Email inbox

The email inbox channel turns your support email into a chat surface. Incoming emails become conversations; the bot replies (or hands off to an agent), and every thread is visible in the agent dashboard.

In this guide:

• Connect an inbox
• Configure forwarding (Gmail, Outlook, custom)
• How the bot replies
• Multiple inboxes
• Disconnect

Step 1: Connect an inbox

In the left sidebar, go to Settings → Email inbox (or Inboxes, depending on your plan).

Click Add inbox. You’ll get two options:

• Generate a Hilal forwarding address — easiest. Hilal Chatbot gives you inbox-xyz@hilal.email. Set up forwarding from your real address to this one.
• Connect IMAP/SMTP — for direct mailbox access. Provide host, port, username, password (app password recommended). The bot fetches new emails and sends replies through your real mail server.

For most users, forwarding is simpler. Use IMAP/SMTP only if your mail provider doesn’t support forwarding or you need replies to come from the real address verbatim.

Screenshot: The “Add inbox” form with forwarding/IMAP options.

Step 2: Configure forwarding (Gmail)

If you went the forwarding route, configure your real inbox to forward incoming mail to Hilal’s address:

1. In Gmail, go to Settings → Forwarding and POP/IMAP → Add a forwarding address.
2. Paste the Hilal forwarding address.
3. Gmail emails a confirmation code to that address; copy it from the Hilal Chatbot inbox view and paste in Gmail.
4. Activate forwarding for new mail.

Optional: filter so only certain emails forward (e.g., emails to support@yourcompany.com only).

Step 3: Configure forwarding (Outlook)

In Outlook on the web:

1. Settings → Mail → Forwarding → enable forwarding to the Hilal address.
2. Optionally, Keep a copy of forwarded messages.

For Outlook desktop, use Rules → Forward to with the same target.

Step 4: How the bot replies

When a new email arrives at the connected inbox:

1. Hilal Chatbot creates a conversation with the email’s From as the contact.
2. The bot generates a reply using the chatbot’s knowledge and behavior, formatted as an email (subject, body, signature).
3. If using IMAP/SMTP: reply is sent through your real mail server — recipients see your real address.
4. If using forwarding: reply comes from the Hilal forwarding address. To make replies appear from your real address, set up “send as” in Gmail / Outlook.
5. Threading: Hilal Chatbot uses standard email headers to keep follow-up replies on the same thread.

Multiple inboxes

You can connect multiple inboxes per organization — support@, sales@, billing@ — and route each to a different chatbot (or all to the same one).

In Settings → Email inbox, add each inbox separately. In each inbox row, pick which chatbot handles it.

Step 5: Disconnect

In Settings → Email inbox, click the trash icon on the inbox row. Forwarding still continues to send mail to Hilal until you disable it on your real provider — turn that off too.

Tips

• Use a separate inbox for the bot. Don’t connect your personal email; create a dedicated address (bot@yourcompany.com) and forward selected mail to it.
• Set a clear signature. The bot’s reply includes a signature you configure — make sure it identifies the bot (“Replied by Acme Bot. Hit reply to talk to a human.”) so customers know what’s happening.
• Use auto-escalation rules. When customers reply with “wait, I want a human” the bot escalates — see Behavior.

Troubleshooting

• Forwarding confirmation code never arrives. Check spam in the Hilal inbox view. If still missing, make sure forwarding was actually configured — Gmail won’t send the code until forwarding is set up.
• Bot replies but recipients don’t see them. SMTP may be misconfigured (wrong port, wrong auth). Test with a small reply first.
• Threads broken. Reply headers may have been stripped by the receiving server. This is mostly cosmetic — content still arrives.

What’s next