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Email assistant IMAP and SMTP setup

Written by , Founder, AskVault · Reviewed by Aashiq
Last updated: · 5 min read

What the email assistant does

Three patterns:

  1. Auto-reply to common questions. Customer emails support@yoursite.co. Bot reads, drafts reply citing knowledge base, sends within 60 seconds.
  2. Triage and route. Bot classifies inbound emails (refund, technical issue, sales), applies tags, routes to the right team queue.
  3. Augment agents. Bot drafts replies; humans review and click Send. Cuts response time without losing oversight.

Mode picked under Deploy Hub > Email > Mode: auto-reply, draft-only, or hybrid.

Three connection methods

By ease of setup:

Method 1: OAuth (recommended for Gmail and Microsoft 365).

  • Click "Connect Gmail" or "Connect Outlook" in the dashboard.
  • Sign in with the support inbox's account.
  • Approve the read+send scope.
  • Done. AskVault polls and sends via the OAuth token, auto-refreshing.

Setup time: about 5 minutes. Works for the majority of teams.

Method 2: App password (for Gmail with legacy clients or shared inboxes).

  • Enable 2-Step Verification on the Google account.
  • Generate an app password under myaccount.google.com/apppasswords.
  • Paste into AskVault as IMAP and SMTP credentials.

Setup time: about 10 minutes.

Method 3: Generic IMAP/SMTP (any provider).

  • Enter IMAP server, port, username, password.
  • Enter SMTP server, port, username, password.
  • AskVault tests both, then activates.

Works for Zoho, FastMail, ProtonMail Bridge, custom mail servers. Setup time: about 15 minutes.

OAuth setup (Gmail)

About 5 minutes:

  1. Open Deploy Hub > Email > Connect Gmail.
  2. Click "Sign in with Google". Pick the support inbox account.
  3. Approve scopes:
    • Read messages from your Gmail account (IMAP).
    • Send mail on your behalf (SMTP).
    • Manage drafts and labels.
  4. Pick the support folder AskVault should monitor (default: INBOX).
  5. Pick the label to apply to bot-handled emails (e.g., "AskVault Handled").
  6. Save.

AskVault starts polling within 60 seconds.

OAuth setup (Microsoft 365 / Outlook)

About 5 minutes:

  1. Open Deploy Hub > Email > Connect Outlook.
  2. Sign in with Microsoft. Pick the support mailbox.
  3. Approve scopes: read, send, manage folders.
  4. Pick the inbox folder.
  5. Save.

For Microsoft 365 with strict tenant policies, your IT admin may need to approve the AskVault app first.

App password setup (Gmail)

For Gmail accounts without OAuth (legacy 2-Step Verification setups):

  1. Enable 2-Step Verification on the Gmail account (myaccount.google.com).
  2. Visit myaccount.google.com/apppasswords.
  3. Select app: Mail. Select device: Other. Name it "AskVault".
  4. Click Generate. Copy the 16-character password.
  5. In AskVault, paste into both IMAP password and SMTP password fields.
  6. Save.

App passwords bypass 2-Step Verification for the specific app while keeping interactive logins protected.

Generic IMAP/SMTP setup

For other providers:

  1. Find your IMAP and SMTP settings from your provider's docs:
    • IMAP is for reading (e.g., imap.zoho.com:993).
    • SMTP is for sending (e.g., smtp.zoho.com:465).
  2. Open Deploy Hub > Email > Connect via IMAP.
  3. Enter:
    • IMAP server, port, username, password.
    • SMTP server, port, username, password.
  4. Click "Test Connection". AskVault tries both within 30 seconds.
  5. Pick the inbox folder.
  6. Save.

Test by sending an email to the connected inbox; bot should reply within 60 seconds.

Polling vs IMAP IDLE

How AskVault knows new email arrived:

  • Polling (default). AskVault checks the inbox every 60 seconds for new messages. Works for all providers.
  • IMAP IDLE. Real-time push notifications from the IMAP server. Lower latency (under 5 seconds) but supported only by some servers.

Toggle under Deploy Hub > Email > Advanced. Most teams stay on polling; IDLE is a power-user option.

Bot response timing

After an email arrives:

  • Polling cycle. Up to 60 seconds.
  • Question parsing. About 2 seconds.
  • RAG retrieval and generation. About 2 to 3 seconds.
  • Send via SMTP. About 5 seconds.

Total: typically under 90 seconds from receipt to reply.

For draft-only mode, the reply lands as a Gmail/Outlook draft within the same window. Human reviews and clicks Send.

Sender identity

By default, the bot sends from the connected mailbox address. To differentiate human vs bot replies:

  • Add a footer like "Sent by your AI assistant. Reply for human help." (configurable).
  • Use a bot-specific signature.
  • Set the From name to something like "Acme Support Bot" while keeping the address as support@yoursite.co.

Configure under Deploy Hub > Email > Sender Identity.

Threading and reply chains

The bot replies to the original message, preserving threading:

  • In-Reply-To and References headers set correctly.
  • Subject line prefixed with Re:.
  • Original message quoted below the bot reply (optional, configurable).

Email clients (Gmail, Outlook) display the reply in the same thread.

Spam and bounce handling

AskVault auto-filters:

  • Spam-flagged messages. Skipped (using your mail provider's spam labels).
  • Auto-responders. Skipped (detected via Auto-Submitted and Precedence headers).
  • Bounce messages. Skipped and logged.
  • Internal forwards. Detected and skipped (no bot reply on internal forwards).

Adjust under Deploy Hub > Email > Filters.

Routing rules

Send some emails to humans, others to the bot:

  1. Tag-based routing. Emails with subject containing "URGENT" route to a human queue, never bot.
  2. Sender-based routing. Emails from VIP customers route to a senior agent queue.
  3. Content-based routing. Emails mentioning "refund" trigger a draft for a billing agent to review.

Configure under Dashboard > Automation Rules.

Audit and compliance

Every email-bot interaction logs:

  • Inbound message ID and sender.
  • Bot-drafted reply (or sent message).
  • Sent timestamp.
  • Conversation ID linking to the broader AskVault conversation.

Useful for:

  • Audit: prove the bot didn't promise something it shouldn't.
  • Quality: review bot responses periodically for tone or accuracy issues.
  • Compliance: GDPR data deletion removes both AskVault-side records and (where possible) mailbox-side messages.

Planned features (on the roadmap)

Documented for accuracy:

  • Microsoft Exchange on-premises support. Today, OAuth or generic IMAP. Native EWS support planned.
  • Email categorization model. Today, basic LLM classification. Domain-tuned classifier (refund vs technical vs sales) planned.
  • Attachment handling improvements. Today, attachments are forwarded but not analyzed. Inline PDF analysis planned for the email channel.

Limits

  • Connected mailboxes per workspace. 5 on Growth, 25 on Business, unlimited Enterprise.
  • Polling cycle. As fast as every 60 seconds.
  • Reply time. Typically under 90 seconds.
  • Reply length. Up to 4,000 characters by default.

Common pitfalls

Bot doesn't pick up new emails. IMAP credentials invalid or 2FA blocking. Use app password (Gmail) or OAuth.

Reply lands in spam. Sender reputation issue or SPF/DKIM not configured on your domain. Configure SPF/DKIM/DMARC for the support inbox domain.

Threading broken. Some IMAP servers don't preserve Message-ID. Switch to OAuth which handles this cleanly.

Bot replies to internal forwards. Filter not catching forwards from your domain. Add explicit exclusion rules under Email > Filters.

Polling stops after a week. Token expired (some providers). Re-authorize OAuth, or update the app password.

FAQ

Does this work with Microsoft Exchange on-premises?

Today, no native support. Use generic IMAP/SMTP if your Exchange exposes those protocols. Native EWS support planned.

Can I have multiple support inboxes for one workspace?

Yes. Up to 5 on Growth, 25 on Business. Each maps to a separate channel within the workspace.

What happens to attachments?

Inbound attachments are forwarded to the conversation. Bot replies don't include attachments by default; configure under Email > Attachments to include relevant docs from your knowledge base.

Does the bot understand HTML emails?

Yes. AskVault strips HTML to plain text for processing, then sends HTML-formatted replies.

Can I draft-only mode for sensitive cases, auto-send for routine?

Yes. Per-conversation override via tags. Configure routing rules under Automation Rules.

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