> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.artific.nl/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.artific.nl/en/for-everyone/inbox/handling-a-message.md).

# Handling a message

Reviewing a draft, sending it, and what else you can do with a conversation.

## Reading the conversation

Opening a conversation shows the whole thread, oldest at the top. Each message shows who sent it, the subject and when. Attachments appear as cards you can preview or download.

Drafts do not appear in the thread. They live in the reply editor.

## The reply editor

**Reply** opens the editor beneath the latest incoming message, with the assistant's draft already in it.

### Reviewing a draft

Read it as if a colleague had written it, because in effect one has.

* **Is it correct?** Check facts, dates, amounts and names against what you know.
* **Does it actually answer the question?** Drafts sometimes answer a near-miss.
* **Is the tone right for this sender?** An annoyed customer needs a different register from a routine enquiry.
* **Is anything missing?** The assistant only knows what it was given.

{% hint style="warning" %}
The draft is written by an assistant that can be confidently wrong. You are the check. Once you press send it goes out over your organisation's name.
{% endhint %}

### Editing

The editor is a normal rich-text editor. Change anything you like.

Your edits are **saved automatically** a few seconds after you stop typing, so a draft survives you being interrupted.

### Generating a fresh draft

**Generate reply** throws the current draft away and writes a new one. Useful when the draft went in a direction that is not worth editing.

Where more than one draft exists, a dropdown lets you switch between them, each labelled by date and whether it was **AI-generated** or **Modified**.

### Sending

**Send** delivers the reply, wrapped in your organisation's mail template. Your branding and signature are added automatically, so you do not need to write them.

`Cmd`/`Ctrl` + `Enter` sends without reaching for the mouse.

The conversation then moves to **Answered**. If the sender writes again, it reopens under **Open**.

## Forwarding

**Forward** sends the conversation to people outside the platform: a specialist, another department, a supplier.

| Field                    | What it is                                    |
| ------------------------ | --------------------------------------------- |
| **To**                   | Recipients. **Cc** and **Bcc** are available. |
| **Accompanying message** | Your note, placed above the history.          |

Up to twenty recipients in total. Forwarding starts a new thread rather than replying to the original sender, and does not change the conversation's status.

Write the accompanying message properly. The recipient gets a wall of history and needs to know in one sentence what you want from them.

## Ending a conversation

**End conversation** moves it to **Closed**. Closed conversations cannot be answered.

This is less final than it sounds: if the sender writes again, the conversation reopens automatically and returns to **Open**.

## Habits that work

* **Read the whole thread first**, not just the latest message. Drafts are written from the conversation, and so should your judgement be.
* **Edit rather than regenerate.** Fixing two sentences is faster than starting again.
* **Tell your administrator when drafts are consistently wrong** about something. It usually means a document behind the assistant needs updating, and fixing it improves every future draft. See [Getting help](/en/for-everyone/getting-help.md).
* **Do not send a draft you have not read.** Ever.