Email app: say what you need, the assistant drafts the letter and the reply

In user language: for people who need to receive, write, and forward mail inside a workspace. Open Email, tell the app assistant who to write to, what to say, and in what tone; the assistant drafts the subject and body into the current compose draft. After you open an incoming message, you can also say “reply in this sense” or “forward this to so-and-so”; the assistant writes a reply from the original, or a forward with the original quoted. You read it, edit it, then say “send it” before it actually goes out.

For the user-facing product notes, see [help/product-features/platform-email.md](/docs/help-platform-email); for a plugin-apps overview, see [help/product-features/platform-plugins.md](/docs/help-platform-plugins).

Date: 2026-08-31

The takeaway (read this first)

Email appears on the apps desktop of the selected workspace. You send and receive with your own mailbox or a mailbox shared in this workspace. Mail still lives at each post office; what is saved here is how to connect, not a second inbox.

Unlike an ordinary mail client, the app assistant drafts mail from what you ask. You do not have to write the full letter yourself before saying “send it”:

• Write a new message: say the recipient, purpose, points, and tone; the assistant generates the subject and body, and they appear in the compose draft at once.
• Reply to incoming mail: open that message first (or have the assistant open it), then say “decline / agree / reschedule / send the extra materials”; the assistant writes a fitting reply from the original, with recipient and subject already filled.
• Forward: after opening a message, tap Forward, or say “forward this to so-and-so”; the subject has Fwd:, the body quotes the original, and sending includes the original attachments. You can have the assistant write a note for the recipient first.
• Another pass: if it feels too hard, too long, or a point is missing, say one more sentence; the assistant revises the current draft and still does not send.

In one sentence: you say how it should read; the assistant drafts; it sends only after you confirm.

flowchart TD
  A["Open Email on the apps desktop"] --> B{"What should this sentence do"}
  B -->|"who to write, what to say, what tone"| C["Assistant drafts subject and body\ninto the compose draft"]
  B -->|"open an incoming message, reply in this sense"| D["Assistant reads the original\nand drafts a reply"]
  B -->|"forward this to so-and-so"| J["Assistant opens a forward draft\nand fills the forward-to address"]
  B -->|"any unread / search weekly reports"| E["Checks the inbox and reports"]
  C --> F["You edit the draft, or say another sentence to change the tone"]
  D --> F
  J --> F
  F --> G{"Say “send it” or tap Send?"}
  G -->|"yes"| H["Sends after confirm"]
  G -->|"no"| I["You can save a draft first; nothing has been sent"]

Who this is for, and what it solves

It fits people who already get work done in a Cadau workspace and also handle mail: customer incoming mail, after-meeting confirmation, quote replies, a shared front-desk mailbox.

Typical situations:

• You know who to write and which points to cover, but you do not want to start from a blank first sentence;
• The incoming message is long, and you want to catch what they asked before writing a proper reply as “agree / decline / reschedule”;
• You need to forward the incoming message as-is to a colleague, with the original attachments;
• The same letter needs a tone change: more formal, shorter, with the delivery date spelled out;
• The workspace has a shared mailbox (front desk, support); members can all send and receive, while a personal mailbox is only usable by whoever added it.

For people getting work done: tell the app assistant what you want done. For people who only ask “how do I add a mailbox”: they get the steps — “help me write a letter” is not answered as “please fill the compose page yourself”.

How to open

1. Select a workspace in the top bar
2. Apps → Email

After it opens, talk to the app assistant on the right (or the current one). The same kind of request to the help assistant in another module uses the same operations.

With no workspace selected, the apps desktop is unavailable. The first time an admin opens it, this app’s notes sync to workspace knowledge so the assistant understands the module.

Focus: let the assistant write the body

The assistant is not only filling boxes with words you dictate. You say purpose, points, tone, and length; it writes a letter you could send. Subject and body appear together in the compose draft, and you can change any word.

Say it like this:

Until you say “send it / send”, the assistant will not send the letter. While a compose draft is open, recipients, subject, and body you mention are written into this draft and shown at once.

Focus: write a fitting reply from the incoming message

Reply is not the same as a new message: the assistant must read the original first, then draft from your stance, not start an unrelated blank letter.

You can:

1. Tell the assistant “open that RFQ from just now” or “search messages whose subject has quote”, or open it yourself in the inbox;
2. State your stance, e.g. “reply for me: in stock, three working days lead time, price as last time, warm but professional”;
3. The compose draft carries the original sender, a Re: subject, and the assistant’s drafted reply (the original is still quoted below for comparison);
4. After you edit, say “send it”, or tap Reply and keep having the assistant revise.

After you open a message, tapping Reply on the UI also brings a draft that quotes the original; saying “revise in this sense” to the assistant still works.

Focus: forward to someone else, with the original

Forward is not reply: the recipient is who you name, not the original sender. The subject has Fwd:; the body quotes the original’s sender, date, subject, and body; original attachments go with it (inline images used only for layout are excluded).

You can:

1. Open that message, tap Forward, or tell the assistant “forward this to 李工@company.com”;
2. Put what the recipient should see in front of the quoted original, or have the assistant draft it, e.g. “please look at this RFQ; we reply before Friday”;
3. Check the forward-to address, then say “send it”.

Usage examples

Example 1: after-meeting confirmation, from points to a letter

Sales finishes a meeting and tells the app assistant:

Write to customer Li, cc my manager. Subject: post-meeting confirmation. Body formal, no more than two paragraphs: Thursday afternoon we demo the online system; please prepare three trial users’ email addresses in advance; we send materials before Wednesday close of business.

The assistant generates subject and body into the compose draft. Sales changes “Wednesday” in the second paragraph to “Tuesday”, then says “send it”. The confirm box checks the recipients, then it goes out.

Example 2: an RFQ, reply from a stance

There is an RFQ in the inbox. Tell the assistant “open this RFQ and reply: model X in stock, three working days lead time, unit price as last quote, freight collect. Professional, don’t write too long.”

The assistant reads the original and drafts a reply: recipient is the original sender, subject has Re:, the body answers stock and lead time first, then price and freight, with the original quoted below. Purchasing glances at “freight collect” and taps Send.

Example 3: a shared front-desk mailbox, several people can reply

A workspace admin added support@company-domain as a shared mailbox. A front-desk colleague says “any unread”; the assistant reports the unread count. A support colleague opens the same mailbox, tells it on a complaint “apologize, promise a call back today, don’t admit compensation”; the assistant drafts a reply, then it sends after confirm. A personal mailbox is only usable by whoever added it; colleagues cannot see it.

What you can say to the assistant

Say what you want done, and it acts; ask “how / how do I” and it explains the steps.

Notes when adding a mailbox

For NetEase 163 / 126 and QQ Mail, enable IMAP on the webmail and fill the password field with an authorization code, not the website login password. If Gmail has two-step verification on, use an app password. For a custom post office, Receive method can be IMAP or POP: IMAP can see Sent and other folders; POP can only see the inbox.

Removing a connection does not delete mail at the post office. This release does not include Google / Microsoft account sign-in, and does not upload attachments while composing; attachments already received can be previewed or downloaded on the right of the message.

Related reading

• Product features: Email — inbox, compose, personal and shared mailboxes
• Plugin apps — appears on the apps desktop like HR, warehouse, and compliance
• Product introduction — the app assistant acting on the workbench