> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.settermaxer.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Email inbox

> Forward lead emails from your CRM or web forms to your agent, and the AI turns each one into a lead.

> [!NOTE]
>
> The email inbox is available on the **Standard** and **Pro** plans. Only **agent admins** can set
> it up and change it; everyone with access to the agent can see what arrived.

## Overview

Many lead sources only send an email: a CRM notification, a contact form, a lead portal. The email
inbox gives each agent its own address. Forward those emails to it, and SetterMaxer reads each one
with AI, creates the lead (or updates it, if the person is already known) and can message them on
WhatsApp right away through Automatic Contact.

An address looks like `acme.sales-agent.k7x2m9@settermaxer-mail.com`. The random ending keeps it
private: anyone who knows the address can send leads to your agent.

## Set it up

**1. Create the inbox**

Open your agent's **Integrations** page, choose **Email inbox** under Automations and click
**Create address**. Copy the address.

**2. Forward to it from Gmail**

In Gmail, open **Settings → See all settings → Forwarding and POP/IMAP**, click **Add a
forwarding address** and paste the address. Gmail sends a confirmation code to it; the code
appears in the email inbox within a minute (and by email, if you are an agent admin). Enter it
in Gmail.

**3. Forward only lead emails**

Create a Gmail filter: **From** = the sender of your lead emails (for example
`noreply@your-crm.com`), then choose **Forward it to** the inbox address.

**4. Allow the sender**

Add that sender under **Allowed senders**, so only these emails become leads. You can allow a
whole domain by entering it without a name (`your-crm.com`).

**5. Send a test**

Under **Activity → Test email**, paste a real lead email. It runs through the same steps and
shows the lead it would create, without creating it.

> [!TIP]
>
> Forwarding by hand works too. The email then comes **from you**, so add your own address or your
> company domain to the allowed senders. Google Workspace admins can block forwarding to outside
> addresses; if Gmail refuses, ask your admin.

## What becomes a lead

Every email goes through these checks. The first one that fails **holds** the email, so you can
review it under **Activity → Held**:

| Check | Held when |
| - | - |
| Allowed senders | the list is not empty and the sender is not on it |
| AI reading | the AI does not recognise a lead (a newsletter, an invoice, …) |
| Phone number | no phone number was found; WhatsApp needs one |
| Monthly limit | your account reached its monthly limit of leads from integrations |
| Daily limit | the inbox received more than 200 emails in 24 hours |

* **The same person twice** updates the existing lead; empty values never overwrite what is there.
* **Country code.** A number without a country code gets the inbox's default country (**Phone
  numbers without country code** on the Parsing tab). Without one, the lead is still created, but
  Automatic Contact will not message it.
* **Fixed tags** set on the inbox are added to every lead it creates or updates.

A held email can be **processed again** after you change the settings, **used as an example**, or
**dismissed**.

## Teach the AI your format

The **Parsing** tab decides how an email becomes a lead:

1. **Fields to fill.** Name, phone and email by default. Add any of your lead columns, for example a
   postcode or a budget.
2. **Examples.** Save up to 5 real emails with the values you expect. The AI sees them with every
   email, which is the most reliable way to handle a fixed CRM format: which person is the lead,
   which label holds which value, how values are written ("PHILIPP" and "FEY" become "Philipp Fey").
3. **Extra rules** (optional). Plain-language rules for what examples cannot show, such as "If there
   are several phone numbers, use the mobile number" or "Emails whose subject contains Newsletter are
   not leads". A rule wins over an example.

The AI ignores email signatures and the contact details of whoever sent or forwarded the email.

## Notifications

When an email is held, or Gmail sends a forwarding code, the agent's admins get an email with a link
to the inbox. At most 5 such emails are sent per inbox per hour. Turn them off under **Account
settings → Email notifications → Email inbox: emails that need review**.

## Pause, new address, removal

* **Active switch.** A paused inbox bounces new emails, so the sender sees at once that nothing
  arrives.
* **Generate new address** replaces the random ending. The old address stops working, so update your
  Gmail filter.
* **Remove email inbox** deletes the address, settings, examples and activity. Leads it created stay.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Received emails are deleted after **30 days**, held ones included. Examples are kept until you
> remove them, because they are sent to the AI with every email.


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