Email to ticket

Connecting the helpdesk@ mailbox you already use, without creating a mail loop.

What you need

• IMAP host, port and security for the mailbox.
• SMTP host, port and security for sending replies.
• A username and password — an app password if the provider uses two-factor authentication.

Setting it up

1. Admin → Mailboxes → Add mailbox.
2. Enter the IMAP details and press Test IMAP. It reports the folder list on success and the exact failure on error.
3. Enter the SMTP details and press Test SMTP.
4. Choose the queue (IT or HR) and the default category and priority for mail that arrives here.
5. Press Sync now and watch the message log.

How replies find their ticket

In this order: the Message-ID, then In-Reply-To, then References, and only then a [TKT000123] token in the subject. Subject-line matching alone is what makes other systems attach a reply to the wrong ticket when somebody forwards a thread.

The loop guard

Automated mail — anything carrying Auto-Submitted, X-Autoreply or a mailing-list header — is discarded rather than turned into a ticket. This is what stops the desk arguing with somebody's out-of-office for a fortnight.

It also means notices relayed through a group address are discarded by default. If a system you rely on sends through a group, add its address to the mailbox's automation allow-list, and only that sender is let through.

When something does not arrive

The message log records every message and the reason for every skip — loop guard, deny list, size, or a parse failure. Start there rather than guessing; it almost always says exactly what happened.

Questions