The Direct Reply feature allows users to reply directly to email notifications (such as mentions, DMs, or channel messages), with their email replies automatically posted back into Rocket.Chat as messages. It effectively bridges email communication and Rocket.Chat, making sure replies via email aren’t lost or disconnected. We currently use sub addressing for this feature.
Before you enable this feature, note the following points:
SMTP (or the Mailer tool) sends out emails, while Direct Reply handles incoming responses.
If the Direct Reply option is enabled, Rocket.Chat will control the configured email mailbox. All unread e-mails are retrieved, marked as read, and processed. The Direct Reply option should only be activated if the mailbox used is intended exclusively for access by Rocket.Chat and is not read or processed "in parallel" by humans.
Currently, only emails in English are supported, at least the quote
On <date>, <author> wrote:is in English.An email body in languages other than English may also work until and unless
On <date>, <author> wrote:is in English, or a copy of an older email is removed manually.Only text messages are supported; attachments are not supported yet.
To set up the direct reply configuration, go to Administration > Workspace > Settings > Email. On the Email settings page, select the Direct Reply tab and update the following fields:
Field | Description |
|---|---|
Enable Direct Reply | Enable this option to allow direct replies through emails. |
Debug Direct Reply | Enable this option to allow debugging for direct replies. Keep in mind that enabling this mode will display your 'Plain Text Password' in the admin console. |
Protocol | Select the email server protocol ( |
Host | Enter your email server hostname (for example, |
Port | Enter the email server port (143 or 993 for IMAP and 110 or 995 for POP). |
IgnoreTLS | Enable this option to ignore TLS (Transport Layer Security). Set to true if the port is 143 or 110. |
Email Check Frequency | Enter the frequency that the email should be checked (in minutes) if the POP server (>=2). |
Delete Emails | Delete intercepted emails. We recommend keeping If this option is activated, all unread messages are irrevocably deleted, even those that are not direct replies. The configured e-mail mailbox is then always empty and cannot be processed in "parallel" by humans. |
Separator | A separator (default and recommended) is the character separating the base and tag part of the email. For example, |
Username | Enter the email server username. |
Reply-to | Enter the reply-to email address. |
Password | Enter the email server password. |
Once you’re done, click Save changes. Now, you can reply to chat messages via email. It supports full formatting such as inline, multiline, bold, and italics.
If you want to switch from IMAP to POP using the same email address, you must empty all the folders. Keeping all emails results in duplicate messages because all those messages in POP are treated as new messages.
If your message wasn't posted, check if you got an Invalid Email in the Admin console. This likely means that the email format was not as expected. Maybe you were blocked, or the message/room was deleted.
Checking headers and signatures
Quoted headers
Quoted headers aren't picked up if the email client breaks it up into multiple lines. Gmail breaks up any lines over 80 characters for you.
On <date>, <author>
wrote:
> blahAlso, we are searching for on and wrote. It doesn't work with other languages.
Possible solution: While replying, remove everything other than your actual message.
Signatures
Lines starting with - or _ sometimes mark the beginning of signatures:
Hello
--
RickBut some users change this convention:
Hello
Mr Rick Olson
Galactic President Superstar Mc Awesomeville
GitHub
**********************DISCLAIMER***********************************
* Note: blah blah blah *
**********************DISCLAIMER***********************************