> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.pipelime.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Inbox overview

> Inbox and Sent tabs, the thread list, the reading pane and the unread count in the sidebar.

export const Screenshot = ({id, alt, caption, frame = 'browser', url, marks = [], lang = 'en', workspace = 'northwind-outbound'}) => {
  const src = `/images/screenshots/${lang}/${id}.png`;
  const chrome = url ? `app.pipelime.ai/${workspace}${url}` : 'app.pipelime.ai';
  return <figure className={`pl-shot pl-shot--${frame} not-prose`}>
      <div className="pl-shot__frame">
        {frame !== 'bare' && <div className="pl-shot__bar">
            <span className="pl-shot__dots">
              <span className="pl-shot__dot" />
              <span className="pl-shot__dot" />
              <span className="pl-shot__dot" />
            </span>
            <span className="pl-shot__url">{chrome}</span>
          </div>}
        <div className="pl-shot__media">
          <img src={src} alt={alt} loading="lazy" />
          {marks.map(mark => <span key={mark.n} className="pl-shot__mark" style={{
    left: `${mark.x}%`,
    top: `${mark.y}%`
  }} aria-hidden="true">
              {mark.n}
            </span>)}
        </div>
      </div>
      {caption && <figcaption className="pl-shot__caption">{caption}</figcaption>}
    </figure>;
};

Inbox is where you read and answer your leads' email (what they sent you, and what your workspace sent them) as two tabs, a message list and a reading pane.

<div className="pl-availability">
  <div className="pl-availability__row">
    <div className="pl-availability__label">Where</div>
    <div className="pl-availability__value"><span className="pl-path">Communication<span className="pl-path__sep">→</span>Inbox</span></div>
  </div>

  <div className="pl-availability__row">
    <div className="pl-availability__label">Your role needs</div>
    <div className="pl-availability__value">Read access to Inbox <code>read-messages</code>. Admin, Member and Viewer have it by default.</div>
  </div>

  <div className="pl-availability__row">
    <div className="pl-availability__label">To create or change</div>
    <div className="pl-availability__value"><code>create-messages</code> to add one, <code>update-messages</code> to change one, on top of the permission above.</div>
  </div>

  <div className="pl-availability__note">If you cannot find this in your sidebar, your workspace may have a custom menu configuration. Contact support and we will check it for you.</div>
</div>

It covers email only. A reply that arrives on another channel is read on that channel's own page, not here. [Channels overview and availability](/en/channels/overview) says which of those channels your workspace has.

## The Inbox and Sent tabs

**Inbox** lists what your leads sent you. **Sent** lists what your workspace sent them. Newest is at the top of both, both are paged, and neither shows warm-up traffic or anything you have deleted.

The search box above the list matches the subject line, and it works on either tab. Next to it, a tag button filters by the lead's tags. It shows a tag icon on its own until you pick something, then the icon and how many tags you picked.

Three more controls sit above the list on the Inbox tab only: **Unread only**, **No auto-replies**, and a reply-score filter. **No auto-replies** is not a per-visit filter. It is saved on the workspace, so it stays on for everyone until someone turns it off. **Mark all as read** joins that row whenever you have unread mail, and it clears every unread message in the workspace, not just the ones the filters are showing you. [Filters, tags and the reply score](/en/inbox/filters-and-reply-score) covers what each one does.

A compose button floats over the bottom-right corner on either tab and opens the compose window.

<Screenshot id="inbox/overview--thread-list" url="/inbox" alt="The Inbox tab with a list of messages: unread rows carry a dot before the lead's name, and one row shows a reply-score badge" caption="An unread row is marked with a dot and heavier text, not just by being at the top." marks={[{ n: 1, x: 14, y: 27 }]} />

Every row (1) shows the lead's avatar with a small dot for their pipeline stage, their name, their company, the subject line and the time. It also shows a paperclip when the message carries files. A Sent row prefixes the name with "To:", since the person named is the recipient. Unread rows add a dot before the name and set the text heavier.

Two things vary. An Inbox row gains a reply-score badge when the AI scored that reply; a Sent row never does. And a message that is scheduled, still a draft, in the middle of sending, or that failed on the way carries a status chip on the second line of its row. [Scheduled, draft and failed messages](/en/inbox/scheduled-drafts-and-message-statuses) covers what each chip says and what you can do from it.

Hover a row and its actions slide in from the right: open the lead in a new tab, mark it read or unread (Inbox rows only, since nothing you sent is ever unread), and delete it, if your role can delete messages.

## Reading a thread

Click a row and the whole conversation loads in the pane on the right, replacing the empty state there. The header names the lead, their company, their job title, the address on the other end and how many messages the thread holds. Its toolbar carries a translate control, a forward control, and **Reply**, the only one of the three drawn as a solid button rather than a bordered icon. [Reply, forward and generate AI replies](/en/inbox/reply-forward-and-ai-replies) covers all three, including the AI-drafted reply.

<Screenshot id="inbox/overview--thread-open" url="/inbox" alt="A thread of several messages open in the reading pane, with the lead's name, company and message count in the header and a Reply button at the top right" caption="The header names who you're talking to and how many messages are in the thread." />

Under the header the conversation is stacked newest first, and every message starts expanded. Nothing is collapsed for you. Collapse one and the rest stay as they were. The pane holds what it is showing until you close it with the back arrow, click another row, switch tabs, or delete the message you were reading. On a narrow screen there is no room for both, so the pane takes over the list instead of sitting beside it.

## The unread badge in the sidebar

The **Communication** group in the sidebar carries an **Inbox** entry, and a red count appears on it whenever you have unread mail. It is the same count the Inbox tab shows, and past a certain size both stop counting exactly and show a number with a plus sign.

The count refreshes as you open a message, mark one read or unread, delete one, or use **Mark all as read** (no page reload), and it re-checks itself in the background while you work. Sending a reply does not move it, because a reply is not something you had left unread.

The list itself also re-fetches in the background while a message is still pending or a scheduled one is past its send time, so a chip can change while you are looking at it: **Pending** disappearing once the message goes out, or a scheduled row turning into a plain sent one.

## When there is nothing to show

Whenever the tab you are on has no rows, the list is replaced by a message rather than an empty table. On a workspace that has never sent or received anything that is **Your inbox is ready for action!**, **Start conversations that convert**, and a **Compose First Email** button that opens the same compose window as the floating one. The same state also turns up when a search or a tag filter matches nothing.

<Screenshot id="inbox/overview--empty" url="/inbox" alt="The Inbox with no messages: an illustration, the heading Your inbox is ready for action, and a Compose First Email button" caption="Nothing has been sent yet, so there is nothing to read yet either." />

**Unread only** is the exception. Turn it on with nothing unread and you get **You're all caught up** instead, with a **Show all messages** button that drops the filter.

[Compose a new email to a lead](/en/inbox/compose-a-new-email) covers what the compose window asks for.

## Where each part is explained

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Reply, forward and generate AI replies" icon="send" href="/en/inbox/reply-forward-and-ai-replies">
    Answer a thread yourself or let the AI draft it, forward the conversation, translate it and attach files.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Filters, tags and the reply score" icon="sliders-horizontal" href="/en/inbox/filters-and-reply-score">
    Search, tag and unread filters, hiding automatic replies, and filtering by the AI reply score.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Scheduled, draft and failed messages" icon="hourglass" href="/en/inbox/scheduled-drafts-and-message-statuses">
    What each status chip on a row means and which actions it offers: cancel, retry, send now, unschedule, edit.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Compose a new email to a lead" icon="mail" href="/en/inbox/compose-a-new-email">
    Start a thread from the inbox compose button: pick the sending account and the lead, attach files and schedule it.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="LinkedIn Chat" icon="messages-square" href="/en/channels/linkedin-chat">
    Read and answer LinkedIn conversations without leaving the app, and understand the states a lead can be in before a chat exists.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Channels overview and availability" icon="share-2" href="/en/channels/overview">
    The other places a lead can answer you, and what decides whether your workspace has each one.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>