Skip to content
All case studies
Case study · Akiko · Private Beta

Building Akiko, a multi-account email cockpit.

“Email, handled.” A spatial multi-account Gmail cockpit that puts 3+ inboxes on screen at once and lets agentic AI triage, draft, and execute across all of them. Built on Next.js 16, Vercel Fluid Compute, and the Vercel AI Gateway.

44
API endpoints
10
DB tables
5
Spatial layouts
3
Claude models
Product
Akiko (akiko.app)
Industry
Productivity · Email
Services
Full-stack, AI integration
Status
Private beta
The challenge

Multi-account email is broken.

Consultants, agency operators, founders, and executives often run their work life across 3 to 10+ Gmail and Google Workspace accounts. Browser profile switching is brittle, official Gmail only shows one inbox at a time, and cross-account search is impossible. AI features inside Gmail are assistive at best — they don't take action across accounts.

Pain points identified

What's broken

  • Constant browser-profile juggling and re-authentication just to switch accounts
  • Identity mistakes — replying from the wrong account is a routine, costly error
  • No unified signal: "Needs Reply" in account A is invisible while looking at account B
  • Search is siloed per inbox; finding a thread across accounts is manual
  • Bulk drafting (responding to 20 client emails in your voice) is still one-by-one
  • AI in Gmail is suggestive, not agentic — it can't set up rules, execute follow-ups, or run across accounts

Goals defined

What we built

  • Show 3+ accounts on one screen with unmistakable identity per pane
  • Make mis-sends impossible — color, avatar, and identity dot per account
  • Triage, summarize, and draft using per-account voice profiles
  • Hybrid search (keyword + semantic) across every connected account at once
  • Standing Rules — natural-language automations the user trusts to execute
  • A clear trust dial: Safe → Balanced → Full Throttle, with full audit log
Our solution

Spatial canvas + agentic AI.

The interface puts every connected Gmail account on screen at once, identity is sacred, and AI is agentic — not suggestive. Every account inherits its own voice, its own triage signal, and its own scoped automations.

01

Spatial Multi-Account Canvas

Resizable, drag-and-drop pane layouts let you arrange every connected Gmail on a single canvas. Click-to-swap identities, per-account color bars, and identity dots make mis-sends architecturally impossible.

  • 5 layout modes: Grid, Primary + Monitors, Columns, Fixed, Panels
  • Per-account avatars, color bars, and identity headers
  • Per-account signatures, sending names, and voice profiles
  • Three dark themes (Warm Dark, Midnight, Carbon) + light
02

Agentic AI Layer

AI doesn't just suggest — it executes. Triage, summarize, draft, and run Standing Rules across every connected account, gated by a global Autonomy Dial (Safe / Balanced / Full Throttle).

  • AI triage badges on every row (Needs reply / Waiting / FYI)
  • AI thread summaries with one-line previews and full open-view summaries
  • AI draft generation in per-account voice profiles
  • Akiko AI chat (⌘K) that searches the whole corpus and answers questions
03

Hybrid Search Across Accounts

Postgres full-text and pgvector semantic embeddings (1536-dim text-embedding-3-small) run in parallel and combine. Keyword for exact phrases, semantic for concepts — one search box, every inbox.

  • pgvector HNSW indexes for sub-second semantic queries
  • pg_trgm fuzzy matching for typo-tolerant keyword search
  • Cross-account result blending with per-account labeling
  • Persistent attachment cache via Vercel Blob with TTLs
04

Standing Rules + Autonomy Dial

Write automations in natural language ("when a client emails after 6pm, draft an acknowledgment promising a 10am response"). Akiko stores the rule, evaluates it on every new message, and executes per the user's autonomy level — with a full audit log of every action.

  • Natural-language rule capture and editing
  • Three trust modes: Safe (preview), Balanced (auto for low-stakes), Full Throttle
  • Append-only audit log with revertable agent actions
  • Per-rule scope: account, label, sender, time window
Technical deep dive

Architecture and infrastructure.

Frontend stack

Next.js 16 App Router with React 19 Server Components, Server Actions, and Cache Components (PPR with `use cache`). Tailwind CSS 4 with a customized shadcn/ui component layer.

  • Inter (app UI) + Fraunces (marketing display) via next/font
  • Three dark themes + light theme via CSS variables
  • TanStack Query for client cache; localStorage persistence
  • Keyboard-first — Cmd+K command bar, Gmail-default shortcuts

Backend & infrastructure

44 API routes on Vercel Fluid Compute (Node.js 24 LTS) with full streaming. Background work runs on Vercel Workflow (durable WDK) and Vercel Queues.

  • Custom HMAC-SHA256 session cookie (httpOnly, 30-day)
  • Google OAuth 2.0; refresh tokens AES-256-GCM at rest
  • Cron endpoints: sync, unsnooze, watch-renew, send-scheduled
  • Google Cloud Pub/Sub push notifications for real-time inbox updates
  • Stripe Checkout + Customer Portal; Resend transactional email
  • Sentry + Vercel Analytics + Speed Insights

AI architecture

All AI calls route through the Vercel AI Gateway, with tiered Claude routing: Haiku 4.5 for high-volume triage badges, Sonnet 4.6 for thread summaries and chat, Opus 4.6 for complex draft generation. Embeddings via OpenAI text-embedding-3-small (1536 dims) through the same gateway.

  • Per-account voice profiles extracted from sent mail
  • AI memoization layer in Upstash Redis for cost control
  • Tool-use round limit + cost ceiling per request
  • Standing Rules evaluator with audit trail

Database (10 tables)

Neon Postgres via Vercel Marketplace, with pgvector (1536-dim) and pg_trgm extensions enabled. Drizzle ORM 0.45 for type-safe access.

  • users, accounts (multi-account per user), labels
  • threads, messages — full Gmail mirror with sync state
  • embeddings — pgvector HNSW index per account
  • standingRules, scheduledSends, syncState, auditLog
Key features

Twelve feature pillars.

Gmail Feature Parity

Full threading, labels (creation, nesting, colors), Gmail categories, filters, drafts, scheduled send, snooze, stars, attachments, and Gmail-default keyboard shortcuts.

Identity-Sacred Design

Color bars, per-account avatars, and identity dots make it impossible to send from the wrong account. Per-account signatures and voice profiles.

AI Triage Badges

Every message row carries a Haiku-backed badge: Needs reply / Waiting for response / Just FYI. Cached aggressively to keep cost low and UX instant.

AI Draft Generation

Compose in your account-specific voice with tone controls (formal, casual, concise, warm). Power plan: 50 drafts/month per user.

Akiko AI Chat (⌘K)

A conversational command bar that searches your full corpus across accounts and answers questions — "show me every contract we signed in Q1 from Acme."

Standing Rules

Natural-language automations the AI evaluates and executes per autonomy level. Safe rules preview, Balanced auto-applies low-stakes, Full Throttle runs everything.

Hybrid Search

Postgres full-text + pgvector semantic, blended results. Sub-second across all connected accounts at once.

Real-Time Sync

Google Cloud Pub/Sub push notifications keep every connected inbox live without polling. Watch tokens auto-renew daily at 03:00 UTC.

Token Encryption at Rest

Every Gmail refresh token is encrypted with AES-256-GCM before it touches the database. The plaintext key never leaves Vercel Functions memory.

Autonomy Dial

Global trust control — Safe (AI suggests, you approve), Balanced (low-stakes auto), Full Throttle (run everything). Every agent action logged and revertable.

Vercel Workflow Pipelines

Durable, multi-step jobs for inbox sync, embedding generation, and rule execution. Crash-safe, retryable, observable.

Power-User Tooling

Dark-mode default, three theme palettes, density modes, keyboard-first ergonomics, and Gmail-compatible shortcuts that respect muscle memory.

Plans & pricing

Three tiers, no surprises.

14-day no-credit-card trial on Pro and Power. Stripe Checkout + Customer Portal for self-serve plan changes and cancellation.

Starter

Free

2 accounts

  • Basic compose, labels, filters
  • Spatial layouts
  • Gmail parity
  • No AI features

Pro

$9/mo

8 accounts

  • AI triage + summaries
  • Smart signatures
  • Snooze + scheduled send
  • 14-day free trial

Power

$19/mo

Unlimited accounts

  • Everything in Pro
  • AI draft generation (50/mo)
  • Akiko AI chat
  • Priority processing + early access
Built with

Technology stack.

Next.js 16React 19TypeScriptTailwind 4Vercel AI GatewayAnthropic ClaudeDrizzle ORMNeon PostgrespgvectorUpstash RedisVercel WorkflowVercel QueuesStripeResendGoogle OAuth
Private beta

Want early access?

Akiko is in private beta. Request access to try the spatial multi-account cockpit, or contact us if you'd like a similar agentic AI product built for your team.