2: Getting the Recipients for a Specific Email
the email's subject is "Meeting Schedule" get the email's recipients # <----
4.3. Extracting Email Date
The date and time when an email was sent or received can be critical for organizing, sorting, or archiving emails.
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Example: Getting the Email's Date
get the email get the email's date # <----
4.4. Extracting Email Subject
The subject of an email often contains key information summarizing the content or purpose of the email.
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Example: Getting the Email's Subject
get the email get the email's subject # <----
4.5. Extracting Email Attachments
Attachments are commonly used to share documents, images, and other files via email. Extracting these attachments is crucial for processing or storing these files outside the email system.
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Example 1: Getting the Email's Attachments
get the email where the subject is "Project Proposal" get the email's attachments # <---- -
Example 2: Getting Attachments from an Email by Sender
get the email where the sender is "[email protected]" get the email's attachments # <----
4.6. Extracting Email Body
The body of an email contains the main message. Extracting this content is essential for reading, processing, or analyzing the information conveyed in the email.
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Example 1: Getting the Email's Body
get the email get the email's body # <---- -
Example 2: Getting the Body of an Email with a Specific Subject
the email's subject is "Meeting Schedule" get the email's body # <----
These examples showcase how to utilize Kognitos to extract various attributes from emails, enabling users to automate and streamline their email processing tasks effectively.
5. Organizing Emails
Efficiently organizing emails is crucial for maintaining a clean and manageable inbox. This section covers how to automate the organization of emails into different folders and how to retrieve schedules for specific entities or resources using Kognitos.
5.1. Moving Emails to Different Folders
Automatically moving emails to designated folders based on criteria like subject, sender, or content can help keep your inbox organized and prioritize important messages.
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Example 1: Moving Emails to the Archived Folder
get the outlook emails the destination folder is "Archived" move the outlook emails # <---- -
Example 2: Moving Emails to the Important Folder Based on Subject
get the outlook emails the destination folder is "Important" the subject is "Project Update" move the outlook emails # <---- -
Example 3: Moving Emails from a Specific Sender to the HR Folder
get the outlook emails the destination folder is "HR" whose sender is "[email protected]" move the outlook emails # <----
These examples demonstrate how to use Kognitos to automate the process of moving emails into specific folders based on various criteria, helping users maintain an organized inbox.
5.2. Getting the Schedule of a person or an event
Retrieving the schedule for a specific entity, such as a person or a meeting room, is essential for planning and coordination purposes. This can include finding available time slots or understanding when a resource is booked.
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Example 1: Getting the Schedule for a Person
get the schedule for John Doe with the start time is "2023-05-01T09:00:00" the end time is "2023-05-01T17:00:00" the interval is "30 minutes" the timezone is "America/New_York" # <---- -
Example 2: Getting the Schedule for a Conference Room
get the schedule for the conference room with the start time is "2023-06-15T10:00:00" the end time is "2023-06-15T12:00:00" the interval is "15 minutes" the timezone is "Europe/London" # <----
These examples illustrate how to query the schedule for various entities using Kognitos, enabling users to efficiently plan meetings, book resources, or simply understand the availability of individuals or assets.
By leveraging these functionalities, users can significantly enhance their email management and scheduling capabilities, leading to improved productivity and organization.
Updated about 9 hours ago