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EmailReceiver

EmailReceiver Node Documentation

Overview​

The EmailReceiver node connects to your email account and automatically retrieves emails based on your criteria. This powerful automation tool can fetch unread emails, search for specific messages, and even process email attachments - all without any manual intervention.

Perfect for: Customer service automation, order processing, document collection, lead management, and any business process that starts with incoming emails.

Key Benefits​

  • Eliminate Manual Email Checking: Automatically monitor your inbox 24/7
  • Smart Email Filtering: Only process emails that match your specific criteria
  • Attachment Processing: Extract and process documents, images, and files from emails
  • Seamless Integration: Pass email data directly to other workflow nodes
  • Enterprise Security: Secure IMAP connection with encrypted password storage

Configuration Parameters​

IMAP Connection Settings​

Host

  • Field Name: imapHost
  • Type: Text field
  • Default Value: Empty
  • Simple Description: The email server address for your email provider
  • When to Change This: Enter your email provider's IMAP server (e.g., imap.gmail.com, outlook.office365.com)
  • Business Impact: Incorrect host settings will prevent the node from connecting to your email account

Username

  • Field Name: imapUsername
  • Type: Text field
  • Default Value: Empty
  • Simple Description: Your complete email address used to log into your email account
  • When to Change This: Enter the full email address you want to monitor
  • Business Impact: Must match your actual email login credentials for successful connection

Password

  • Field Name: imapPassword
  • Type: Password field (hidden text)
  • Default Value: Empty
  • Simple Description: Your email account password or app-specific password
  • When to Change This: Use your regular password or create an app password for enhanced security
  • Business Impact: Incorrect password will block access to your email account

Email Fetch Settings​

Fetch Type

  • Field Name: fetchType
  • Type: Dropdown menu with options:
    • Unseen Emails: Retrieves only unread emails from your inbox
    • Seen Emails: Retrieves emails you've already read
    • From Email: Searches for emails from a specific sender address
  • Default Value: Empty (must be selected)
  • Simple Description: Determines which emails the node will collect from your account
  • When to Change This: Choose based on your automation needs - unseen for new customer inquiries, from email for specific vendor communications
  • Business Impact: Wrong selection could process duplicate emails or miss important messages

Search Value

  • Field Name: searchValue
  • Type: Text field
  • Default Value: Empty
  • Simple Description: Additional filter criteria for finding specific emails
  • When to Change This: Enter sender email address when using "From Email" fetch type, or keywords for content filtering
  • Business Impact: Helps narrow down email processing to only relevant messages, reducing noise and improving accuracy

Processing Controls​

Limit Fetch Count

  • Field Name: fetchLimit
  • Type: Toggle switch (On/Off)
    • On: Restricts the number of emails processed in each workflow run
    • Off: Processes all emails matching your criteria (default)
  • Default Value: Off
  • Simple Description: Controls whether to limit how many emails are processed at once
  • When to Change This: Enable when dealing with high-volume email accounts to prevent system overload
  • Business Impact: Prevents workflow timeouts and ensures consistent performance with large email volumes

Fetch Count

  • Field Name: fetchTopNEmails
  • Type: Number input
  • Valid Range: 1 to 1000
  • Default Value: 0
  • Simple Description: Maximum number of emails to process when limit is enabled
  • When to Change This: Set based on your processing capacity and workflow complexity
  • Business Impact: Higher numbers process more emails but may slow down workflow execution

Attachment Processing​

Allow Attachments

  • Field Name: allowAttachments
  • Type: Toggle switch (On/Off)
    • On: Downloads and processes email attachments
    • Off: Ignores all email attachments (default)
  • Default Value: Off
  • Simple Description: Enables the node to extract and process files attached to emails
  • When to Change This: Enable when your workflow needs to process documents, images, or other files sent via email
  • Business Impact: Essential for document processing workflows but increases processing time and storage usage

Content Types Configuration

  • Field Name: attachmentsContentTypes
  • Type: Data grid with add/edit/delete capabilities
  • Available Content Types:
    • Excel XLSX: Microsoft Excel spreadsheets (.xlsx)
    • Word DOCX: Microsoft Word documents (.docx)
    • PowerPoint PPTX: Microsoft PowerPoint presentations (.pptx)
    • PDF Document: Adobe PDF files (.pdf)
    • CSV: Comma-separated value files (.csv)
    • Text: Plain text files (.txt)
    • JPEG: JPEG image files (.jpg, .jpeg)
    • PNG: PNG image files (.png)
    • HTML: HTML web pages (.html)
  • Actions for Each Type:
    • Include: Process attachments of this type
    • Exclude: Skip attachments of this type
  • Default Value: Empty list
  • Simple Description: Specifies which file types to process or ignore from email attachments
  • When to Change This: Add file types you need to process and set action to "Include", or add types to avoid and set to "Exclude"
  • Business Impact: Proper filtering ensures only relevant attachments are processed, saving time and storage space

Output Configuration​

Output Format

  • Field Name: outTransformId
  • Type: Dropdown menu with options:
    • Original with appended result column: Adds email data as a new column to existing workflow data
    • Return result column only: Outputs only the email information, replacing previous data
    • Spread by attachments: Creates separate rows for each email attachment
  • Default Value: "Original with appended result column"
  • Simple Description: Controls how email data is formatted and passed to the next workflow node
  • When to Change This: Choose based on how you want to use the email data in subsequent workflow steps
  • Business Impact: Affects data structure for all downstream processing nodes

Result Property Name

  • Field Name: outColumnName
  • Type: Text field
  • Default Value: "email_message"
  • Simple Description: Name of the column that will contain email data when using "Original with appended result column" format
  • When to Change This: Use descriptive names like "customer_email" or "support_ticket" for better data organization
  • Business Impact: Clear column names make data easier to understand and process in later workflow steps

Real-World Use Cases​

Customer Support Automation​

Business Situation: A software company receives 200+ support emails daily and wants to automatically categorize and route them to appropriate team members.

What You'll Configure:

  • Set IMAP settings to connect to support@company.com
  • Choose "Unseen Emails" from the fetch type dropdown
  • Enable "Limit fetch count" and set to 50 emails per run
  • Select "Original with appended result column" for output format
  • Set result property name to "support_email"

What Happens: Every time the workflow runs, it processes up to 50 new support emails, extracting sender information, subject lines, and message content for automatic categorization.

Business Value: Reduces response time by 75% and ensures no customer emails are missed during busy periods.

Invoice Processing Workflow​

Business Situation: An accounting department needs to automatically extract invoice PDFs from vendor emails and process them for approval.

What You'll Configure:

  • Connect to accounting@company.com using IMAP settings
  • Select "From Email" fetch type and enter vendor email addresses
  • Enable "Allow Attachments" toggle
  • Add "PDF Document" to content types with "Include" action
  • Choose "Spread by attachments" output format

What Happens: The node monitors for emails from specific vendors, downloads PDF invoices, and creates separate workflow entries for each invoice document.

Business Value: Eliminates manual PDF downloading and reduces invoice processing time from hours to minutes.

Lead Generation from Contact Forms​

Business Situation: A marketing agency wants to automatically capture leads from website contact form submissions sent to their email.

What You'll Configure:

  • Set up IMAP connection to leads@agency.com
  • Choose "Unseen Emails" to catch new submissions
  • Set search value to filter for contact form emails
  • Use "Return result column only" output format
  • Name the result column "new_lead"

What Happens: New contact form submissions are automatically captured and formatted for immediate follow-up processing.

Business Value: Increases lead response speed by 90% and prevents potential customers from being overlooked.

Step-by-Step Configuration​

Setting Up Email Connection​

  1. Adding the Node:

    • Drag the EmailReceiver node from the left panel onto your workflow canvas
    • Connect it to your trigger node or previous processing node

  2. Configuring IMAP Settings:

    • Click on the EmailReceiver node to open the settings panel
    • If you see a "Missing IMAP settings" warning, click "Fix now"
    • Enter your email server address in the "Host" text field
    • Type your complete email address in the "Username" field
    • Enter your password in the "Password" field (this will be hidden for security)

  3. Setting Up Email Retrieval:

    • Select your preferred option from the "Fetch type" dropdown menu
    • If using "From Email", enter the sender's email address in the "Search value" field
    • For high-volume accounts, check the "Limit fetch count" box and set an appropriate number

Configuring Attachment Processing​

  1. Enabling Attachments:

    • Check the "Allow Attachments" box if you need to process email attachments
    • Click "Add" in the Content Types section to specify file types

  2. Setting File Type Rules:

    • Choose a content type from the dropdown (e.g., "PDF Document")
    • Select "Include" to process this file type or "Exclude" to skip it
    • Repeat for each file type you want to control
    • Click "Save" to confirm your content type settings

Finalizing Output Settings​

  1. Choosing Output Format:

    • Select your preferred option from the "Output Format" dropdown
    • If using "Original with appended result column", enter a descriptive name in "Result Property Name"

  2. Testing Your Configuration:

    • Click "Test Configuration" to verify your settings
    • Review the preview to ensure emails are being captured correctly
    • Save your node configuration

Industry Applications​

Healthcare Organizations​

Common Challenge: Patient appointment confirmations and medical document submissions arrive via email but require manual processing.

How This Node Helps: Automatically monitors patient communication emails and extracts appointment details and medical documents for streamlined processing.

Configuration Recommendations:

  • Use "Unseen Emails" fetch type for new patient communications
  • Enable attachment processing for medical documents (PDF, images)
  • Set fetch limit to 25 for manageable processing batches
  • Use descriptive result column names like "patient_communication"

Results: Medical offices reduce administrative overhead by 40% and improve patient communication response times.

E-commerce Businesses​

Common Challenge: Order confirmations, shipping notifications, and customer inquiries flood the inbox, making it difficult to track and respond appropriately.

How This Node Helps: Automatically sorts and processes different types of e-commerce emails for appropriate routing and response.

Configuration Recommendations:

  • Set up multiple EmailReceiver nodes for different email types
  • Use "From Email" fetch type for specific vendor communications
  • Enable attachment processing for shipping labels and receipts
  • Choose "Spread by attachments" for order-related documents

Results: E-commerce companies see 60% faster order processing and improved customer satisfaction scores.

Common Challenge: Client documents, court filings, and correspondence arrive via email and must be properly categorized and stored for case management.

How This Node Helps: Automatically captures legal documents and client communications for immediate processing and filing.

Configuration Recommendations:

  • Connect to case-specific email addresses
  • Enable comprehensive attachment processing (PDF, Word, Excel)
  • Use "Original with appended result column" to maintain case context
  • Set conservative fetch limits to ensure thorough processing

Results: Law firms reduce document processing time by 50% and improve case file organization accuracy.

Troubleshooting Common Issues​

Connection Problems​

  • Issue: "Missing IMAP settings" warning appears
  • Solution: Verify all three IMAP fields (Host, Username, Password) are completed
  • Prevention: Use the "Fix now" button to quickly navigate to connection settings

Authentication Failures​

  • Issue: Node cannot connect to email account
  • Solution: Check if your email provider requires app-specific passwords instead of regular passwords
  • Prevention: Enable two-factor authentication and generate dedicated app passwords for automation

No Emails Retrieved​

  • Issue: Workflow runs but no emails are processed
  • Solution: Verify fetch type settings match your email situation (unseen vs. seen emails)
  • Prevention: Test with a small batch first using the fetch limit feature

Attachment Processing Issues​

  • Issue: Expected attachments are not being processed
  • Solution: Check content types configuration and ensure file types are set to "Include"
  • Prevention: Review the content types list and add any missing file formats your emails might contain

Security Best Practices​

  • Use app-specific passwords instead of your main email password
  • Regularly rotate email credentials used in workflows
  • Monitor email access logs for unusual activity
  • Limit fetch counts to prevent excessive email processing
  • Use dedicated email accounts for automation when possible

Performance Optimization​

  • Set appropriate fetch limits based on your email volume
  • Use specific search criteria to reduce unnecessary processing
  • Schedule workflows during off-peak hours for large email volumes
  • Monitor workflow execution times and adjust settings as needed
  • Consider using multiple EmailReceiver nodes for different email types rather than one complex configuration