Email settings

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Overview

The Email settings feature lets you use your AI agent as an email support channel.
You get a unique agent email in the format [email protected] that you can:

• Send emails and automatically receive AI-crafted replies.
• Connect to your own domains and mailboxes, so customers see messages coming from your email addresses instead of the default chatbase-mail.com domain.

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How it works

• Agent email: When you create an AI agent, we generate an email like [email protected].
• Inbound messages: Customers send an email to:
  • Your agent email, or
  • One of your own addresses (for example, [email protected]) that automatically forwards to the agent email.
• AI response: Your agent processes the email and generates a reply.
• From address:
  • If you don’t connect a domain, replies are sent from your [email protected].
  • If you do connect and authenticate a domain, we can send email on your behalf (for example, [email protected]), once DNS is correctly configured.

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Prerequisites

• Access to the Chatbase dashboard and the AI agent whose email settings you want to configure.
• Admin access to your email provider to set up forwarding rules.
• Admin access to your DNS provider (domain registrar or DNS host) to add TXT, MX, and/or CNAME records.

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Accessing Email settings

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Using the agent email directly

You can start using the feature immediately by sending an email to your agent email:

1. Send an email from any mailbox to [email protected].
2. The AI agent processes the email content.
3. You receive a reply from the same [email protected] address.

To use your own domain and addresses (for example, [email protected] or [email protected]), continue with the next sections.

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Step 1 – Add an email address

To configure a custom email address for your AI agent, start by adding the email address you want to use.

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Step 2 – Configure email forwarding

Next, configure automatic forwarding in your email provider so that emails sent to your support addresses are delivered to your agent email.

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Forwarding flow

1. A customer emails [email protected].
2. Your email provider forwards that message automatically to [email protected].
3. The AI agent processes the email and generates a reply.
4. The response is sent back via email from your authenticated domain.

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Set up forwarding in your email provider

The exact steps depend on your provider, but the general pattern is:

1. Sign in to your email provider’s admin or mailbox settings.
2. Open the Forwarding, Rules, or Filters section.
3. Create a rule that forwards incoming messages from the mailbox (for example, [email protected]) to your agent email ([email protected]).
4. If your email provider requires verification before allowing the forwarding rule:
   • The provider will send a verification email to your agent email.
   • You can find and approve the verification email in your agent’s chatlogs.
5. Click Verify automatic forwarding in the Email settings drawer.
   • If everything is set up correctly, you’ll be taken to the authenticate domain step (Step 3).

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Provider-specific forwarding guides

For detailed instructions on setting up email forwarding, refer to your email provider’s documentation. Here are links to official guides for popular email providers:

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Gmail and Google Workspace

• Gmail: Set up email forwarding in Gmail

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Microsoft

• Outlook.com: Forward email from Outlook.com

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Other email providers

• Yahoo Mail: Automatically forward emails in Yahoo Mail
• ProtonMail: Set up email forwarding in ProtonMail

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Step 3 – Authenticate your domain with DNS

Once we detect automatic forwarding from at least one email address on the domain, you’ll be able to proceed to DNS authentication. This step allows Chatbase to send emails on your behalf from your custom domain.

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View your DNS records

After forwarding is verified, you’ll see the DNS records you need to add. In the Email settings drawer, you’ll see:

• Record type (CNAME or TXT)
• Name (the DNS record name)
• Value (the DNS record value)

Each record will show its authentication status. Copy each record exactly as shown.

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Add records at your DNS provider

Sign in to the DNS provider that manages your domain (this might be your registrar or a DNS host like Cloudflare), then add the records we provided.

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Provider-specific DNS guides

For detailed instructions on DNS authentication, here are links to official guides for popular DNS and domain providers:

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Domain registrars

• GoDaddy: Add a TXT or CNAME record
• Namecheap: How to manage DNS records

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DNS hosting providers

• Cloudflare: Manage DNS records
• Amazon Route 53: Working with DNS records
• Google Cloud DNS: Managing DNS records
• Azure DNS: Manage DNS records

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Verify your domain

After you add the DNS records at your DNS provider:

1. Return to the Email settings drawer in Chatbase.
2. Click Validate to check if the DNS records are correctly configured.

The system will verify each DNS record:

• DKIM: Shows as “authenticated” when the CNAME record is found
• SPF: Shows as “authenticated” when the CNAME record is found
• DMARC: Shows as “authenticated” when the TXT record is found

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Adding and managing email addresses

After you’ve added your first email address and completed the setup process, you can add additional email addresses to the same domain or add emails from different domains.

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Adding more email addresses

To add additional email addresses:

1. Click New email address in the Email settings page.
2. Enter the new email address (for example, [email protected]).
3. Follow the same 3-step process:
   • Enter the email address
   • Configure email forwarding
   • Authenticate the domain (if not already done)

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Testing your setup

Once forwarding and DNS are configured:

1. Send an email from an external address (for example, your personal Gmail) to one of your connected addresses (for example, [email protected]).
2. Confirm that:
   • The conversation appears under your AI agent’s conversations.
   • The reply is sent back to your external address.
   • The From address matches your expectations:
     • If the domain is not verified: it will come from [email protected].
     • If the domain is verified: it will come from your configured address on that domain.

If everything looks correct, your email support channel is fully configured.

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Troubleshooting

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Email forwarding issues

I don’t see emails in my agent conversations

• Confirm that forwarding is enabled and points to the correct agent email ([email protected]).
• Check for filters or rules that might be archiving or deleting messages before they are forwarded.
• Verify that your email provider has sent and you’ve approved any required verification emails.
• Check your agent email’s conversation history for any verification emails that need approval.

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DNS authentication issues

Domain verification fails

• Ensure there are no typos in the CNAME or TXT record values—copy them exactly as shown.
• Verify that you added records on the correct DNS zone:
  • For yourdomain.com, add records at the root level
  • For subdomain.yourdomain.com, add records for the subdomain
• Wait for DNS propagation—some providers can take up to 48 hours to update DNS records globally.

Some DNS records verify but others don’t

• Each record is verified independently. Check each one:
  • DKIM (CNAME): Verify the name includes chatbase._domainkey
  • SPF (CNAME): Verify the name includes outbound.chatbase
  • DMARC (TXT): Verify the name includes _dmarc
• Ensure the record values match exactly what’s shown in Email settings.

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General issues

I can’t add more domains

• You can add up to 3 domains per workspace. Remove an existing domain if you need to add a new one.

I can’t add more email addresses

• You can add up to 20 email addresses per domain. Consider using a different domain if you need more addresses.

Emails are being marked as spam

• Ensure all DNS records (DKIM, SPF, DMARC) are properly configured and verified.
• Check your domain’s reputation using tools like MXToolbox.