Start with a queue that crosses departments
Procurement asks for delivery confirmation, the supplier sends a revised invoice and logistics needs to know whether the shipment changed. An agent creates value by linking messages to the process and preparing the next action with an owner. Choose one mailbox and one issue class, such as a missing purchase-order document.
Define input, output and closure criteria: receiving a reply does not close the case if the correct attachment is still missing. Start with classification and team-reviewed response proposals. Expand automatic sending only to situations and recipients authorized by the process owner.
Confirm the account, consent and operations
Zild Docs describe the Outlook connector using delegated Microsoft 365 OAuth configured through Admin. The integration must confirm available operations and mailboxes. Reading messages, creating drafts and sending replies are different capabilities; a saved connection does not prove they all work.
In Microsoft Graph, createReply creates a draft and sending is a separate operation; the documentation requires Mail.ReadWrite to create that draft. This does not establish that the Zild connector already exposes that action or permission. Without native drafts, a response proposal can remain in a review task before sending through the validated workflow.
Preserve message and process identity
Link account, message ID, conversation, sender, recipients, date and purchase-order or case reference. Do not rely on the subject alone: two suppliers may send the same title, and one conversation may discuss several orders. Confirm the association before updating the source system.
The current POST /Conversation/email contract documents from, body, to, subject and ccEmails. It does not document an idempotency field or thread identifier. If the project needs these guarantees, the integration layer must preserve them and validate behavior with the technical team. Do not add invented fields to API examples.
Use attachments as evidence with version and source
A revised invoice must be linked to the correct issuer, message and order. Record which version supersedes its predecessor, retain the original and check critical fields against the ERP. OCR and summaries help locate information; they do not establish authenticity, payment authorization or approval of changed bank details.
Treat instructions inside emails and attachments as received content, not authorization to widen access or execute tools. Requests to ignore rules, add recipients or share documents require the process’s defined controls. Separate external content from agent policies.
Prevent duplicates, loops and out-of-context replies
Synthetic example: a supplier confirms Friday delivery for order 814. The same message reaches the integration twice. The workflow should record one confirmation and prepare at most one action for that event. A later message correcting delivery to Monday is new evidence to reconcile, not a duplicate.
Maintain a stable key per message and action, processing states and send confirmation. Reconcile after a timeout before retrying. Exclude automatic replies, messages generated by the workflow itself and failure notifications using tested rules. Retry limits and escalation deadlines prevent two bots from replying indefinitely.
Monitor message arrival and connection health
Microsoft Graph supports subscription-based change notifications. Its documentation distinguishes delegated access to the signed-in user’s mailbox from shared-mailbox scenarios requiring specific permission assessment. Do not assume access to a shared mailbox automatically enables webhook monitoring.
Confirm during deployment how Zild receives messages and detects delays, revoked consent and workflow interruption. The team needs visibility into pending messages and an owner for recovery. A silent mailbox can mean no demand or a failed integration; operational monitoring should distinguish the two.
Test recipients, content and business effects
Use synthetic messages with ambiguous orders, inappropriate CC recipients, missing attachments, revised deadlines, automatic replies, duplicates and malicious instructions in the body. Include an unauthorized identity. Check case association, data accuracy, recipients and the number of resulting actions.
Measure correctly resolved issues, reviewed responses, association errors, inappropriate sends and cost per closed case. Response volume is insufficient: a fast reply can prolong the process if it requests the wrong document. Before enabling sends, approve the test set and the method for stopping the workflow.
Connect the inbox to operations
Deployment can use Admin for agents and connectors, Flow for owners and pending work, and queries to authoritative systems. Email carries communication; the process needs a visible state beyond the conversation, such as awaiting document, under review or complete.
Bring an anonymized message sequence and the corresponding ERP case to the assessment. Define what the agent can read, prepare, send and change. This design turns the inbox into a coordinated handoff between people and tools with a verifiable outcome and tracked cost.
Technical references
- Microsoft Graph — Create a reply draft Checked on
- Microsoft Graph — Outlook change notifications Checked on
Choose a procurement or inventory issue
Gather this information to scope the work with Zild. During the conversation, we assess integrations, owners and how to measure outcomes.
- An item, order or previously resolved discrepancy
- Sources for stock, units and movements
- Who approves and how completion is confirmed
Describe the process in the form; samples and documents can be prepared later without confidential data.
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