Conversations & Inbox
Send and receive emails directly within pipeline items, with each item functioning as a conversation thread.
Enabling conversations
Conversations are enabled per pipeline:
- Open your pipeline settings
- Toggle "Email Conversations" on
- Set up an email domain for sending
Once enabled, each item in that pipeline becomes a conversation thread.
Working with conversations
In the item detail view
When conversations are enabled, the item detail shows:
| Reply to Customer tab | Send an email to the contact linked to the item |
| Internal Note tab | Add a private note visible only to your team |
Replies are sent from your configured email domain and threaded properly.
Conversation thread
The conversation thread shows all messages chronologically:
| Inbound messages (from the customer) | Displayed on the left |
| Outbound messages (from your team) | Displayed on the right with user avatar |
| Internal notes | Marked as internal, not visible to customers |
Each message shows delivery status (sent, delivered, etc.) and sender name.
Inbox
The Inbox page shows all conversations across all conversation enabled pipelines in one place.
- Split panel: item list on the left, conversation thread on the right
- Unread badges show which conversations have new messages
- Click a conversation to read and reply
- Unread count is shown in the sidebar badge
Sender selection
When your company has multiple email senders configured, the inbox reply area shows a combined channel and sender dropdown. The senders available to you depend on your team membership:
| Admins | See all company senders |
| Members | See senders assigned to their teams, plus the company default |
To assign a sender to a team, open the sender's edit dialog in Settings → Emails and check the teams that should use it.
Email threading
When a customer replies to an email, Slate matches it to the correct item using email threading and a subject line token embedded in outbound messages. This ensures replies are linked to the right conversation automatically.
Inbound email
Inbound emails are matched to existing conversations automatically. If a match is found, the message is appended to the conversation thread. If no match is found, a new item is created in the configured pipeline.
Read tracking
Unread tracking is per user. When you open a conversation, it is marked as read for you without affecting other team members' unread counts.
Multi channel roadmap
Conversations currently support email. SMS and WhatsApp channels are planned for future releases.