Inbox Rules allow you to automate what happens when emails arrive in your Aptly Inbox. Instead of manually organizing or responding to messages, you can create rules that automatically take action based on defined conditions.
This helps your team:
- Route conversations automatically
- Create workflow cards instantly
- Notify the right people at the right time
- Reduce manual inbox management
- Maintain consistent processes across your team
Inbox Rules go beyond traditional email filters by connecting email activity directly to your workflows.
Creating an Inbox Rule
You can create and manage rules directly from your Inbox settings.
Step-by-step
- Open your Inbox.
- Select Inbox Configuration at the bottom of the sidebar.
- Click Inbox Rules.
- Select Add New Rule.
- Enter a clear name for the rule (example: “Create screening card from application emails”).
- Choose the Inbox where the rule should apply.
- Add your conditions (what must happen for the rule to trigger).
- Select the actions (what Aptly should do automatically).
- Choose how often the action runs:
- Once per conversation
- Every inbound message
- Click Save.
Inbox Rules take about 10 minutes to start processing and are not retroactive.
Conditions
Conditions define when a rule should run. You can combine multiple conditions using AND/OR logic to create more advanced workflows.
Common examples include:
- Any incoming email
- Specific sender or recipient
- Email subject or body text
- Contact type… etc
Conditions Definitions
Condition | Definition |
Any email | Any and all emails entering the inbox will cause the action to occur. |
Assignee | If the email is assigned to a specific user(s), the rule will trigger. Add the assignees to whom the rule applies. |
Body | Any text in the body of the email that equals, contains, starts with, or ends with the specified words or phrases. |
Certain Contact Types | If the sender’s contact card matches the selected contact type, the rule will apply. |
Certain Recipients | If any word or phrase in the recipient field of the email equals, contains, starts with, or ends with specified text. |
Certain Senders | If the sender field of an email equals, contains, starts with, or ends with specified words or phrases. |
Date Range | The email was received between or outside of a defined period of time (date and time). |
Response SLA (Service Level Agreement) | The time until a response has reached a set duration of time waiting for a response in the inbox in hours, days, or weeks. |
Related Card | The email is related (connected) to a specific card or any card from a specific board(s). |
Reply | The email has or has not been replied to. |
Subject | The subject line equals, contains, starts with, or ends with specific text. |
Time Range | The email was received between or outside of a defined time of a specified day(s) of the week not a date on the calendar like date range. |
Topics | The email is tagged with the selected topic(s). |
Your conditions can be stacked with AND/OR operators. In between each AND operator, you may group together multiple conditions using the OR operator.
Actions
Actions define what happens automatically when conditions are met.
Common examples include:
- Add topics or tags
- Assign conversations to users or teams
- Create a new workflow card
- Flag a conversation… etc
You can build powerful automation by combining multiple actions in a single rule.
Action Definitions
Action | Definition |
Add Topics | Assign one or many topic(s) to the email. |
Assign To | Assign the email to a specific user, pick a user in a round-robin manner, or pick a specific team via round-robin. |
Create Card | Create a new card for a specific board and stage.
• Assign it to a specific user or conversation assignee.
• Choose to always create a new card.
• Archive the conversation when a card is created.
• Assign the conversation to the card assignee if it is different than the original assignee. |
Flag Conversation | Flag the email for a specific user. It will notify them, add a Flag icon to the email, and add it to the Flagged folder in their MINE view of the Inboxes Menu. |
Forward Email | Forward the email to a specific recipient, include a template, and send as a specified user. |
Move To Folder | Move the email to a specific folder. |
Notify | Send an Aptly notification to a user or team and optionally add a message. |
Relate To Card | Add the email to a specific card’s related tab. |
Relate To Location | Add the email to a specific location’s related tab. |
Remind Me | Send yourself a notification if the email has not been replied to, read, or regardless after a set number of days. |
Reply To Email | Automatically send a reply to everyone or just the sender, choose a template, and send as a specific user. |
Share To | Share the email with a specific user or team. This adds an @mention to the conversation and will appear in their Shared with Me folder in MINE view of the Inboxes Menu. |
Update Card | Update cards on a specific board and a specified stage (if the rule only applies to a stage) by attaching the incoming email. You can choose to assign these updated cards to a new assignee or use the conversation assignee. |
Managing Existing Rules
To view or update your rules:
- Open Inbox Configuration > Inbox Rules.
From here you can:
- Edit rules using the pencil icon
- Pause or resume rules using the toggle
- Clone rules to reuse logic
- Delete rules
- Reorder rules by dragging them
Edits may take up to 10 minutes to reflect changes.
Best Practices
- Use clear naming so your team understands what each rule does.
- Start simple, then layer in more automation over time.
- Test new rules with a small scope before applying broadly.
- Review rule order regularly, as rule priority can affect outcomes.