Email (Beta) #

Turn your email inbox into an AI-answered channel. Connect the mailbox you already use for support — Gmail, Outlook/Microsoft 365, or any custom IMAP mailbox — and an AI Agent reads new emails and replies automatically, right from your own address. Prefer zero setup? You can also get a ready-made address instead.

Beta. The Email channel is now available to everyone, but it’s still new — expect the occasional rough edge while we refine it. If something doesn’t work as described, let support know.

What Is the Email Channel? #

The Email channel watches an inbox for new messages. When someone emails you, the message shows up in Chats like any other conversation, and your AI Agent replies by email automatically. Replies are threaded under the original email, so the back-and-forth stays in one tidy thread for your customer.

There are two ways to connect:

1. Connect your own mailbox (recommended). Use the address your customers already write to — support@yourcompany.com, your Gmail, your Outlook. Replies come from your real address.
2. Use a managed address. Get an instant address on our managed mail domain — shown during setup — with no setup on your side at all.

Connecting Email #

1. In the left sidebar, click Settings near the bottom.
2. In the Settings left rail, under Channels, click Channels.
3. Find the Email card and click Connect.
4. On the Connect Email screen, choose how you want to connect: Gmail, Outlook, Custom IMAP/SMTP, or Use a managed address.

Option A: Gmail or Outlook #

There is no “Sign in with Google” or “Sign in with Microsoft” button. Gmail and Outlook are connected with an app password, not a provider sign-in window. Picking Gmail or Outlook simply pre-fills the server settings for you.

Gmail connects with a Google app password. Pick Gmail and the credentials form opens with the Gmail server settings already filled in — you only enter your address and the app password:

1. In your Google Account, turn on 2-Step Verification (under Security) if you haven’t already.
2. Still under Security, open App passwords and create one (any name works).
3. Paste the 16-character password into the Password field — not your normal Gmail password.

Also make sure IMAP is enabled in your Gmail settings. This works for personal Gmail and Google Workspace addresses alike, and you can revoke the app password anytime from your Google Account without touching your real password.

Why an app password? Google no longer lets mail apps sign in with your normal password. An app password is the method Google provides instead: a one-use password generated just for this connection, safer than your real one and revocable on its own.

Outlook works the same way for now: pick Outlook and use an app password in the form that opens (create one in your Microsoft Account security settings). Many work accounts (Microsoft 365) block app passwords — if the form is rejected, ask your IT admin to enable IMAP/SMTP for your account.

Option B: Custom IMAP/SMTP (any provider) #

Choose Custom IMAP/SMTP and enter:

1. Email address — the mailbox you want to connect (e.g. support@yourcompany.com).
2. Password — your mailbox password, or an app password if your provider requires one.
3. Sender name (optional) — the “From” name customers see on replies.
4. Username (optional) — only if it differs from your email address.

Most well-known providers fill the server settings for you. For anything else, open Advanced (server settings) and enter your IMAP host/port (usually 993) and SMTP host/port. For the SMTP port, use 587. Your email provider’s help pages list the host names.

If your provider says to use SMTP port 465, use 587 instead. They’re two ways of doing the same thing, and 587 is the one that works with the platform. Rackspace, Gmail, Yahoo, Fastmail and most others all support 587. IMAP stays on 993.

Click Connect mailbox. We test both receiving (IMAP) and sending (SMTP) before saving — if something’s wrong you’ll get a clear message right away.

Option C: Use a Managed Address #

No mailbox to connect — pick an address on our mail domain and you’re live.

1. On the connect screen, choose the managed-address option.
2. Type the inbox address you want (the part before the @). Use 3–30 letters, numbers, dots, underscores, or hyphens — for example support, hello, or yourbrand.
3. Optionally set a Sender name.
4. Click Connect.
5. Copy the full address that appears — your chosen name on the managed mail domain shown in the form.
6. Share that address with your leads.

Adding a Signature (Optional) #

You can add a sign-off that gets added to the end of every email this inbox sends — the AI’s replies and the ones you type yourself in Chats.

1. Go to Settings → Channels → Channels and click Manage on the Email card (if you just connected, you’re already on this screen).
2. Type your sign-off in Signature (optional) — for example your name, role and company.
3. Click Save signature.

A few things worth knowing:

• It’s optional. Leave the box empty and emails go out exactly as before. To remove a signature later, clear the box and save again.
• It’s added when the email is sent, so you won’t see it repeated on every message in the Chats conversation — and your AI Agent doesn’t read it back as part of the conversation.
• It goes at the very bottom, after the message and after any link the bot shares.
• Plain text only, up to 2000 characters. Line breaks are kept exactly as you type them.
• It’s per inbox. If you connect more than one mailbox, each has its own signature.

Setting Up an AI Agent for Email #

1. In the left sidebar, under AI STUDIO, click AI Agents.
2. Create a new Agent, or open an existing one.
3. Assign the Agent to Email as an Entry Point — that is what routes new email conversations to it.
4. New people who email your inbox are routed into that Agent’s conversations, or your default incoming flow if one is set — see AI Agents and Moving from Campaigns to Broadcasts & Agents.

Test the Bot #

1. From any other email account, send a message to your connected mailbox.
2. Open the app and go to Chats — the email appears as a new conversation.
3. If the AI is enabled on the right Agent, you’ll see it reply by email automatically, in the same thread.

How Fast Are Replies? #

Email isn’t instant messaging, and we don’t keep a constant live connection to your mailbox. Instead we check for new mail every couple of minutes. So a reply typically goes out within a minute or two of an email arriving — normal for email, and nothing your customers will notice.

Cost #

Email is a free channel — no per-message charge and no monthly connection fee. Normal AI credit usage for generating replies still applies, exactly like every other channel.

Media Messages #

The bot reads the text of incoming emails. Attachments (images, PDFs, etc.) aren’t downloaded into the conversation in this version. Outbound replies are plain text (a link is included if the bot needs to share a file). HTML-only or attachment-only emails with no readable text are skipped.

Connection Status & Disconnecting #

Your Email connection status is shown on the Email card:

If your mailbox stops working, it usually means your password/app password changed or access was revoked — just reconnect with fresh credentials.

To disconnect: go to Settings → Channels → Channels, find the Email card, and click Disconnect. We stop checking the mailbox and delete the stored credentials.

Limitations #

• Text replies. The AI replies in plain text; attachments are shared as links rather than file uploads.
• One conversation per sender. Each person who emails you becomes a single contact, keyed by their email address.
• One owner per mailbox. A given mailbox can only be connected to one account at a time.
• Automated mail is ignored. Bounce notices, auto-responders, and mail from your own connected addresses are filtered out to prevent reply loops.
• We read new mail only. When you first connect, your existing backlog is left alone — only emails that arrive after connecting are answered.
• Replies go out from the mailbox you connected, not from an alias. If your Gmail account has “Send mail as” aliases set up, they are not available here: the From address is always the connected mailbox’s own address. You can change the display name shown next to it, but not the address. To reply from a different address, connect that mailbox as its own channel.
• No automatic transcript email. There is no setting that emails a copy of a conversation to you or to the contact when a chat ends. If you need conversations outside the app, export them or pull them through the API — see Exporting Your Contacts and API Access.

Troubleshooting #

“Could not connect to the IMAP/SMTP server” #

• Double-check the email address and password. If your provider requires an app password (Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, many others), create one and paste that instead of your normal password.
• Make sure IMAP is enabled in your mailbox settings (Gmail and some providers have it off by default).
• For a custom provider, re-check the host and port under Advanced — IMAP is usually 993, and for SMTP use 587 (if your provider lists 465, use 587 instead — it’s the one that works here).

Outlook / Microsoft 365 won’t connect with a password #

Many Microsoft 365 accounts block password-based IMAP/SMTP. There is no “Sign in with Microsoft” option here — email connects with an app password only — so ask your IT admin to allow IMAP and SMTP for your account (and to allow app passwords), or connect a different mailbox.

“That address is already taken” (managed address) #

Someone (possibly you, on another connection) already uses that address. Pick a different one — addresses are unique across the whole platform.

Bot Not Replying to an Email #

• Confirm the Email channel is enabled on an Agent (or set as your default incoming flow).
• Confirm the AI is active for that Agent.
• Remember replies go out on a ~2-minute check cycle — give it a minute.
• Check that the sender isn’t an automated address (bounces and auto-responders are filtered out on purpose).

“Couldn’t send your message. Please try again.” #

Typing a reply yourself in Chats on an email conversation used to fail with this message, no matter how many times you retried. That’s fixed — open the conversation and send as normal. If you still see it, check that your mailbox isn’t showing an error on the Channels page.

Customer Didn’t Receive the Reply #

• Ask the customer to check their spam folder and to allow your address.
• If your mailbox shows an error on the Channels page, reconnect it — sending may have stopped because the credentials expired.

Best Practices #

• Connect the mailbox customers already use so replies come from a familiar address they trust.
• Use an app password where your provider offers one — it’s safer than your main password and easy to revoke.
• Set a Sender name so replies show a friendly “From” name.
• Add a signature so every reply closes with your name and company, the way your customers expect email to look.
• Enable Email on the right Agent so incoming mail is answered with the correct instructions.