Why forwarding is enough
Nova has a personal inbound address for your account. Anything you forward to it becomes a signal — the same signal Nova would receive from a full Gmail or Outlook connection. From that signal, Nova drafts a card. From that card, you approve or dismiss.
This isn't a lite version. The exact same catch-draft-approve loop runs. The difference is only in what Nova sees: forwarded email is a stream you curate, a full connection is a stream Nova can filter itself.
How to set it up (2 minutes)
- Sign in to Nova. Open the Connections page.
- Copy your personal inbound address (it looks like a short random label at heynova.tech).
- In Gmail: Settings → Filters and Blocked Addresses → Create a new filter → Forward to that address. In Outlook: Rules → Add a rule → Redirect messages.
- Forward one real email. Within a few minutes, a Nova card shows the draft.
What to forward first
The best first forward is something you always mean to do and often forget: a supplier chasing a payment, a customer asking a question, a subscription about to renew. That's when the value of the loop is obvious — Nova drafts the reply or the cancellation, you tap approve.
When to upgrade the connection
When forwarding feels like friction — i.e. when Nova is drafting well enough that you want it to see everything without you routing individual emails. That's the moment to add a full Gmail or Outlook connection. Not before.
The point
You can try the whole idea of Nova — the surface, the approval, the memory — with zero new credentials and a rule you set once. If it doesn't earn its place in your day, you delete the forwarding rule and Nova stops seeing anything. No lock-in, no leftover access.