Inboxes
The inboxes that receive emails, the threads and the agent that helps you reply.
What it's for
An inbox is an address that receives emails. Everything that arrives becomes a thread, which you read, organize into folders and labels, assign to a teammate and reply to, as in an email client, or receive in your system through the email.received webhook.
When to use: For customer service (support@, contact@), to receive customer replies and to automate triage with the AI agent.
#Inbox list
Where to find it: Emails › Inboxes. Address: app.postal.so/inboxes.
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| View code | The Inboxes API button gathers the calls for inboxes, threads, labels, drafts and received emails, with examples. |
| Create inbox | Opens the form below. |
| Search by name or address | Filters the list of inboxes. |
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Address | The inbox name and its address (with a Copy address button). Clicking opens the inbox. |
| Unread | How many unread threads it has. |
| Last received | How long ago the last email arrived; and, if there is automatic forwarding, Forwards to .... |
Create an inbox
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | What your team calls the inbox (for example, "Support"). The address is suggested from the name. |
| Address | Generate an address on in.postal.so creates a ready-made Postal address that only receives (no domain of your own). Or choose one of your domains (@seudominio.com.br), which must have receiving turned on in Domains › Receiving. |
| Part before the @ | What comes before the at sign (for example, suporte). Use * to receive any address on the domain (catch-all). |
Inboxes on your own domain are available on paid plans. On in.postal.so inboxes, the screen warns that, to write and reply, you need to turn on receiving through a registered domain: they only receive.
See also: Create inbox (API) · Receive emails on a domain.
#Threads, folders and labels
Where to find it: Emails › Inboxes, by clicking an inbox. Address: app.postal.so/inboxes.
Each received email lands in a thread: if it replies to an earlier message, it joins the same thread; otherwise, it opens a new one. The folder and the open thread are kept in the page address, so a link takes you to exactly the same view.
Header
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name and address | With the button to copy the address. |
| Set up | Opens the inbox settings. |
| Write | Opens the new message window. It is turned off (with a Go to Domains notice) on an inbox that only receives. |
Folders and labels (left column)
| Folder | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Inbox | New threads. The number next to it is the unread count. |
| Sent | Threads where the inbox sent a reply. |
| Drafts | Messages started and closed without sending, and drafts from the AI agent. |
| Archived | Threads you took out of the Inbox. A new message in an archived thread brings it back to the Inbox. |
| Spam | Threads marked as spam (in Spam and Trash, new messages stay where they are). |
| Trash | Threads you sent to the trash; you can restore them. Delete permanently erases them for good. |
| Tags | Colored markers for the inbox. The + opens Manage labels; clicking a label shows only its threads (click again to undo). |
The list
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Selection | The checkbox at the top selects all threads on the page; each row has its own checkbox. With threads selected, the action bar shows N selected and: Mark as read / Mark as unread, Archive, Report spam, Move to Inbox, Move to trash / Delete permanently (with confirmation), Labels (checkboxes that add or remove the label on all of them) and Assign to a teammate. |
| Search | Searches the threads in the folder. |
| Unread | The switch shows only the unread ones. |
| View | Five ways to view threads (the choice applies to the whole inbox): List (one per row, with avatar and preview), Compact (shorter rows), Board (one column per label; drag the cards between columns, shows the 100 most recent threads), Split (list on the left and the open thread beside it) and Cards (a grid). |
| Row badges | The Unread dot, the paperclip for Has attachments, Draft (you started a reply), AI (there is a draft from the agent) and Assigned to .... |
Reading and replying
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Action bar | Back to the list, Previous thread / Next thread, Labels, Move to folder, Assign to a teammate (or Unassigned) and More actions (mark as read or unread, archive, Report spam / Not spam, Translate, move to trash). |
| Messages | Each message can be collapsed; View original shows the full message. If the email carries a one-time code in the OTP-Token format, a Code card appears with its origin and a Copy code button. |
| Translate | Translates the message: Translate from (or Detect language) to the language you pick; then Show original / Show translation. It uses 1 AI credit, and without credits the screen tells you. |
| Reply | The Reply button opens a reply sent as the inbox address (Sending as ...; the domain must be verified). There is also Forward for up to 5 addresses, with the attachments. |
| Compose window | It has To (with Suggested addresses), Cc, Bcc, Subject, Message and Attach files (you can also drop files onto the window: up to 10 files, adding up to 25 MB in the dashboard; the API accepts up to 40 MB). The draft saves itself (Draft saved at ...); Minimize, Maximize and Discard sit in the corner. |
| Agent draft | When the AI agent has prepared a reply, Draft suggested by AI appears with the notice Nothing is sent until you review it and the Edit and send button. |
Keyboard shortcuts
With the cursor outside a text field: j and k move between threads; o opens the selected one; x selects or deselects; e archives; ! marks as spam; Shift + U marks as unread; # (or Backspace / Delete) sends to the trash; r replies; Esc closes the thread or clears the selection. In the Split view, j and k already open the thread beside the list.
See also: Threads (API) · Inbox webhooks · Attachments (API).
#Inbox settings
The Configure button opens a window with three tabs and, at the end of the first, the delete area.
| Tab | What it holds |
|---|---|
| General | Name; Address (copyable); Receiving address (on shared inboxes, where to forward email from any provider without pointing your domain's MX); Inbox ID; Reply as (the name the recipient sees, like "Ada from Support"); Automatically forward to (optional, up to 5 addresses; only works on an inbox of a verified domain of yours) and the Inbox view. |
| Customize | The AI agent: on and off, instructions, actions and tone of voice. |
| Tags | Creates (Add label), renames, changes the color (11 colors) and deletes labels. Deleting removes the label from all threads, which stay in the inbox. |
| Delete inbox | Permanently deletes the inbox and all of its threads (with confirmation). |
#AI agent
The AI agent reads each new email in the inbox, organizes it and prepares replies, following your instructions. It is optional and lives in Configure › Customize.
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| AI agent | The switch that turns the agent on. It needs a plan with AI credits (without them, Upgrade appears). |
| Instructions | Describe in plain text how to handle the emails: triage support requests, draft replies, label anything urgent, archive what needs no reply, move spam to the trash. |
| Improve instructions | The AI rewrites the instructions to be clearer, without inventing facts (addresses, prices and rules stay as you wrote them). Uses 1 credit; the old text comes back with Undo. |
| Available actions | Limits what the agent can do: Draft replies, Forward threads, Add labels, Assign threads to teammates, Mark as spam, Archive and Move to trash. The summary shows All actions, No actions or N actions. |
| Tone of voice | A square where you drag the dot: from Professional to Casual and from Concise to Expanded. The Preview shows an example reply in the chosen tone. |
Important
The agent only creates drafts for you to review: it never sends email by itself. Each received email uses 1 AI credit, and the agent does nothing when credits run out, on automated emails or on emails sent by the inbox itself.
See also: AI agent (API) · AI (API).