Run the inbox: replies, manual threads, link, merge, and audit trail

This guide covers the full inbox workflow: turning a Gmail thread into a checked work order, replying inside ATOM, working manual threads and manual conversations, linking sender or thread to a work order, merging duplicate threads, and checking the inbox audit trail before you close a request.

Use the H&R Maintenance Docs Demo tenant. The examples use the thread Kitchen sink leak assessment — WO-DOC-1001. Sarah Mitchell reports water pooling under the sink at 18 George Street, Unit 4B, Sydney NSW 2000.

#Inbox prerequisites

Before you triage email in the inbox, confirm two things:

• The workspace has a connected Gmail inbox. The list panel header shows Connect Gmail when no inbox is connected. If you see that button and you are an admin, follow the integrations guide to connect Gmail before you keep reading. Operators without integration access should ask an admin instead of clicking through Connect Gmail.
• You are signed in to the right workspace. The inbox lists only threads that belong to the active workspace. If the inbox is empty, check the workspace switcher before you assume a thread is missing.

Manual threads and manual conversations work without Gmail, so you can still capture phone or walk-in requests when Gmail is not yet connected. Replying from inside ATOM does require a connected Gmail inbox that owns the thread.

If the workspace inbox is missing expected Gmail or inbound email, start with Connect and troubleshoot integrations before creating or replying to work orders.

#Screen path

Follow these screens in order for the Gmail triage path:

• Inbox at /inbox
• the selected thread header for Kitchen sink leak assessment — WO-DOC-1001
• Create work order in the thread actions, or Open work order if the request is already saved
• Create work order from email
• Records
• the saved work order at /work-orders/docs-wo-triage
• Open in Inbox

The same inbox page also hosts the manual thread, link, merge, and reply flows described later in this guide. The audit trail lives at /inbox/audit-trail.

#Open the inbound thread

Open Inbox and select Kitchen sink leak assessment — WO-DOC-1001.

Check the selected thread before you read any details. The subject, sender, and context panel should all match Sarah Mitchell's sink leak request. If you just changed threads, wait for Records to finish loading.

Do not reply from a tab that still shows the previous request. The thread view is the source for the next action.

#Review the extracted details

If the thread shows Create work order, click it and review the prefilled fields in Create work order from email. If the thread already shows Open work order, open the saved request and compare Request with the email body.

Confirm these extracted values before you save or accept the work order:

• Title: Kitchen sink leak assessment
• Description: Tenant reports water pooling under the sink and swelling cabinet base.
• Property address: 18 George Street, Unit 4B, Sydney NSW 2000
• Tenant name: Sarah Mitchell
• Tenant email: sarah.mitchell@example.com
• Tenant phone: 0499 030 101
• Priority: High or Emergency for the leak
• Service type: Repair

Treat Tenant name, Tenant email, and Tenant phone as the requester context for the work order. Do not replace them with the agency contact.

If the panel shows Needs: address, Needs: tenant contact, or another Needs: line, pause the work order. Use Try reading again when the email could not be read. If the missing detail must come from a person, add an Office only note as described in Reply vs office-only note.

#Confirm the property and agency context

Open Records in the right context panel.

For this email, confirm these records:

• Work order: Kitchen sink leak assessment
• Property: 18 George Street, Unit 4B, Sydney NSW 2000
• Agency: Harbour & Ridge Property Group

If No property linked appears, use the Property field in Create work order from email to select the George Street property. If No agency linked appears, choose Link agency before you create the work order. The link sender flow is in Link sender to agency.

Keep the tenant context with the same request. Sarah Mitchell is the requester and tenant for this example. Do not copy tenant details from another open thread.

#Create or open the work order

If the thread shows Create work order, open the drawer and check each field before saving.

Use these values:

• Title: Kitchen sink leak assessment
• Description: Tenant reports water pooling under the sink and swelling cabinet base.
• Property: 18 George Street, Unit 4B, Sydney NSW 2000
• Priority: High
• Service Type: Repair

Click Create Work Order once. If ATOM shows Email state is stale. Refresh and retry., refresh the inbox and repeat the check from the selected thread. Do not submit from an old drawer.

In the docs-demo tenant, this request is already saved. Click Open work order instead of creating a duplicate.

#Clean up the saved work order

On /work-orders/docs-wo-triage, check the page title Kitchen sink leak assessment.

Review these sections:

• Request: the description matches Sarah's email.
• Context: the property and agency match the Records panel.
• Service Lifecycle: the next quote, booking, or invoice work starts from this work order.

Add useful tags from the work order footer. For this request, use Add category... to keep Plumbing visible. Keep Service type set to Repair. Set Priority to Emergency if the saved work order needs the stronger label.

If any detail is still uncertain, add an Office only note in Activity. Start the note with Needs review: and name the missing item. Keep the note short so the next admin can act on it.

#Reply vs office-only note

The inbox composer has two modes for the docs-demo Kitchen sink leak assessment thread:

• Everyone writes a reply that goes back to the sender from the connected Gmail inbox. Use this when Sarah needs an answer about access, timing, or scope. The thread also keeps a copy of the reply, so the next admin can read it.
• Office only writes an internal note that stays inside ATOM. Use this when you need to record a decision, flag a missing detail, or hand the thread to another teammate without emailing Sarah.

Pick the mode before you write:

• For a customer-facing answer, leave the toggle on Everyone, confirm the To line still shows sarah.mitchell@example.com, and click Send reply. Add Cc only if a real second recipient must be on the email — do not Cc internal addresses from the inbox composer.
• For an internal handoff, click Office only so the helper text changes to Only visible to your team, then write the note. Start short internal notes with Needs review: when you want the next person to act.

If you see Reply failed or a permission error after Send reply, the thread workspace and the connected Gmail inbox no longer match. Refresh Inbox, reselect Kitchen sink leak assessment — WO-DOC-1001, and try again from the freshly loaded thread. Do not retry from a stale composer.

Choose Office only instead of Everyone when:

• the detail belongs to your team, such as Needs review: confirm tenant access window before booking
• you are recording a decision before you talk to Sarah, such as a quote scope agreed by the agency
• you are answering a teammate's question on the thread without involving Sarah

#Work a manual thread

Manual threads capture intake that did not come from Gmail — phone calls, walk-ins, or notes that another channel did not send. Open Inbox and click New thread in the list panel header to open New thread.

The Start with row shows the available channels. Manual thread is the only enabled option. SMS and Live phone are placeholders for future channels and are disabled.

Fill the manual thread fields for the example below:

• Title: Hallway light flickering — Bondi Beach (leave blank to use a smart default).
• Origin: Manual intake for a walk-in or note. Choose Phone call when the intake came from a phone conversation.
• Contact name, Contact email, Contact phone: the reporter's details.
• Property: select the linked property in Property. ATOM blocks Create thread until a property or work order is selected.
• Work order: pick the existing work order when the intake belongs to an in-progress job; otherwise leave it as No work order linked and use the link flow later.
• First note: capture the conversation in plain language. The first note becomes the first entry of the manual thread.

Click Create thread. The new manual thread appears in Inbox and the right Context panel shows the linked property, agency, and (if selected) work order.

Manual threads differ from Gmail-ingested threads in three ways:

• They do not send email when you reply. Continue the conversation on the channel it started on (phone or in person) and keep the running log in the manual thread.
• They have a Manual badge in the context panel and an origin label such as Manual intake or Phone call.
• They use Link manual thread to a work order instead of the email-driven Create work order from email drawer when the work belongs to an existing job.

#Work a manual conversation

A manual conversation is the inbox surface for an ad-hoc record that already lives elsewhere in ATOM — for example, a coordination ticket the system created on your behalf. They show in Inbox with a Manual badge and an origin label that comes from the source record.

For a manual conversation that does not yet have a work order:

• Confirm the right thread is selected. The header subject and the Records panel must match the manual conversation you are about to act on.
• Click Claim so other operators see the item is being worked.
• The Create work order button is enabled only when an agency is already linked to the manual conversation. If you see the helper line Link an agency before creating a work order, switch to the agency surface and link the property manager, then return.
• Click Create work order. ATOM opens Create work order from manual conversation prefilled with the conversation context. Confirm the title, property, priority, and service type before you save.
• Use Release to drop the claim if you cannot finish the manual conversation right now.

The manual conversation drawer never sends email. Use it for internal coordination work and leave any customer-facing reply for the email or phone channel.

#Link sender to agency

ATOM cannot guess which agency owns a sender's email. Use Link agency on a Gmail-ingested thread when the agency is missing from Records or when ATOM proposes the wrong agency.

Open the docs-demo thread Kitchen sink leak assessment — WO-DOC-1001 and click Link agency. ATOM opens Link sender to agency and shows the sender on the thread, for example sarah.mitchell@example.com.

Fill the dialog:

• Agency: pick the existing Harbour & Ridge Property Group agency. Choose Create a new agency only when no existing record matches; the inline form then collects the new agency name and contact.
• Property manager (optional): record the contact on the sender side so future emails attach to the right property manager.
• Remember the @example.com domain for future emails: tick this only when every email from that domain belongs to the same agency. When in doubt, leave it unticked and link the sender on each thread instead.

The Remember the … checkbox is hidden when the sender uses a shared public domain (such as gmail.com) or when you do not have permission to manage email integration. If the checkbox is missing, the link still applies to this sender and this thread, just not to future senders from the same domain.

Click Link sender. The thread Records panel updates to show the agency. If you ticked the domain checkbox, future emails from that domain will also link to the same agency unless you change the mapping.

Re-open Link sender to agency when you need to switch the agency for the same sender. The dialog reads the current mapping so you do not lose the existing context.

#Link manual thread to a work order

Use this flow when a manual thread describes work that belongs to an existing work order. The action attaches the manual thread to the work order without sending email.

From the docs-demo manual thread Hallway light flickering — Bondi Beach:

• Open the thread and click Link to work order in the manual thread actions.
• In Link manual thread, type a fragment of the work order title or job number into Search work orders. The list filters as you type.
• Pick the matching row. The dialog shows the selected work order title under Selected work order.
• Click Link to work order. ATOM stays on the same thread and updates the Records panel to show the linked work order.

Choose Link manual thread instead of Create work order when:

• the work order already exists and the manual thread is one more conversation on the same job
• you are recording the intake against a job that another operator already opened
• the intake is a follow-up call about an in-progress visit

Choose Create work order from the manual thread when no matching work order exists in Search work orders and the intake is a new job.

#Merge duplicate threads

Use Merge when two Gmail threads describe the same job. Merging keeps a single canonical thread and folds the second thread's emails into it. Merge is available only on Gmail-backed threads (the Merge action does not appear for manual threads or manual conversations).

From the docs-demo thread Kitchen sink leak assessment — WO-DOC-1001:

• Open the … thread actions menu in the top bar and choose Merge.
• Merge conversation thread opens and shows the source thread you are merging in.
• Pick the destination thread from Choose the conversation to merge into. ATOM hides the source thread and already-merged threads from the list to prevent loops.
• Click Merge threads. ATOM closes the dialog, navigates to the destination thread, and surfaces the merged history under one timeline.

Choose Merge thread versus the other actions:

• Choose Merge when the second thread is the same job (same property, same request) that arrived as a separate email. Merging keeps the timeline intact and avoids duplicate work orders.
• Choose Link sender to agency when only the agency mapping is wrong; the thread itself is fine.
• Choose Link manual thread to a work order when a phone or walk-in intake belongs to an existing job. Do not merge a manual thread into a Gmail thread.
• Create a new work order when the request is genuinely new, even if the sender or property looks familiar. A new request needs its own work order.

If ATOM shows Failed to merge threads, the source or destination changed under you. Refresh Inbox, reselect the source thread, and try Merge again from the freshly loaded thread.

#Use the context panel without stale data

The right Context panel reads thread, work order, property, agency, and booking data for the currently selected thread. The data is shared across surfaces, so a stale panel is the most common cause of acting on the wrong job.

Treat these as signals that the panel is still loading:

• Loading thread context in the panel header
• An empty Records row that says Select a conversation to see context
• A spinner on the Bookings or Invoices block

Wait for these to resolve before you reply, link, or create a work order.

Treat these as signals that the panel is wrong for the thread you just selected:

• The thread header reads Kitchen sink leak assessment — WO-DOC-1001 but Records still lists a different work order or property
• Records shows a property address that does not match the email body
• Manual and Email badges disagree across the header, the thread feed, and the context panel

When the panel looks wrong, reselect the thread from the list to re-trigger a fresh load. If the values still disagree, refresh the page before you continue.

#Continue without stale context

Use Open in Inbox when you need to answer the original email. ATOM should return you to the same thread and the same sink leak context.

Before you reply, check three things:

• the thread subject still says Kitchen sink leak assessment — WO-DOC-1001
• Records still shows the George Street property and Harbour & Ridge agency
• the work order row or button still opens Kitchen sink leak assessment

Switching drawers and dialogs is the other common source of stale context. Apply these rules:

• Close Create work order from email, Edit email details, Link sender to agency, Link manual thread, and Merge conversation thread before you switch to a different thread. Each dialog captures the thread it was opened from, and switching threads while a dialog is open can save edits against the wrong thread.
• If the inbox shows the error Email state is stale. Refresh and retry., refresh Inbox, reselect the thread, and reopen the action from the new thread view.
• If you opened the work order in a detail drawer from the thread header (Work order in the … menu), close the drawer before you reply. The composer and the drawer share the same screen, and answering from a detail drawer that points to a previous work order is a common stale-context mistake.

If any value belongs to a different request, stop. Refresh the page, reselect the thread, and wait for the current context to load before editing or replying.

#Verify the inbox audit trail

The inbox audit trail at /inbox/audit-trail records autonomy and decision history for the inbox surface. Use it to confirm an action ran the way you expected before you close a thread.

Open /inbox/audit-trail. The list panel on the left shows recent decisions, oldest at the bottom. Use the search field at the top of the list to narrow the view by sender, work-order title, or action name.

Pick a row and read the detail pane on the right. The pane is the source of truth for what ATOM decided:

• Decision log and the formatted action title (for example Approval reminder send) identify the run.
• What was decided shows Positive when ATOM took the action and Abstain when it chose not to.
• The mode badge near the top reads Ran automatically, Suggested to you, or Done by hand. Suggested to you means ATOM offered an action and a human still needs to decide; Ran automatically means autonomy completed the action without human input; Done by hand means a human ran it directly.
• The Version row shows the decision version. Match it with the timestamp before you compare two runs.

Before you close a thread, use the audit trail to verify:

• An autonomy action you expected actually ran. If the row is missing, the action did not happen and you may need to run it by hand.
• A suggested action that you approved later shows as Positive and Done by hand or Ran automatically. A row still marked Abstain means the suggested action was never executed.
• The action's gold label is Correct action or Not yet reviewed. A row marked Unnecessary action or Missed action should be reviewed before you sign off on the thread.
• The safety incident row reads No issues. A Can be undone or Cannot be undone row needs a teammate review before the thread is closed.

To open the audit trail in context, paste the decision ID into the URL as ?decisionId=<id>. ATOM selects that row on load and keeps the URL in sync as you click other rows, so you can share a link to the exact decision a teammate needs to see.

The audit trail is read-only. Use it to verify what happened; do the next action (reply, link, merge, or close the thread) from Inbox.

#Final check

You are done when:

• the inbox thread is linked to one work order
• the saved work order title, description, property, agency, tenant, priority, and service type match the email
• useful tags or a Needs review: office-only note explain any follow-up
• the audit trail at /inbox/audit-trail shows the expected decisions for the thread, with no untriaged Unnecessary action, Missed action, Can be undone, or Cannot be undone rows
• Open in Inbox returns to the same thread before you continue