Starting runs from email
Every workflow can have its own email address. Email it, and a run starts with the email's sender, subject, text and attachments; when the run ends, the sender gets the result as a reply in the same thread. Forward an invoice, get its details back.
Turn it on
- Open the workflow's Email tab.
- Turn on Start runs from email. The workflow gets an address like
run+…@mail.tabductor.com; choose Copy address. - Under Allowed senders, add anyone else who may use it, as an address (
ana@example.com) or a whole domain (@example.com, which doesn't include its subdomains). You can always email it from your sign-in address. Up to 50 entries. - Update the instructions to use the email (below), save, and send a test email.
Keep the address private: anyone on the list who has it can start runs on your balance. If it leaks, Regenerate address; the old one stops working at once.
Use the email in the instructions
An email fills in these four inputs and no others:
| Variable | Value |
|---|---|
$email_from | The sender's address. |
$email_subject | The subject, or "(no subject)". |
$email_body | The text of the email (HTML is converted to text), or "(empty)". Up to 20,000 characters. |
$email_files | The attachments, as a comma-separated list of file IDs the run can open, or "none". |
Read the invoice in $email_files. Add it to the store with its number, date, vendor and total, and reply with the total. If $email_body mentions a purchase order number, include it.
A value the run needs that isn't one of these, such as a city or a date, has to come from the email itself. Ask for it in words (“the city named in $email_body”) rather than as its own $city input, which an email can't fill.
Attachments are saved to Files: up to 10 per email, 25 MB each and 50 MB together. Ones that don't fit are skipped, and the run is told which and why.
The reply
With Reply with the result on (the default), the sender gets a reply when the run ends: how it went, its result, the store rows it changed as an .xlsx file, and the files it produced. Files too large to attach are listed instead. Replying to that email starts another run. Turn it off and no reply is sent when a run ends; an allowed sender whose email couldn't start a run still gets a short reply saying why.
Recent emails and what they mean
The Email tab lists the last 10 emails with their status: Waiting to start, Run in progress, Run finished, Run failed or Run cancelled, with Run details → for the run. Emails that didn't start a run say why.
Ignored
These get no reply, so a stranger can't learn the address works:
| Ignored: … | What to do |
|---|---|
| “No workflow uses this address, or its email trigger is off.” | Check the address, or turn the trigger on. After Regenerate address, the old address stops working. |
| “The sender isn't on this workflow's allowed senders.” | Add the address, or its @domain, under Allowed senders. |
| “The email failed its sender checks (SPF, DKIM or DMARC), so it may not be from who it says.” | Send from a provider that signs its mail, such as Gmail or Outlook, not through a relay that rewrites it. |
| “The email service reported no passing DKIM or DMARC check for it, so it can't be confirmed who sent it.” | As above: the sending domain needs DKIM or DMARC set up. |
| “It was an automatic email (an auto-reply, bulk or mailing-list mail).” | Send it yourself. Mail forwarded by a mailing list or group, and auto-replies, are never accepted. |
| “It came from Tabductor's own address, so answering it would loop.” | Workflows can't email each other's addresses. |
| “This workflow already started 20 runs from email in the last hour.” | Wait, or start the run from Tabductor. The limit is 20 runs per workflow per hour. |
Didn't start a run
The email came from an allowed sender but couldn't start a run. The sender gets a reply, “Your email to <workflow> didn't start a run”, with the reason:
| Reason | What to do |
|---|---|
| “The workflow asks for $<name>, which an email can't fill in, so no run started.” | The instructions use an input that isn't one of the four email variables. Run it from Tabductor to enter the value, or rewrite the instructions to get it from the email, for example "use the city named in $email_body". |
| “The workflow isn't published yet, so it can't run.” | Save the workflow in the editor, then send the email again. |
| “Your Tabductor balance is empty, so the run couldn't start.” | Top up under Billing, then send the email again. |
| “An API client is using this workflow's browser profile, so the run couldn't start.” | Stop that browser (Sessions), then send the email again. |
| “The workflow can't start runs right now: <reason>” | Fix what the reason says in Tabductor, for example choose a browser profile, then send the email again. |
| “The workflow is being deleted, so it no longer starts runs.” | Nothing to do: the workflow is gone. |
| “The email couldn't be read.” | Send it again later. If it keeps happening, run the workflow from Tabductor. |
How long emails are kept
An email's sender, subject and text are deleted 30 days after it arrives; the list then reads “Sender deleted after 30 days”. Attachments stay in Files until you delete them.