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

# Email in Front

> Route email conversations from Front through OpenCX AI with handoff to your Front inbox.

Email is the most common channel for the Front integration. When a customer emails your support address and the conversation is assigned to the AI <Tooltip tip="A user account in Front. OpenCX posts AI replies as this teammate so customers see a consistent identity.">teammate</Tooltip> (or is unassigned with that option enabled), OpenCX picks it up via webhook, generates a reply, and sends it back through Front as the AI teammate.

## Pre-requisites

<Warning>
  **Connect your Front workspace first.** The AI has nothing to respond to until the webhook is active — start with [Connect Front](/integrations/front/connect) and come back here.
</Warning>

* **Front connected and webhook active** — see [Connect Front](/integrations/front/connect).
* **Email channel configured in Front** — your Front inbox must be receiving emails (connected email account or forwarding address).

## How conversations land in Front

```mermaid theme={"dark"}
flowchart LR
  A[Customer emails support] --> B[Email arrives in Front]
  B --> C[AI replies via Front]
  C --> D{AI can resolve?}
  D -- Yes --> E[Resolution note + archive]
  D -- No --> F[Handoff note + unassign]
  F --> G[Rep picks up in Front]
  G --> H[Rep replies — customer inbox]
```

## Setting up

<Steps>
  <Step title="Confirm email is routing to Front">
    Send a test email to the address your Front inbox is configured to receive. The conversation should appear in your Front inbox.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm the AI processes the email">
    If the conversation is assigned to the AI teammate (or unassigned with that option enabled), the AI should reply within a few seconds. Check that the reply appears as a message from the AI teammate.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Trigger a test handoff">
    Reply to the email thread with *"I want to talk to a human."* The AI should hand off — you'll see an internal handoff comment with summary and sentiment, and the conversation unassigned.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Verify the rep reply loop">
    Pick up the handed-off conversation in your Front inbox. Reply as a teammate — the message should land in the customer's email inbox.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  If the AI doesn't reply to emails, confirm the conversation is assigned to the AI teammate or that **Handle unassigned conversations** is enabled in [settings](/integrations/front/connect#settings-reference).
</Tip>

## What the rep sees

* The conversation appears in their **Front inbox** as an email thread.
* The full AI-to-customer transcript is already in the thread — no separate tool to check.
* An **internal handoff comment** with conversation summary and detected sentiment.
* Replies sent from the Front inbox land in the customer's email inbox.

## Channel-specific details

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Contact matching by email address" icon="address-book">
    OpenCX extracts the sender's email from the webhook payload and matches it to an existing contact. If no match is found, a new contact is created with the sender's name and email address. This means returning customers are automatically linked to their previous sessions.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Attachment handling" icon="paperclip">
    Email attachments are downloaded from Front's API using the authenticated connection and uploaded to OpenCX storage. The AI can reference supported file types (images, documents) in its reasoning. Each attachment retains its original filename and content type.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Teammate replies are skipped" icon="user">
    When a human rep replies to an email conversation in Front, the webhook sends an `outbound` event. OpenCX detects the teammate reply and skips it to avoid duplicate processing. The AI stays out of the way once a rep takes over.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Subject line preserved" icon="heading">
    Front preserves the email subject line on the conversation. The AI processes the message body content — it does not modify or set the subject.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Related Documentation

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Chat channel" icon="comments" href="/integrations/front/channels/web">
    Web chat conversation specifics.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Connect Front" icon="plug" href="/integrations/front/connect">
    API token, webhook, and teammate selection.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Front overview" icon="inbox" href="/integrations/front/overview">
    What else the Front integration covers.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Troubleshooting" icon="wrench" href="/integrations/front/troubleshooting">
    AI not replying to emails, webhook errors, handoff not firing.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>