Email Integration

Servelo handles inbound and outbound email natively. Customers can open tickets by sending an email, reply to updates without ever visiting the portal, and your team can respond directly from their inbox.

Inbound email address

Every tenant has a dedicated inbound email address:

{slug}@serveloapp.com

Any email sent to this address creates a new ticket and notifies your admin. If the sender is not already a client, a client record is created automatically using their name and email address.

New ticket from email

1. Customer sends an email to your support address (e.g. support@yourdomain.com)
2. Your email provider forwards it to {slug}@serveloapp.com
3. AWS SES receives it, stores the raw email in S3, and triggers a Lambda function
4. Lambda identifies the tenant from the To address and posts to the Servelo server
5. A ticket is created. If the sender is new, a client record is created automatically
6. Your admin receives a notification email with the ticket contents
7. The customer receives a confirmation with their ticket number

Reply by email

Both your team and your customers can reply to ticket notification emails. Replies are threaded directly to the correct ticket using a signed reply token embedded in the Reply-To header, no login required.

How reply tokens work

Every outgoing notification email has a Reply-To address in the form:

reply+TOKEN@serveloapp.com

The token is a base64-encoded string containing the tenant slug, ticket ID, and customer ID, signed with an HMAC secret. This means:

• Tokens are unforgeable; tampering with the payload invalidates the signature
• Each token routes to exactly one ticket in exactly one tenant
• Quoted reply content is stripped automatically so only the new message is saved

Email routing logic

Lambda routes inbound emails based on the local part of the To address:

Address pattern	Action
reply+TOKEN@serveloapp.com	Adds a comment to the matching ticket
{slug}@serveloapp.com	Creates a new ticket in the matching tenant
support@serveloapp.com	Forwarded to the operator's personal inbox
legal@serveloapp.com	Forwarded to the operator's personal inbox

Setting up inbound email for your tenant

1. Note your tenant slug (visible in your browser URL, e.g. your-company)
2. In your email provider, add a forward rule: support@yourdomain.com → your-company@serveloapp.com
3. Test by sending an email to your support address, a ticket should appear within seconds
4. Optionally set a Portal Notify Email in Settings to control who gets notified

Outbound email (SMTP)

By default, all emails sent by Servelo (invoices, ticket updates, quote links, and notifications) come from a shared Servelo address. Connecting your own SMTP account means those same emails arrive from your domain, which improves deliverability and looks more professional to your customers.

How to connect your account

1. Go to Settings > General
2. Find the Outbound Email (SMTP) card and tap Set Up
3. Fill in your SMTP host, port, username, and password (see provider instructions below)
4. Optionally set a From Name (e.g. "Acme Support") and a From Email if you want a different display address than your login
5. Tap Send Test to verify the connection. A test email is sent to your account
6. Tap Save

Once saved, every outgoing email from Servelo (to your customers and to your team) uses your SMTP credentials.

Gmail

Field	Value
SMTP Host	smtp.gmail.com
Port	587
Username	Your full Gmail address (e.g. you@gmail.com)
Password	An App Password, not your regular login password (see below)

Using a custom From Email with Gmail

If you want emails to show a different address (like support@yourdomain.com) but still send through Gmail, you need to add it as a Send mail as alias in Gmail first:

1. In Gmail, go to Settings > Accounts > Add another email address
2. Enter your custom address (e.g. support@yourdomain.com) and uncheck "Treat as an alias"
3. Gmail will send a verification code to that address. If you forward support@yourdomain.com to your Gmail (via ImprovMX or similar), the code will arrive in your inbox
4. Once verified, set that address as the From Email in Servelo's SMTP settings

Outlook / Microsoft 365

Field	Value
SMTP Host	smtp.office365.com
Port	587
Username	Your full Outlook or M365 email address
Password	Your account password, or an App Password if your org requires MFA

Other providers

Any provider that supports standard SMTP will work. Common settings:

Provider	Host	Port
Yahoo Mail	smtp.mail.yahoo.com	587
iCloud	smtp.mail.me.com	587
Zoho Mail	smtp.zoho.com	587
Custom mail server	Ask your host	Usually 587

Testing your configuration

Use the Send Test button before saving. A test email is sent to your admin account address. If it does not arrive within a minute, check your spam folder and verify the host, port, username, and password are correct. Common errors:

Error	Likely cause
Authentication failed	Wrong password. For Gmail, make sure you're using an App Password, not your login password.
Connection timeout	Wrong host or port, or the provider blocks outbound SMTP connections. Try port 465 if 587 doesn't work.
Invalid login	Username is wrong. Use your full email address, not just the local part.

Removing SMTP credentials

In the Outbound Email card, tap Configure to expand it, then Disconnect. Servelo will revert to the shared sending address. All existing tickets and history are unaffected.