Email

Set up Email Ticketing and bi-directional Slack-Email sync in ClearFeed

Table of Contents

• How does Email Ticketing work in ClearFeed?

• Email Communication for API Tickets

• Configuring Email Ticketing

• Configure Email Addresses & Mailboxes

• Creating & Configuring Email Collection

• Customize Email Ticketing Behavior (Optional)

• Setting up Email Forwarding

• FAQs

How does Email Ticketing work in ClearFeed?

• Admins have to configure Email addresses in ClearFeed where incoming support emails are received.

• New incoming messages to these configured Email addresses create Tickets in ClearFeed.

• Newly created Tickets are posted to the configured Triage Slack channels. Each ticket creates a thread in Triage.

• Agents can respond to these Tickets by replying in the corresponding Triage thread.

• Replies posted in the Slack Triage thread are automatically sent back to the requester via Email.

• Similarly, subsequent Email replies by the Requester are appended to the Slack Triage thread as well.

• Replies from both Agents and Requesters are appended to the same Email thread.

• Agents can also respond to Email Tickets from the ClearFeed Webapp.

Agents can perform all other collaboration and ticket management on Email tickets (like posting private comments, tagging co-workers, updating the ticket state or linking it to Tasks) from Triage channel or the ClearFeed Webapp - just like they can do with tickets and requests from Slack, WebChat or Microsoft Teams.

Email Communication for API Tickets

Tickets created via the External API also support full email communication with the requester. Agent replies to API tickets send emails to the requester, and requester email replies appear as messages in the ticket thread.

For complete details on email communication for API tickets, see Email Communication for API Tickets in the API documentation.

Configuring Email Ticketing in ClearFeed

Configuring Email Ticketing requires three important Steps:

1. Configure Email Addresses & Mailboxes — set up incoming support email addresses and (optionally) their outgoing reply addresses.

2. Configure Email Collections, Triage channel and other Ticketing settings for emails received on the configured addresses.

3. (Optionally) Customize the Email auto-response and signatures to tailor the Email ticketing experience.

ClearFeed can support multiple incoming Email addresses from multiple custom domains and they can be routed flexibly to one or more Triage channels.

Configure Email Addresses & Mailboxes

Go to Email Setup on the ClearFeed Web Dashboard and open the Email Addresses section. Choose a setup method based on whether you want to use a ClearFeed-hosted address or your own domain.

Email Addresses — choose between ClearFeed Email and Custom Email

Option 1: ClearFeed Email

Use a ClearFeed-hosted address (support@<subdomain>.clearfeed-mail.com). No DNS configuration or email forwarding required. This mailbox is pre-configured for all Internal and External Helpdesk accounts.

Note: If your account was created using a free email domain (like Gmail), the ClearFeed Email can generate up to 100 tickets. Once this limit is reached, ClearFeed automatically sends email and Slack notifications to all account admins.

The incoming address is pre-configured. You only need to choose how outgoing reply emails are sent:

• Shared team address — All agents reply from the same address. You can customize the local part (prefix) of the address (e.g., support, help).

• Per-agent address — Each agent gets their own "from" address based on their name, in the format {{firstname}}.{{lastname}}@<subdomain>.clearfeed-mail.com. Example: When John Doe replies, the email is sent from [e-mail]

ClearFeed Email — configure incoming address and outgoing reply format

Click Save Changes once you have selected your preferred outgoing format.

Option 2: Custom Email

Use your own domain email addresses (e.g., [e-mail], [e-mail]). Requires email forwarding to be configured on your mail provider. See Setup Email Forwarding for detailed instructions.

The Mailboxes section lists all configured incoming email addresses paired with their outgoing reply addresses. Each incoming address is a separate mailbox that can have its own dedicated outgoing address.

Custom Email — Mailboxes list showing incoming and outgoing address pairs

How reply emails are sent:

1. Replies are sent from the outgoing address that matches the ticket's incoming email address.

2. If no outgoing address is configured for that mailbox, replies fall back to the account's Default outgoing address.

From the Mailboxes section you can:

• Configure a custom sending domain with DKIM authentication

• Add new mailboxes (incoming + optional outgoing in one flow)

• Connect outgoing addresses via Google or Microsoft OAuth (or use an outgoing email from a DKIM authenticated domain)

• Set a default outgoing address

• Remove or update outgoing addresses independently

Configure Custom Sending Domain with DKIM authentication

Custom domain (DKIM) authentication lets ClearFeed send outbound emails directly from your company domain (such as [e-mail]), without relying on Google or Microsoft OAuth for the outgoing send path. Verified DKIM addresses can also be used as senders in Automation → Send Email actions. For the complete DKIM setup walkthrough, see Send emails from your own domain with DKIM authentication.

Adding a Custom Email Mailbox

Click + Add mailbox to open the two-step setup dialog.

Step 1 — Incoming email

1. Enter the incoming support email address.

2. A Mail forwarding address is shown inline — configure your email provider to forward to this address. See Setup Email Forwarding for detailed forwarding instructions per provider.

3. Click Next: Outgoing email to proceed.

Add mailbox — Step 1: Incoming email

Step 2 — Outgoing email (optional)

Enter the email address ClearFeed will use to send replies for this mailbox, along with a display name that appears in the customer's "From" field.

If the outgoing address belongs to a verified DKIM domain, ClearFeed will use that domain automatically and no Google or Microsoft authentication is required. For outgoing addresses that are not covered by a verified DKIM domain, authenticate with Google or Microsoft to allow ClearFeed to send on your behalf.

You can click Skip for now to add the incoming address without configuring an outgoing address immediately — the outgoing can be set up later from the Mailboxes list.

Add mailbox — Step 2: Outgoing email with OAuth authentication

Important Information: Using Google Groups or Shared Mailboxes

If you are using a Google Group email address (e.g., [e-mail]) or an email alias that is not your primary Google account:

You MUST configure "Send mail as" in Gmail before authenticating, otherwise emails will be sent from your personal email address instead of the intended group/alias email.

Required Steps:

1. Before clicking "Continue with Google", add the Google Group/alias as a "Send mail as" address in your Gmail settings:

   • Go to Gmail Settings → Accounts and Import → Send mail as

   • Click "Add another email address"

   • Enter the Google Group/alias email (e.g., [e-mail])

   • Follow the verification steps

2. Verify you have permission to send emails as the Google Group (check with your Google Workspace admin if unsure)

3. Complete authentication in ClearFeed using the Google account that has the "Send mail as" configured

4. Send a test email to verify the setup is working correctly

Detailed Instructions: How to set up "Send mail as" in Gmail

If you authenticate without configuring "Send mail as", ClearFeed will send emails using your personal email address (e.g., [e-mail]) instead of the intended group email (e.g., [e-mail]).

This means:

• Customers will see replies from your personal email

• Reply-to addresses may not work as expected

Gmail does not notify us if the wrong email is used, so it's critical to verify your setup by sending a test email.

For Microsoft 365 Users

If you are using a shared mailbox or email alias, you MUST have SendAs permissions granted by your Exchange administrator, otherwise emails will be sent from your personal account or fail to send.

Required Steps:

1. Before clicking "Continue with Microsoft", contact your Exchange administrator to:

   • Grant SendAs permissions to your user account for the shared mailbox/alias

   • Verify the permissions are properly configured

2. Complete authentication in ClearFeed using your Microsoft account

3. Send a test email to verify the setup is working correctly

Detailed Instructions: Microsoft documentation on SendAs permissions

Note about display names:

The custom display name you enter may be replaced with the name of your Microsoft account by default. To use a custom display name, your Exchange administrator must configure this along with the SendAs permissions.

Setting a Default Outgoing Address

One outgoing address in the Mailboxes list can be marked as Default. Any mailbox that does not have its own outgoing address configured will use the Default address for all replies.

Verify Your Email Setup

After completing the setup, we strongly recommend sending a test email to ensure your configuration is correct.

1. After completing the authentication and saving Email setup, create a test ticket by sending an email to the support address you added in Step 1.

2. Now, go to ClearFeed WebApp or Slack triage channel and send a reply.

3. Check your inbox for the email

4. Verify the "From" address matches your intended outgoing email (e.g., [e-mail], not [e-mail])

5. If the test fails or shows the wrong email address, review the setup instructions above.

Troubleshooting Email Issues

Incoming Email Issues

Problem: An email was sent to a configured incoming email address in ClearFeed, but did not create a ticket.

Troubleshooting steps:

1. Check Activity Log — Go to Settings > Activity Logs to see if the email is showing up in the log. See Activity Logs for more details.

   • If the email is NOT in the Activity Log: ClearFeed never received the email. Check your email forwarding configuration to ensure emails are being forwarded correctly to the ClearFeed support email id.

   • If the email IS in the Activity Log: ClearFeed received the email but did not create a ticket. Continue to step 2.

2. Check Collection mapping — Ensure the incoming email address is mapped to a Collection.

   • Incoming emails are discarded if the incoming email ID has not been mapped to any Collection.

   • Go to Collections > {Collection Name} > Settings > Email Settings to verify the support email is configured for that Collection.

3. Loop prevention — Note that incoming emails from configured outgoing email addresses are automatically discarded to prevent infinite loops. See Auto-CC Emails for more details.

Outgoing Email Issues

Problem: You sent an email reply from ClearFeed (from Slack triage or WebApp), but the customer never received it.

Troubleshooting steps:

1. Check Activity Log — Go to Settings > Activity Logs to see if the outgoing email was processed. See Activity Logs for more details.

   • If the outgoing email is NOT in the Activity Log: The reply may not have been posted correctly.

     • From Slack Triage: Ensure you posted a reply under the thread created for the ticket (not a top-level message in the triage channel). Only threaded replies are synced as emails.

     • From WebApp: Verify the reply was sent successfully and no error was shown.

2. Check spam folder — If the outgoing email appears in the Activity Log as processed, ask the customer to check their spam/junk folder. Legitimate support emails can sometimes be flagged as spam.

3. Check for delivery failures — If the email delivery failed (bounce, complaint, or other delivery issue), ClearFeed displays these events directly on the message in the WebApp and as a private comment in the Slack triage thread. Look for:

   • Bounce events — Email could not be delivered (invalid address, mailbox full, domain doesn't exist)

   • Complaint events — Recipient marked the email as spam or their mail server flagged it

   Note: Bounce and complaint events may take some time to appear after the email was sent. If you don't see them immediately, check back after a few minutes.

   These events help you identify and address delivery problems quickly.

Managing Disconnected Email Accounts

When a connected Gmail or Microsoft OAuth mailbox loses access (due to password changes, revoked permissions, or other authentication issues), ClearFeed provides tools to help you restore functionality quickly.

Detection & Alerts

• Admins receive a Slack DM notification when an outgoing mailbox becomes disconnected

• The mailbox displays a red "Disconnected" badge in the Email Setup → Mailboxes list

Re-authorization

• Click the Re-authorize button on the disconnected mailbox to reconnect

• This initiates a fresh OAuth flow with Google or Microsoft

• No need to delete and re-add the mailbox — your configuration is preserved

Outgoing mailbox showing Re-authorize option

Quick navigation: When you receive the Slack DM alert about a disconnected mailbox, use the included link to jump directly to the Email Setup page with the mailbox list pre-filtered to show only disconnected mailboxes (?email-filter= parameter).

Creating & Configuring Email Collection

An Email Collection is simply a dedicated Collection used to store email tickets.

Note that an Email Collection with the default ClearFeed Email Address should be pre-configured in your account. The steps here are useful for creating and configuring additional collections for custom Email addresses.

To create a new Email Collection, perform the following steps:

1. Go to Collections -> click on Add New Collection -> Select Email Collection.

2. Add Responders (these will be users responding to these tickets).

3. (Optional/Strongly Recommended) Associate a triage channel: You can also create or link an existing triage channel to the Email Collection.

   • Learn more about Triage channels here.

Once an Email Collection exists - one must attach the incoming Support Email associated with that Collection. This must be done via Collection Settings:

1. Click on the Email Collection from the Inbox section of the ClearFeed Webapp

2. Open the Collection Settings accessible by clicking Settings from the Top Right

3. Go to the section named Email Settings: Expand the Choose the support email(s) that send incoming emails to this Collection.

If there are multiple incoming email addresses - you can configure multiple email collections - one for each of them. The emails can be routed to different (or same) triage channels.

Customize Email Ticketing Behavior (Optional)

Once the basic Email Ticketing setup has been done, it can be customized as per your needs. Here are some options that can help in this regard:

1. Setup an Auto-response message

2. Customize Status Updates

3. Auto-CC Emails

4. Email Thread Management

Customize Automated Email Templates

In Email Setup → Additional Settings, you can customize the automatic emails ClearFeed sends to requesters:

• The Auto-response Message is the acknowledgement sent when a requester emails your support address.

• Status Update Notifications are sent on the same email thread when an email ticket is marked Solved or Closed.

Use the rich-text editor to format an auto-response or a customized status-update template. To insert a ticket detail, type {{ in the editor or select a value from the placeholder controls. Inserted placeholders appear as chips in the editor.

Available placeholders

Use these placeholders in an auto-response or a Solved/Closed status-update template:

To include	Placeholder
Ticket ID	{{ticket.id}}
Ticket title	{{ticket.title}}
Ticket status	{{ticket.status}}
Ticket priority	{{ticket.priority}}
Requester name	{{ticket.requester.name}}
Requester email	{{ticket.requester.email}}
Collection name	{{ticket.collection.name}}
Support email address	{{support_email}}

ClearFeed replaces a placeholder with the relevant value when it sends the email. Existing auto-response text remains compatible and does not need to be recreated.

Auto-response message

Enable or disable the auto-response, then use the editor to write the acknowledgement you want requesters to receive. Save your changes when you are done.

Customize Status Updates

ClearFeed can send Status Update Notifications to requesters when their email ticket has been marked as Solved or Closed. These updates are sent as automated emails on the same email thread. You can enable or disable these notifications from Email Setup → Additional Settings.

Enable Status Update Notifications, then choose whether to notify requesters when an email ticket is marked Solved, Closed, or both. ClearFeed displays a separate template card for each enabled status.

Each card starts with a read-only ClearFeed default template. Select Customize to edit a copy in the rich-text editor. Select Reset to default to remove your custom version and restore the ClearFeed default.

Select Save after changing notification settings or a template.

ClearFeed sends the selected status update as an automated email on the existing email thread.

Configure the notifications to send updates only when:

• A ticket is Solved

  • Behavior note: A ticket in Solved status will reopen automatically if the customer replies to the same email thread (even after several days), unless you have explicitly configured automations that change this behavior. ClearFeed does not automatically move tickets from Solved to Closed on its own.

• A ticket is Closed

  • Behavior note: Closed is a terminal state. Replies to a Closed ticket will not reopen the same ticket. If you want to continue the conversation, you must create a new ticket (for example, by starting a new email thread).

Auto-CC Emails

Configure a list of email addresses that ClearFeed automatically CCs on every outgoing email — perfect for keeping audit mailboxes, shared inboxes, team distribution lists, or compliance trackers in the loop on all replies.

How to configure:

1. Go to Email Setup → Additional Settings

2. In the Auto-CC Emails field, add addresses as tags (up to 10)

3. These recipients receive a copy of every outgoing email from your mailboxes

Behavior notes:

• Duplicate addresses are automatically rejected

• ClearFeed support-domain emails are rejected for security

• If an Auto-CC address equals the TO recipient, it is silently excluded

• To prevent loops, inbound emails from a configured outgoing support email address are discarded by ClearFeed

Why inbound emails from configured outgoing addresses are discarded:

If [e-mail] is both an incoming and outgoing address, and you want to CC it on outgoing emails (for example, to maintain an archive in a Google Group), adding [e-mail] to Auto-CC would normally cause a loop:

1. ClearFeed sends an email with [e-mail] in CC

2. The Google Group receives the email and forwards it back to [e-mail]

3. This creates a new ticket in ClearFeed

4. The cycle can repeat infinitely with automated replies

To prevent this, ClearFeed discards any inbound emails from configured outgoing addresses, so the CC'ed email from step 2 does not create a new ticket.

Email Thread Management

Control how ClearFeed manages and updates CC recipients on email-based tickets when you reply.

• Update CCs from replies: ClearFeed automatically adds or removes CC recipients based on the email addresses included in each customer reply.

  • If a customer removes someone from CC, that recipient will no longer receive future emails in the thread.

  • If a customer adds someone to CC, that recipient will be added to the thread and included in future replies.

• Always Preserve Customer CCs: ClearFeed preserves all CC recipients that customers add at any point in the conversation, even if the customer removes them in later replies.

  • Removed CCs will continue to receive future emails.

  • Agents can manually add or remove CC recipients from Slack at any time.

Setup Email Forwarding

There are three ways of setting up Email forwarding from your custom email to ClearFeed:

Method 1: Use Mail Forwarding

1. Enter your support Email address.

2. Setup forwarding to the domain mentioned in the Mail forwarding information section

   • Guide to setup forwarding: https://support.google.com/a/answer/10486484?hl=en

3. If you've added multiple support emails, configure the forwarding for each of the mailboxes.

Method 2: Use a Google Group

1. Keep the Google Group address the same as your support email. E.g. if the support email is [e-mail] -> this email should also be set up as the Google Group Address.

2. Copy the ClearFeed Support email (found under Mail forwarding information in the setup) and add it to the Google Group

3. Ensure the following permissions are set up correctly:

   1. Who can post: Anyone on the web

   2. Who can join group: Invited users only

   3. Allow External members: ON

Method 3: Use Recipient Address Mapping (Google Workspace)

Many organizations disable user-level mailbox forwarding to prevent company emails from being forwarded to personal or unapproved external accounts. This is a common security control enforced by IT teams to protect sensitive data.

How redirect/forward behaves

• Redirected messages appear to come directly from the original sender

• The To: field retains the original recipient address

• You can choose to:

  • Send emails only to ClearFeed, or

  • Send to ClearFeed and keep a copy in the original mailbox

Steps to configure in Google Admin Console

1. Open Google Admin Console

2. Navigate to Menu → Apps → Google Workspace → Gmail → Routing.

3. Select Routing (not Default routing).

4. On the left, select the top-level organizational unit

5. Scroll to Email forwarding using recipient address map and click Configure or Add Another Rule

6. In the Add setting box, enter a descriptive name &#xNAN;Example: "Route support aliases to ClearFeed"

7. In Step 1 – Add address mapping

   • Address: original email (e.g., [e-mail])

   • Map to address: ClearFeed inbox (e.g., [e-mail])

8. Click Add

   • Repeat to map additional addresses if required

   • Bulk mapping can be used for large lists

9. Under Messages to affect, choose:

   • All incoming messages – includes internal + external emails

   • Only external incoming messages – customer emails only

10. Optional settings (recommended)

    • Also route to original destination

      • Keeps a copy in the existing mailbox during rollout

    • Add X-Gm-Original-To header

      • Preserves recipient info for troubleshooting and advanced routing

11. Click Save

12. Your rule will appear as a new row on the Routing page.

You can refer to this page to learn more.

Method 4: Use Microsoft 365 / Outlook:

Important: Do not use Outlook client-side rules for forwarding. Client-side forwarding does not preserve the original sender information and always creates tickets on behalf of the email address that has set up the forwarding. Instead, use server-side forwarding as described below.

To preserve the original sender information and ensure proper email threading, set up server-side forwarding in Microsoft 365. Choose one of the following methods:

Option A: Microsoft 365 Admin Center (Recommended)

Requires admin access.

1. Go to Microsoft 365 Admin Center → Users → Active Users

2. Select the mailbox (e.g., [e-mail])

3. Click the Mail tab

4. Under Email Forwarding, click Manage forwarding

5. Enable Forward all emails

6. Enter the ClearFeed forwarding address (found in your Email Setup)

7. Optionally check Keep a copy of forwarded email in this mailbox

Option B: Exchange Admin Center (For complex routing)

If you need conditional forwarding or multiple recipients:

1. Go to Exchange Admin Center

2. Navigate to Mail flow → Rules

3. Create a new rule:

   • Apply this rule if: Recipient is <your support mailbox>

   • Do the following: Redirect the message to <ClearFeed forwarding address>

4. Important: Use Redirect (not Forward) to preserve original sender information

Option C: Outlook Web Redirect Rule

1. Go to Outlook Web

2. Click Settings → Mail → Rules

3. Add a new rule:

   • Condition: Apply to all messages

   • Action: Redirect to <ClearFeed forwarding address>

4. Important: Choose Redirect, not Forward

Additional Resources:

• Use rules to automatically forward messages (Microsoft Support)

• Configure email forwarding in Microsoft 365 (Microsoft Learn)

FAQs

1. Is the Email integration available for all plans and product editions in ClearFeed? Answer: The Email integration feature is available in Internal and External Helpdesk product editions. It is available in all plans including during Trial phase.

2. Is the email integration available on ClearFeed Child Accounts? Answer: Yes, Email integration is supported in both Parent and Child accounts.Note that the default ClearFeed email setup in each ClearFeed account is unique to that account and will differ in Child and Parent accounts.

3. I am not able to create a new Email Collections or perform Email Setup in my account. What could be the reason? Answer: Email Integration may not be available if you have picked the Integration edition during account setup (by identifying ticketing integration with an existing tool as your primary use case).

4. Does ClearFeed support integration with multiple custom Email addresses (potentially from different custom domains)? Answer: Yes. You can configure multiple custom Email addresses and domains in ClearFeed by adding a separate mailbox for each address in the Email Addresses section of Email Setup.

5. Can I use the ClearFeed provided email and a custom email both? Answer: Yes. You can have a mailbox with the ClearFeed-provided email address and additional mailboxes with custom email addresses — all managed from the Mailboxes list.

6. How can we route tickets from different custom Email addresses to separate Triage channels? Can I use the same support email in multiple collections? Answer: You can route incoming tickets from different custom email addresses to separate triage channels by creating multiple Email Collections one for each custom email address.

   • For each custom Email, create a new Email Collection.

   • Under Email Settings for each Collection, choose the support Email for this Collection (you can add multiple emails).

   • Configure a different Triage channel for each Collection.

   • The same support email address cannot be assigned to more than one collection. Each collection must have a unique support email address. - If you want the same email to reach multiple collections/triage channels, set up email aliases or separate forwarding addresses for each collection, and configure each as a unique support email in ClearFeed.

7. Can I set a different outgoing address for each incoming support email? Answer: Yes. Each mailbox in the Email Addresses section can have its own outgoing address. Replies to tickets from a given incoming address will be sent from that mailbox's configured outgoing address. If no outgoing address is set for a mailbox, replies fall back to the Default outgoing address.

8. Can I use a Google Group address as the outgoing email address in ClearFeed? Answer: Yes, you can use a Google Group address as the outgoing email address in ClearFeed. However, you must first add the Google Group address as an outgoing address in your personal Google account settings. After authenticating with your Google account in ClearFeed, ensure that you select the Google Group address from the dropdown menu and click "Save" to apply the changes.

9. What should I do if my emails are sent from my personal address instead of the Google Group address? Answer: If emails are being sent from your personal address rather than the Google Group address, please check the following: 1. Ensure that you have added the Google Group address as an outgoing address in your personal Google account settings. 2. Confirm that you selected the Google Group address from the dropdown menu in ClearFeed and clicked "Save." 3. If you have authenticated correctly and still face issues, try re-authenticating your account by clicking "Continue with Google." Use this link for reference: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/22370?hl=en

10. Why did replying to a ticket in Slack both send an email to the requester and create a new request in the Slack channel? Answer: This usually happens if multiple support email addresses are copied in the message. For example, if both the ClearFeed-generated email (e.g., support@<subdomain>.clearfeed-mail.com) and your forwarding address (e.g., [e-mail]) are copied, ClearFeed may treat the reply as a new request. To resolve this, avoid copying both addresses in replies.

11. Can I use my own support email (e.g., [e-mail]) as the sender instead of the ClearFeed-generated address? Answer: Yes. You can either authenticate the outgoing address with Google/Microsoft OAuth or verify your domain using Custom domain (DKIM). With DKIM, ClearFeed can send from addresses on your verified domain without additional OAuth authentication.

12. Do I still need to use the ClearFeed-generated email address after setting up a custom email? Answer: No. Once your custom email is configured and authenticated or your custom domain is verified with DKIM, you can use it directly. There is no need to CC or reference the ClearFeed-generated email address.

13. Do I still need Google "Send mail as" or Microsoft SendAs permissions if I use DKIM? Answer: No. Those permissions are required for Google/Microsoft OAuth-based sending. If you verify your domain using Custom domain (DKIM), ClearFeed sends directly from your verified domain and does not need Google or Microsoft OAuth for that outgoing address.