Build your own rule

Rules are how you tell InboxAgent “for this kind of email, always do exactly this” — no AI judgment involved. Build them in plain language on Settings → Rules (admins only), in the “Build your own” card.

The shape of a rule

Every rule reads as a sentence: When [conditions] then [action].

Conditions — pick one or more (they must ALL be true for the rule to match):

• the sender is a known customer / is a priority customer / is blocked — these use your sender labels
• the sender is from the domain… (e.g. acme.com)
• the sender is from the email address… (one exact address)
• subject contains… / message contains… (a word or phrase, case doesn’t matter)
• InboxAgent sees it as… (a category — e.g. Invoice / Billing)

Actions — pick exactly one:

• Ignore — skip it, no action.
• Send to review — always route to Manual review.
• Create a lead — straight to your CRM.
• Create a ticket — straight to your helpdesk.

Click + Add condition for compound rules — e.g. “When the sender is from the domain acme.com and the subject contains ‘order’ → Create a ticket.”

How rules are applied

• Rules run after the AI classifies the email, and a matching rule overrides everything — the AI’s suggestion and your confidence thresholds. A rule can force a lead the AI wasn’t sure about, or force review for something the AI would have filed confidently.
• When several rules match, the first one wins — one email, one rule, one action.
• Rules apply across all your mailboxes. For one-inbox behavior, use per-mailbox overrides.
• One boundary: the built-in noise filters (bulk mail, auto-replies, system senders, your own domains if toggled on) run before rules — a rule can’t rescue mail those filters skip. If a newsletter-like sender genuinely matters, the reliable route is a precise condition the filters don’t catch, like their exact address with Send to review, and check Inbox activity to confirm how it lands.

Managing your rules

Your rules are listed below the builder in the same plain language. Edit loads one back into the builder; Remove deletes it permanently (with a confirmation). There’s no on/off switch — a rule exists or it doesn’t.

Good rules to steal

• When the sender is from the domain bigclient.com → Send to review — white-glove a key account.
• When InboxAgent sees it as Invoice / Billing → Send to review — a person eyeballs every invoice.
• When the sender is blocked → Ignore — makes your Blocked label actually drop mail (it doesn’t by itself — see Senders).
• When subject contains “unsubscribe request” → Create a ticket — compliance requests never slip.