JobAppTracker

Google Apps Script job tracker that reads emails from a Gmail label, extracts job status updates with OpenAI, and syncs results into a Google Sheet.

Disclaimer

This project was built with assistance from OpenAI Codex.

What this script does

• Reads threads from the Gmail label Jobs/Inbound
• Uses the first message id as a stable dedupe key (thread_id)
• Extracts company, role_title, and status from email content using OpenAI
• Falls back to heuristic parsing if the LLM call fails
• Inserts new rows and updates existing rows in the Applications tab
• Supports status precedence to avoid overwriting some manual workflow statuses

Prerequisites

• A Google account with Gmail and Google Sheets access
• An OpenAI API key
• A Google Sheet to use as the tracker
• Google Apps Script access

1. Create the Google Sheet

1. Create a new Google Sheet.
2. Rename the tab to Applications.
3. Add this exact header row in row 1:

thread_id | company | role_title | status | applied_date | status_last_updated | Last Follow up | notes

Header names must match exactly, including capitalization and spacing.

2. Create the Gmail label

1. In Gmail, create a label named Jobs/Inbound.
2. Add job related emails to this label manually or with Gmail filters.

3. Add the script in Apps Script

1. Open the sheet.
2. Go to Extensions -> Apps Script.
3. Create or open Code.gs.
4. Paste the full script code for this project.
5. Save.

4. Set Script Properties

In Apps Script:

1. Go to Project Settings -> Script properties.
2. Add:
   • OPENAI_API_KEY = sk-...
   • OPENAI_MODEL = gpt-4.1-mini (optional, defaults to this value)

5. Run a test

1. In Apps Script, run testOneJobEmailExtraction_() once.
2. Review logs in View -> Logs to confirm extraction works.
3. Run syncJobEmails_Agentic() manually once.
4. Confirm rows appear in the Applications sheet.

6. Authorize permissions

On first run, Google will ask for permissions:

• Gmail read access
• Spreadsheet read/write access
• External request access (UrlFetchApp)
• Trigger management (if you create scheduled triggers)

Approve all required scopes.

7. Enable automatic sync

1. Run createJobSyncTrigger_10min() once to create a time based trigger.
2. The sync will run every 10 minutes.

Operational notes

• maxThreadsPerRun and llmDelayMsBetweenCalls should be tuned to your OpenAI rate limits.
• status_last_updated is used to skip threads when there is no newer message.
• thread_id stores the first message id and is the primary stable dedupe key.
• Keep manual follow up notes in Last Follow up.