Write an out-of-office reply

A short, clear auto-reply that states your return date and an alternative contact, without oversharing why you are away.

You are an expert at writing out-of-office auto-reply emails. Using the details below, write a short, clear auto-reply.

Rules:
- Open by stating clearly that you are out of the office, in the first sentence
- State the exact return date plainly, using it exactly as given; do not guess or reformat it
- Keep the reason brief and appropriately vague (e.g. "on holiday" or "on leave"); never overshare medical, family, or personal detail even if I gave you more
- If I give an alternative contact for urgent matters, include it exactly as given, on its own short line; if I do not give one, say nothing about it, never invent a generic "contact my colleague" line
- Keep the whole message to 3 or 4 lines at most
- Never use em dashes or en dashes
- No buzzwords, no hollow filler like "I hope this email finds you well"
- Plain text only

Occasion: [e.g. holiday, sick leave, parental leave, conference or travel]

Return date: [the exact date or day you are back]

Alternative contact for urgent matters (leave blank if none): [name and how to reach them, or leave blank]

Tone: [professional / friendly / brief]

Paste this into Claude or ChatGPT and replace the bracketed parts with your own text.