Email Automation Rules

Set up rules that run every time an email arrives. FyneDesk evaluates the subject and sender, then applies actions like setting the status, category, priority, or assigning an agent before the ticket is even created.

How it works

Email automation rules let you define conditions and actions that FyneDesk applies during email-to-ticket processing. When an email arrives, FyneDesk checks your rules from top to bottom. The first rule whose conditions all match wins, and its actions are applied to the ticket before it is saved to the database.

This means tickets are born in their final state. There is no brief flash of "New" followed by an update. The ticket is created with the correct status, category, priority, and assignment from the start.

Why this matters Teams that receive high volumes of email, especially recurring reports or system-generated messages, can save significant time by letting rules handle the sorting and closing. Your agents only see the tickets that need human attention.

Creating a rule

You need to be an Admin to manage automation rules. Go to Settings → Channels → Email Rules in your FyneDesk app.

1 Click Add Rule to open the rule editor.
2 Give your rule a clear name, such as "Close daily reports" or "Assign billing emails". This name appears in the rules list and in the ticket activity log when the rule fires.
3 Add one or more conditions. Each condition checks a field (Subject or Sender Email) using an operator (contains, starts with, or equals) against a value you provide.
4 Choose one or more actions: set the ticket status, category, priority, or assign it to a specific agent.
5 Click Create Rule to save. Your rule is enabled by default and takes effect on the next incoming email.

Conditions explained

Every rule has at least one condition. When a rule has multiple conditions, all of them must match for the rule to fire (AND logic).

Available fields

Subject — the subject line of the incoming email
Sender Email — the email address of the person who sent the message

Available operators

contains — the field includes the value anywhere in the text
starts with — the field begins with the value
equals — the field matches the value exactly

Case-insensitive matching All condition checks are case-insensitive. A condition value of "daily report" will match subjects like "Daily Report", "DAILY REPORT", or "daily report".

Actions explained

When a rule matches, its actions are applied to the ticket before it is created. You can combine multiple actions in one rule.

Set status — set the ticket to any status such as Closed, Resolved, On Hold, or others. Useful for auto-closing report emails that need no response.
Set category — assign the ticket to one of your existing categories. Create categories in Settings → Ticket Categories first.
Set priority — set the ticket priority to Low, Medium, High, or Critical.
Assign agent — assign the ticket to a specific agent on your team. This overrides any default routing you may have configured.

Rule priority and first match wins

Rules are evaluated from top to bottom in the order shown on the rules page. The first rule whose conditions all match is applied, and no further rules are checked.

Use the up and down arrows next to each rule to change the order. Put your most specific rules at the top and broader catch-all rules at the bottom.

Example ordering If you have a rule that matches "Subject contains Invoice" and another that matches "Subject contains Invoice overdue", put the "Invoice overdue" rule higher. Otherwise the broader "Invoice" rule will match first and the more specific one will never fire.

How notifications work with rules

Notifications follow each agent's own preferences. There is no special override for automation rules.

If a rule auto-closes a ticket with no agent assigned, no notification is sent (there is no recipient).
If a rule assigns a ticket to an agent, the agent receives a notification only if they have assignment notifications enabled in their profile settings.
Admins control what the rule does. Agents control their own notification preferences.

See the Profile Settings guide for details on managing notification preferences.

Enabling and disabling rules

Each rule has a toggle switch in the rules list. Turn a rule off to temporarily stop it from firing without deleting it. Turn it back on whenever you need it again.

Examples

Auto-close daily report emails

A system sends you a daily sales report email with "Daily Report" in the subject. You want these tracked but closed immediately.

Condition: Subject contains "Daily Report"
Actions: Set status to Closed, Set category to "Reports"

Auto-categorize billing emails

Customers email about invoices and you want them sorted into the right category with high priority.

Condition: Subject contains "Invoice"
Actions: Set category to "Billing", Set priority to High

Auto-assign urgent emails to a specific agent

Emails with "urgent" in the subject should go straight to your most experienced agent.

Condition: Subject contains "urgent"
Actions: Assign agent to [your agent], Set priority to Critical

Auto-close emails from a system sender

A monitoring system sends alert emails that you want logged but not acted on.

Condition: Sender Email equals "alerts@monitoring.example.com"
Actions: Set status to Closed

Troubleshooting

My rule is not working

Check that the rule is toggled on (the switch should be active).
Check the rule order. A broader rule higher in the list may be matching first.
Verify the condition value matches what actually appears in the email. Check spelling and remember that "contains" looks for the value anywhere in the text.
Make sure your organization has email-to-ticket enabled in Settings → Support Channels. Rules only run during email-to-ticket processing.

A ticket was matched by the wrong rule

Check your rule order. Rules are evaluated top to bottom and the first match wins. Move your more specific rules above broader ones.

Can I see which rule matched a ticket?

Yes. When a rule fires, FyneDesk adds an entry to the ticket's activity log showing the rule name and what actions were applied. Open the ticket and scroll to the activity section to see it.