AI Email Writer (AI Compose)

An open-source AI email writer and composer for Microsoft Outlook, powered by Google Gemini.

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AI Compose is a lightweight, privacy-focused Outlook add-in developed by Rizonesoft. It leverages the Google Gemini API to help you draft, reply, and refine professional emails directly within the Outlook interface — without ever leaving your inbox.

✨ Features

Feature	Description
📝 AI-Powered Drafting	Generate full professional emails from short prompts and a desired tone
↩️ Contextual Replies	Analyze incoming mail to suggest relevant, context-aware responses
📋 Summarize	Condense long email threads into bullet points, paragraphs, or TL;DR
✍️ Improve Writing	Fix grammar, improve clarity, make concise, or make professional
✅ Extract Actions	Pull out action items, deadlines, and tasks from emails
🌐 Translate	Translate email content into 20+ languages
🔒 Privacy-First	Open-source architecture ensures your API keys stay local

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js v20 or higher
• A Google Gemini API key (free tier available)
• Microsoft Outlook (desktop, web, or Microsoft 365)

Installation

Option A — Install from GitHub Pages (recommended)

1. Download the manifest: manifest.xml (right-click → Save As)
2. Visit aka.ms/olksideload — this opens Outlook on the web and the Add-Ins dialog
3. In the "Custom Addins" section at the bottom, click Add a custom add-in → Add from File
4. Select the downloaded manifest.xml and click Install
5. Open any email → click the AI Compose button in the ribbon
6. Enter your Gemini API key in Settings (gear icon)

Tip: In classic Outlook on Windows, you can also access this via File → Info → Manage Add-ins.

Option B — Organization-wide deployment (M365 Admin)

1. Go to admin.microsoft.com → Settings → Integrated Apps
2. Click Upload custom apps → Provide link to manifest file
3. Enter: https://rizonesoft.github.io/ai-email-writer/manifest.xml
4. Click Validate → assign to users or groups → Deploy

Note: Updates are automatic — when we deploy new code to GitHub Pages, the add-in updates for all users on the next load. No reinstallation needed.

Option C — Install the Dev/Nightly build

For early access to the latest features:

1. Download the dev manifest: manifest.xml (right-click → Save As)
2. Follow the same steps as Option A using aka.ms/olksideload
3. The dev build appears as "AI Compose (Dev)" in Outlook so it won't conflict with the production version

🛠️ Development

Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/rizonesoft/ai-email-writer.git
cd ai-email-writer

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Create a .env file with your Gemini API key
echo "GEMINI_API_KEY=your-key-here" > .env

# Start the development server
npm run dev-server

Sideload for Development

1. Start the dev server (npm run dev-server) — runs on https://localhost:3000
2. Open Outlook on the web
3. Get Add-ins → My add-ins → Add a custom add-in → Add from file
4. Upload manifest.xml from the project root
5. The add-in will hot-reload as you make changes

Build

# Production build (outputs to dist/)
npm run build

# Run linting
npm run lint

Project Structure

ai-email-writer/
├── src/
│   ├── features/          # Feature modules (draft, reply, summarize, etc.)
│   ├── services/          # Gemini API client, Outlook service
│   ├── prompts/           # Prompt templates and builder
│   ├── styles/            # Design tokens and global CSS
│   ├── taskpane/          # Main UI (HTML, TypeScript, CSS)
│   └── commands/          # Outlook ribbon command handlers
├── assets/
│   └── tool-icons/        # Ribbon control icons (PNG, multiple sizes)
├── manifest.xml           # Add-in manifest (GitHub Pages production)
└── .github/workflows/     # CI/CD deployment workflows

🔄 Deployment

AI Compose is hosted on GitHub Pages with a single manifest.xml in the repository. The CI pipeline automatically patches the manifest for the dev environment at build time (different App ID, /dev/ URLs, and "(Dev)" label).

Environment	URL	Trigger
Dev	rizonesoft.github.io/ai-email-writer/dev/	Auto on every push to main
Production	rizonesoft.github.io/ai-email-writer/	Manual trigger in GitHub Actions

To promote to production: go to GitHub Actions → Deploy → Run workflow → check Deploy to production → Run workflow. Users receive updates automatically on their next add-in load.

Updating in MS365 Admin Centre

If you need to update or re-deploy the add-in for your organization:

1. Go to admin.microsoft.com → Settings → Integrated Apps
2. Find AI Compose → click Update app (or remove and re-add)
3. Select Provide link to manifest file
4. Enter: https://rizonesoft.github.io/ai-email-writer/manifest.xml
5. Click Validate → Update / Deploy
6. Changes propagate to assigned users within 24 hours

⚙️ Settings

Access settings via the gear icon in the add-in:

• API Key — Your Google Gemini API key (stored locally in your browser)
• Model — Choose between Gemini 3.1 Pro (latest), Gemini 3 Flash/Pro, or Gemini 2.5 Flash/Pro (stable)
• Default Tone — Set the default writing tone (Professional, Formal, Friendly, Casual)
• Summary Style — Default format for summaries (Bullets, Paragraph, TL;DR)
• Language — Default translation target language

🔒 Privacy

• Your API key is stored locally in your browser's localStorage — it never leaves your device
• Email content is sent directly to the Google Gemini API for processing
• No data is stored on our servers — AI Compose is entirely client-side
• The add-in only requests ReadWriteItem permissions (the minimum needed)

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/my-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'feat: add my feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/my-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License — see the LICENSE file for details.

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Made with ❤️ by Rizonesoft