A field guide · for the PriceMart team Edition 03 · 2026

Where do agent drafts actually go?

An agent doesn't have its own magic UI. It writes the draft into a tool you already use. When you saw "the agent drafts a reply" on the previous page, here's the physical mechanism: which tool, which surface, what the human actually sees and clicks.

1 · The mental model

Every agent has the same plumbing. It talks to a destination tool over an API, the tool stores the draft, and you review it in the normal interface of that tool. No new app to log into.

1 · Trigger
Schedule or event
"new email arrives"
2 · Agent runs
Reads inputs, decides
drafts the reply
3 · API call
to destination tool
gmail.drafts.create
4 · You review
in your normal tool
Gmail Drafts folder
The whole trick is step 3. Almost every business tool you use has an API that lets an outside program write into it. Gmail has a Drafts API. Helpdesks have a "draft reply" endpoint. Slack has post-message. Notion, ClickUp, Google Docs, Trello, all the same. The agent calls that API, the draft shows up in your tool, and you take it from there. There is no special "AI inbox" the agent lives in.

2 · The six places drafts actually land

Each one is a real surface in a tool you already have. The left side shows roughly what you see. The right side shows the plumbing underneath.

1

Gmail / Outlook Drafts folder

The agent creates a draft reply that sits in your normal Drafts folder. You open Gmail like any other morning, see "Drafts (4)", click in, read, edit, hit send.

Gmail · you@your-company.com
Inbox 12
Starred
Drafts 4
Sent
All Mail
To: customer-a@example.com
Subject: Re: My order hasn't shipped yet
Hi Alex, Thanks for getting in touch. I checked order #ORD-48291 and it left the warehouse on Tuesday 11 May...
Draft autosaved · created by AR-Agent · 07:14

How it works

The agent authenticates to Gmail via OAuth (one-time setup, you click "allow") and calls users.drafts.create with the recipient, subject, and body it generated.

Gmail stores it in the same Drafts folder you've always used. The agent never sends; it can only create the draft.

Your review

Open Gmail like normal. Drafts folder shows a number. Click, scan, edit, send. Or trash it.

2

Helpdesk draft reply (Intercom, Zendesk, Freshdesk, Gorgias)

Every modern helpdesk has a "draft reply" API. The agent attaches a suggested response to the ticket, your support team sees a yellow banner that says "AI suggested reply" with approve / edit / discard buttons.

Ticket #4192 · Customer A. Open · Shipping
Customer A. · 06:48
Hi, I ordered three days ago and there's still no tracking. Where is it?
AI SUGGESTED REPLY
Draft · awaiting approval
Hi Alex, thanks for getting in touch. I've checked order #ORD-48291 and it left the warehouse on Tuesday 11 May with carrier GLS. Tracking shows it's in Valencia and should land tomorrow.

How it works

The agent listens for new tickets via webhook, looks up the order in your e-commerce system, generates a reply, and calls something like POST /tickets/{id}/draft_reply.

It never auto-sends in the first version. The reply sits in the ticket as a draft until a human approves.

Your review

Support team opens the ticket in their normal queue. The draft is already there. One click sends, one click discards.

3

Slack / Teams review channel with buttons

The simplest setup of all. The agent posts to a dedicated Slack channel like #agent-review with the draft and two buttons. You tap "approve" from your phone in line at the supermarket. The agent then does the action.

# agent-review
A
AR-Agent APP 07:14
⚠️ Invoice INV-2089 is 21 days late Customer: Alex @ Example Corp Amount: €2,840 Drafted follow-up email ready. Approve to send.
👀 1

How it works

The agent posts to Slack using chat.postMessage with "interactive blocks" (Slack's name for buttons). When you tap a button, Slack sends a webhook back to the agent telling it what you chose.

This is the lowest-friction setup for a first agent. Slack is free, the API is mature, your phone notifies you.

Your review

Tap the button. Slack tells the agent your choice. The agent then sends the email (or whatever the next step is) and posts back "✓ sent at 07:15".

4

A custom approval queue (Airtable, Notion, Retool, or a small web app)

For higher volume or more structured work, you don't want 200 individual Slack messages. The agent writes each pending item to a table. You open the table once a day, scan the rows, batch approve.

Pending review 7 waiting
Return request RTN-1842 → recommend investigate
Fraud signal·€39.95·2 min ago
Stockout warning: WHEY-CHOC-2KG → suggested PO 200u
Days cover: 6·14 min ago
Review reply for ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Best service ever!"
Trustpilot·23 min ago
Lead score 8/10 → drafted personalised outreach
ICP fit: high·41 min ago

How it works

The agent writes each item to an Airtable base, a Notion database, or a small custom page. Each row has the agent's draft plus an "approve" and "reject" column you tick.

A second small job watches the "approved" rows and executes them. Or the agent polls the table itself every few minutes.

Your review

Once or twice a day, scan the queue, tick the boxes. Five minutes total for what used to take an hour.

5

Google Docs / Notion comment with suggestion

For agents reviewing written work (compliance checker, brand voice editor, copy reviewer) the natural place is the document itself. The agent leaves a comment on the relevant paragraph with a suggested rewrite.

Whey Protein 2kg is our flagship product.

It boosts your immune system and supports lean muscle growth after every workout.

Trusted by 12,000 athletes.

Compliance-Agent · 07:21
Unauthorised health claim. EU Reg 1924/2006, Art. 10.
boosts your immune system
contributes to normal immune system function*

How it works

The agent reads the doc via the Google Docs or Notion API, runs its check, and posts comments using the same API.

Suggestions appear as native Google Docs suggestions, which the doc owner can accept or reject with one click.

Your review

Open the doc. Comments sit in the margin like a colleague's review. Click "accept" to apply the rewrite, or reply to push back.

6

A task in your task system (ClickUp, Asana, Linear) or a CRM field

For agents that produce work for a person to do later (meeting action items, lead followups, reorder requests), the draft becomes a task assigned to the right person with all context attached.

TO DO
Send Q2 forecast draft to operations lead by Friday
Assignee
F Founder
Due
Fri 16 May
Source
created by Meeting-Agent
Tags
finance leadership
Created from "Leadership weekly · 13 May" at 14:32. Commitment captured at timestamp 28:14 in the transcript.

How it works

The agent calls the task system's API (ClickUp create_task, Asana POST /tasks, Linear issueCreate) with the title, owner, due date, and a description that includes the source.

You can also use this pattern for CRM updates: the agent writes a "next action" field on a deal record rather than creating a separate task.

Your review

The task appears in your normal task list. You see it during your morning planning, do it, mark it done. No new place to check.

3 · Which destination should you use?

Match the destination to the kind of decision the agent is making and how often it happens. The single most common mistake is putting high-volume work in a Slack channel, where it drowns.

Destination Best for Volume tolerance Setup difficulty
Gmail / Outlook draft Outbound emails: AR chasing, follow-ups, replies Low to medium (under 50/day) Easy
Helpdesk draft reply Support tickets High (built for it) Medium
Slack channel + buttons Alerts, single decisions, urgent stuff Low (under 20/day or it gets noisy) Easy
Approval queue (Airtable etc.) High-volume routine decisions High (hundreds/day) Medium
Doc / Notion comment Reviewing written content Medium Medium
Task / CRM field Work that becomes someone's next action High Easy

4 · The simplest setup to start with

If you've never built one of these, here's the path of least resistance.

Slack channel + buttons, then graduate.

Create a channel called #agent-review. Have your first agent post drafts there with two buttons: approve and skip. That's it. You'll have it running in a day. When approve is tapped, the agent goes and does the thing (sends the email, creates the task, updates the record).

Live with this for two weeks. You'll learn three things: which decisions you always approve (those can later be automatic), which the agent gets wrong (the prompt needs work), and how many items per day is the right volume.

Once you know the volume, pick a more permanent home: helpdesk for support, an approval queue for high-volume routine work, Gmail drafts for outbound emails. The Slack channel stays as the "anything new" home for any future agent's first month.