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

# Email

> Enable and configure the Email channel so your Brain Studio agent handles the messages arriving at your support mailbox.

## Introduction

The **Email** channel turns the messages arriving at a support mailbox into tickets your Brain Studio agent can read and reply to. Each conversation is handled as a ticket with a number, an assigned team and a status, just like every other support channel.

Unlike the other channels, mail doesn't arrive directly: your existing mailbox forwards the messages to an address Jelou provisions when the channel is created. Your customers keep writing to the address they already know.

<Note>
  The channel uses **Postmark** as its mail provider. Jelou provisions the server automatically when the channel is created, so you don't need your own Postmark account or any external credentials.
</Note>

## Prerequisites

Before enabling the channel, make sure you have:

* A support **mailbox** you can configure to forward messages (for example `support@yourcompany.com`)
* A **Brain Studio project** to hold the channel's flows
* A **support team** created in Jelou to assign the tickets to

And, depending on how replies should be sent:

* **With your own domain**: access to the domain's DNS panel, to add the DKIM and Return-Path records
* **Without your own domain**: access to the mailbox replies will be sent from, to confirm the verification link Postmark sends

<Warning>
  Inbound mail is only processed if your mailbox forwards the messages to the address Jelou provides. Without that forwarding the channel is created but receives nothing.
</Warning>

## Enable the channel

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Channels section">
    In the side panel go to **Channels** and choose **Add channel**. Select **Email** from the list of available channels.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name the channel and pick the project">
    Type the name you'll identify the channel by, then select the Brain Studio project and the agent that will handle the mail.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter the support address and the team">
    Type the email address the channel will handle and choose the support team the tickets will be assigned to.

    <Note>
      Enter the address in lowercase and without spaces. This is the address the channel recognizes as its own when opening tickets.
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="State whether you'll use your own domain">
    Check the box if replies must be sent from your domain. If you leave it unchecked, Jelou verifies that single address and you don't need to touch DNS.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create and connect the channel">
    On confirmation, Jelou provisions the Postmark server, creates the bot and generates the two flows the channel needs to work: one for inbound mail and one for ticket closing.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Authorize sending">
    Depending on what you chose in step 4:

    * **With your own domain**: the modal shows the **DKIM** and **Return-Path** records your DNS team must add. See [Authorize sending from your domain](/en/guides/activacion-canales/email-dns).
    * **Without your own domain**: Postmark sends a confirmation message to the address you entered. See [Verify an address without touching DNS](/en/guides/activacion-canales/email-verificacion).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set up forwarding from your mailbox">
    Copy the inbound address shown on the channel and configure your mailbox to forward messages to it. See [Email forwarding](/en/guides/activacion-canales/email-reenvio).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Build the logic in Brain Studio">
    Open the project and edit the generated flows to define how the agent replies and what happens when a ticket is closed.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Channel properties

Once the channel is created, its properties show:

| Field                 | Description                                                                         |
| --------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Support address**   | The address the channel recognizes as its own                                       |
| **Inbound address**   | The address Jelou provisions and you must forward mail to, with a button to copy it |
| **Support teams**     | The teams tickets are assigned to                                                   |
| **Signature**         | Whether replies are signed with the team's name or the operator's                   |
| **Ticket expiration** | The hours of inactivity after which the ticket closes automatically                 |
| **Blocked addresses** | The addresses whose mail the channel discards                                       |

<Note>
  Teams, signature, expiration and the blocked list can be edited later from the channel view, without recreating it. See [Manage the Email channel](/en/guides/activacion-canales/email-administracion).
</Note>

## Supported content

The Email channel supports a very narrow subset of the blocks available on WhatsApp, because a mail reply is text and images, not an interface with controls.

| Block        | Available | Limit                           |
| ------------ | --------- | ------------------------------- |
| Text         | Yes       | Sent as the message body        |
| Image        | Yes       | Sent as an attachment           |
| HTML content | Yes       | To format the body of the reply |

The channel also receives:

* **Customer attachments**: the agent sees them as part of the mail context
* **Message body**: the agent receives the subject and the full text, not just the subject

## Deliverability and free-mail domains

Jelou being able to send from an address doesn't guarantee the mail reaches the inbox. These are two different things: **authorization** enables sending, **deliverability** depends on the mail being signed with your domain.

### Why it matters

When Jelou sends on your behalf, the mail carries a DKIM signature. If you added your domain's records, that signature says your domain and matches the sender: the recipient trusts it. If you didn't, the signature says Postmark's domain while the sender says yours, and that mismatch is what spam filters evaluate.

### Free-mail addresses

If the sending address sits on a free-mail domain, **there is no way to fix it**: you cannot publish DNS records on a domain that isn't yours.

Affected domains:

* `gmail.com`, `googlemail.com`
* `hotmail.com`, `hotmail.es`, `outlook.com`, `outlook.es`, `live.com`, `msn.com`
* `yahoo.com`, `yahoo.es`
* `yandex.com`, `zoho.com`

<Warning>
  With a free-mail address as the sender, the signature will never match the sender's domain. Each recipient decides what to do with that mail: some deliver it, some send it to spam and some reject it. **The result is inconsistent, not always a failure**, which makes the problem hard to diagnose: it works with some customers and not with others.
</Warning>

<Note>
  This affects **sending** only. Receiving mail from free-mail addresses works normally: anyone can write to you from Gmail and the channel opens its ticket.
</Note>

### Recommendation

| Situation                                      | What to do                                                                                                                 |
| ---------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| You have your own domain and DNS access        | [Authorize the domain](/en/guides/activacion-canales/email-dns). It's the path with the best delivery                      |
| You have your own domain but no DNS access yet | [Verify the address](/en/guides/activacion-canales/email-verificacion) to get started, and move to the domain when you can |
| You only have a free-mail address              | Get an address on a domain of your own before publishing the channel. No configuration solves this                         |

## Channel limitations

In the builder, several nodes and tools aren't available on the **Email** channel because mail has no way to represent them: there are no buttons, no bubbles, no interactive session.

### Unavailable nodes and blocks

* HSM template
* WhatsApp Flows
* Buttons
* List
* Numbered list
* Quick replies
* CTA URL
* Carousel
* Video
* Audio
* Document and File
* Sticker
* Location
* Contact
* Contact info request
* Webview

### Unavailable AI Agent tools

* Call to action (`send_call_to_action`)
* Transfer to agent (`transfer_to_agent`)
* Jelou Shop

### Unavailable AI Agent options

* **Message splitting**: on the other channels a long reply is split into several bubbles. Over mail each bubble would be a separate message, so the option isn't shown.

<Warning>
  The agent's replies are sent as a single message. If your flow is designed around several consecutive bubbles, review it before connecting the channel.
</Warning>

## Next steps

Once the channel is connected:

1. Send a test message to your support mailbox and confirm a ticket opens
2. Check the execution logs in Brain Studio to verify the flow runs
3. Confirm the reply reaches the original sender and not the inbound address
4. Adjust the flow with the blocks the channel supports

<Tip>
  Test with an address outside your organization, not another mailbox on the same domain. That way you verify the full path: forwarding, ticket creation, agent reply and delivery to the customer.
</Tip>