Basics & fundamentals

The basics

Parrot Mail is a client, not a new mailbox. You keep the addresses you already have — Parrot signs in to each one, pulls your mail into a single unified inbox, and labels every message as it arrives so the list you open is already sorted.

Nothing is filed by rules you have to write. Categorization runs on the first message and tightens around your corrections over the following days. Everything else — search, drafts, calendar, tasks — reads from that same unified view.

Connecting accounts

Accounts are connected with OAuth from Settings → Accounts. Parrot never asks for and never stores your provider password; revoke access from your provider at any time and the connection drops immediately.

Supported providers

Gmail and Google Workspace, Outlook and Microsoft 365, and any server that speaks IMAP — Fastmail, Zoho, iCloud, or one you run yourself. Mixed setups are the normal case.

Host      imap.fastmail.com
Port      993
Security  SSL / TLS
Username  you@fastmail.com
Password  app-specific password

Initial sync covers your recent mail first so the inbox is usable in seconds, then backfills history in the background. Full detail on retention and encryption lives on the security page.

How sorting works

Each message is read once on arrival and tagged with a single category: work, finance, travel, social, updates, personal, or important. The tag drives the inbox grouping, the digest, and what Parrot considers worth interrupting you for.

Re-labelling a thread takes one keystroke, and every correction is training signal for your account only — never for a shared model. Expect the labels to settle within a few days of normal use.

Search & shortcuts

Search takes plain language rather than operators. Ask for what you remember about the message and Parrot resolves the sender, the date range, and the attachment filter for you.

invoice from Stripe last month with a pdf
what did Sarah promise about the launch date
unread from my team since Monday

Keyboard shortcuts

Limits & quotas

Plans differ in connected accounts and monthly AI actions — a categorization, a drafted reply, or a natural-language search each count as one. Reading, sending, and searching your own mail are never limited.

Current numbers per plan are on the pricing section, and the FAQ covers billing edge cases like mid-cycle upgrades.