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

# Email

> Work with connected organizational mailboxes, drafts, threads, and real delivery outcomes without confusing a saved message with a sent one.

Email brings an authorized organizational mailbox into KayanOS so staff can read, organize, draft, and send service correspondence in the same working context as their requests and tasks. It is not a substitute for the authoritative service record: use email to communicate, then record the decision, status, and required evidence on the related record.

In the Citizen Services Directorate scenario, a Registry Officer prepares a response about `CSR-2026-00042`. The request record remains the source for the current status and final outcome; the email thread provides the communication history and the sent message carries the same issued reference.

## Goal

Use a connected mailbox deliberately: identify the active account and permitted sender identity, work with folders and threads, prepare a complete draft, send only after review, and handle failed or partial delivery as an operational result rather than an invisible technical detail.

## Before you start

Email availability depends on organization configuration and an active mailbox account. If no account is active, KayanOS presents an account setup or management path rather than an inbox. Follow the organization-approved account setup procedure; it may use an authorized provider connection or approved manual mail settings.

If you have more than one active account, select the correct account before working. The mailbox view can also aggregate accounts where configured, but a send action must use an allowed sender identity. Do not assume that being able to read a message means you may send from every shared or group address.

| Check                           | Why it matters                                                          | Example                                                   |
| ------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| Active mailbox account          | Determines whether mail can be read or composed                         | The Citizen Services mailbox is connected and active      |
| Selected account                | Keeps the inbox and sender context clear when several accounts exist    | Choose the regional service account, not a personal queue |
| Allowed sender identity         | Prevents messages from being sent from an unapproved address            | Send as the authorized service mailbox only               |
| Recipient and service reference | Connects the message to the right person and case                       | Verify `CSR-2026-00042` before composing                  |
| Delivery result                 | Distinguishes a draft, accepted send, failed send, and partial delivery | Review the result before marking correspondence complete  |

## Read and organize service correspondence

The email workspace supports inbox-style folders, custom folders, labels, threads, search/filtering, message content, and attachments. Use those tools to find work, but do not treat a folder or label as a permission boundary or a final service status.

1. Open **Email** and confirm the selected mailbox account.
2. Choose the relevant folder or label, then use a focused search term such as the serial reference `CSR-2026-00042`.
3. Open the thread and read the full context before replying. Confirm the recipient, sender identity, requested action, and any attached evidence.
4. Open the related request or task and compare the current owner and status with the email. If the message changes the service facts, update the record through its approved workflow.
5. Apply the organization’s approved folder/label convention after the operational result is recorded. For example, a label may help a registry team find correspondence that still needs a response; it does not itself mean the request is closed.

**Expected result:** staff can find and understand a communication thread without losing the authoritative request, task, or decision context.

## Archive, snooze, restore, and conversation actions

**Archive** removes a conversation from Inbox while keeping it available in the Archive folder and search. It is different from **Trash**, which prepares mail for deletion. In Archive, use **Move to Inbox** to restore the conversation. Permanent deletion is offered only in Trash and requires confirmation.

**Snooze** temporarily removes a conversation from normal mailbox views until the selected local date and time. Choose a preset or a custom time from the row, open-message, or bulk action. Active snoozes remain available in **Snoozed**; use **Unsnooze** to return one immediately. When the time arrives, KayanOS refreshes the mailbox and the conversation becomes visible in its original folder again.

A collapsed list row represents a conversation, so its row menu and bulk actions apply to the eligible messages in that conversation. An action used on a specific opened message remains message-scoped. The row menu provides the common response, read/unread, star, important, Archive/restore, snooze, move, label, spam, and Trash actions in one consistent order.

To work with several conversations:

1. Select individual row checkboxes, or use the list checkbox to select the conversations currently loaded.
2. When more conversations match the current account, folder, search, and advanced filters, choose **Select all matching conversations**. KayanOS freezes that exact view so mail arriving afterward is not silently added.
3. Clear any conversation that should be excluded, then choose a bulk action.
4. Review the completion summary. If a provider completes only part of the request, failed conversations stay selected and **Retry failed** is available.

One synchronous action can include at most 500 conversations or 2,000 underlying messages. Narrow the search or filters when the selection is larger. Mailbox provider actions happen remotely first; KayanOS updates its local view only for confirmed remote successes. Snooze timing is KayanOS scheduling state and does not move the message at the connected provider.

## Review tasks connected to an email

When email analysis finds a clear action item, KayanOS creates a task suggestion automatically. The original message is preserved as the task's source, and the email detail shows every linked task you may access under **Linked tasks**. A linked row identifies its review state—**Pending**, **Rejected**, or accepted—along with its type, collections, and due date when those details are available. Open a row to review the task or suggestion in the appropriate Tasks view.

Automatic routing has a strict message-level boundary. KayanOS considers only the **From**, **To**, and **Cc** addresses on the exact message that contains the action—not Bcc, invented addresses, or participants from other messages in the thread. AI may propose roles only from that set. When no valid proposal remains for a role, **From** becomes owner, **To** becomes assignees, and **Cc** becomes informed. An address that matches an active organization member routes to that member. An address that matches an active hosted group address or alias routes to the organization group as an internal principal; the group's configured selector and access rules determine which members can see or act on the task. Only an address with no internal member or hosted-group mapping appears as an **External** contact. External contacts do not gain KayanOS access and do not receive task notifications.

The exact source-message link is permanent provenance and cannot be removed like an ordinary attachment. Staff with suitable task access can also link other mailbox messages manually from task details. Those manual links are separate supporting context and can be removed by a permitted user.

Treat extraction as a proposal, not a completed assignment. Review **Pending** suggestions in Tasks, reject unsuitable suggestions, and use the **Rejected** view when history or restoration is needed. Accept asks only for a task type and one or more collections. After acceptance, open the normal task details to edit the other fields through the usual task workflow.

## Compose, review, and send a response

Compose supports recipients in **To**, **Cc**, and **Bcc**, attachments, replies, reply-all, forwarding, drafts, and discard. Use the smallest recipient set that satisfies the service policy. Do not put sensitive service details in a broad copy list merely to keep people informed; use a task, record update, or approved internal notification when that is the safer route.

Cc and Bcc stay collapsed until opened. When a reply-all or restored draft already contains copied recipients, the collapsed control shows their count; those recipients remain part of validation, autosave, and sending. Open the control to review or change them before sending.

For a response about `CSR-2026-00042`:

1. Open the request and confirm the approved status, owner, language, and communication rule.
2. In **Email**, choose **Compose**, **Reply**, **Reply all**, or **Forward** as appropriate. Select the correct permitted sender identity before writing.
3. Add the primary recipient in **To**. Use **Cc** only for people who need the correspondence, and **Bcc** only when the organization’s policy explicitly requires it.
4. Use a clear subject containing the approved reference, for example **Update on Citizen Service Request CSR-2026-00042**.
5. Write the approved operational message. State the current outcome or next action; do not promise a decision that has not been recorded or authorized.
6. Attach only the approved files. Re-open each attachment, verify its version and recipient suitability, and check that it contains no unrelated personal or restricted material.
7. Save the draft if a reviewer must check the content. A saved draft is editable correspondence, not a delivered message.
8. Before sending, verify account, sender identity, To/Cc/Bcc, subject/reference, language, attachments, and the related request’s current status.
9. Select **Send** and review the returned result. Only then record the communication outcome on the request or task where policy requires it.

The active sender account defines the maximum **combined** attachment size for that message. Switching the sender can therefore change the allowed total. The composer checks the selected files, and the delivery service enforces the same account limit again while preparing the outgoing message. If the total is too large, remove or compress approved files, or share an approved Library link when policy permits; do not split sensitive material across several messages merely to avoid the limit.

## Drafts, delivery, and partial results

KayanOS autosaves compose work as a draft while it is being prepared. You can discard a draft when it is no longer appropriate. Neither behavior sends a message.

You can keep multiple compose tabs open. Each tab has its own recipients, subject, body, attachments, sender context, and autosave lifecycle. Before sending or discarding, read the active tab's subject and sender rather than assuming the last tab you used is still selected. Closing or discarding one draft does not save, send, or replace another draft.

Selecting **Send** begins a real delivery attempt through the selected authorized mailbox. A response can report success, failure, or partial delivery. Treat a partial result as incomplete service work: identify which recipient did not receive the message, correct the address or sender/attachment issue through the approved process, and record the verified outcome. Do not mark a request “communicated” merely because a draft exists or because one of several intended recipients received a message.

For messages with legal, regulatory, or public-service consequences, follow the organization’s approved review, retention, and escalation rules before sending. This guide describes product behavior; it does not replace the organization’s communication policy.

## Availability and permissions

Mailbox access, account selection, and sender identity are controlled by the organization’s email configuration and the current member’s allowed actions. A hosted group address can also require an active hosted mailbox before it is a valid sending identity. Keep the operational question separate from the technical question:

A member on an employee seat can use Email when the organization has assigned an active hosted mailbox that the member is allowed to access. The hosted mailbox is the availability prerequisite; the employee seat alone does not expose other accounts or bypass sender permissions.

* **Can I see this mailbox/thread?** Check account availability and the member’s mail access.
* **Can I send this message?** Check the selected account, allowed sender identity, and service policy.
* **Can I attach or disclose this file?** Check the file’s record/library access and recipient need-to-know.
* **Can I record the service outcome?** Check the related request/task verb and scope; sending mail does not automatically grant record-update access.

## Safe testing

Use an organization-approved non-production mailbox or a controlled internal recipient path. Prepare a message with synthetic request details, save a draft, verify that it appears in drafts, and then discard it. If an approved delivery test is available, send only to an internal recipient that has agreed to receive it and capture the actual delivery result. Do not use a controlled test to contact a citizen, disclose operational data, or validate an unapproved sender identity.

## Troubleshooting

| Symptom                                  | Check first                                                                   | Safe response                                                                                             |
| ---------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| There is no inbox or compose path        | Active-account setup and organization email availability                      | Complete the approved account setup or ask the mailbox administrator; do not share credentials            |
| The wrong mailbox is showing             | Selected/default account and any all-accounts view                            | Choose the correct account before reading or replying                                                     |
| Send is unavailable                      | Selected account, allowed sender identity, and any hosted mailbox requirement | Use an approved identity or ask for the smallest required access change                                   |
| A message disappeared after writing      | Draft folder, active account, and whether it was discarded                    | Search drafts before recreating it; do not assume it was delivered                                        |
| The wrong compose draft is active        | Open compose tabs, subject, sender, and autosave state                        | Select and review the intended tab before editing, sending, or discarding                                 |
| Attachments exceed the allowed size      | Active sender and total size of every attachment                              | Remove/compress approved files or use a permitted Library link; do not bypass policy by changing identity |
| Delivery is failed or partial            | Returned send result, addresses, sender, and attachment policy                | Resolve the failed recipient through the approved process and record the verified outcome                 |
| The email and request disagree           | Current request status/owner and the approved decision path                   | Correct the authoritative record or obtain a decision before sending a new promise                        |
| An attachment should be kept as evidence | Record/file-field or Library retention location                               | Store the approved evidence in the controlled location and reference it from the service record           |

## Related guides

* Keep evidence controlled in [Library](/work/library).
* Coordinate internal action in [Tasks and approvals](/work/tasks-and-approvals) and [Chat and contacts](/work/chat-and-contacts).
* Follow the complete service thread in [Explore an example workspace](/start/example-workspace).
* Review least-privilege access in [Roles and access](/start/roles-and-access) and [Permissions and availability](/reference/permissions-and-availability).

![KayanOS mailbox view for a representative service team.](https://kayanos.app/docs-images/en/work/email.png)