Skip to main content
Ingestly can receive and process documents sent via email. Each workflow has an auto-generated email address that you can forward documents to.

​
How it works

  1. Your workflow includes an email trigger node
  2. Documents are sent (or forwarded) to the workflow’s email address
  3. Ingestly extracts attachments from the email
  4. Each attachment becomes a document and, unless the trigger’s Run automatically setting is off, starts a separate workflow run

​
Step 1: Add an email trigger

Open your workflow’s editor and add an Email trigger node. The workflow’s email address is generated automatically. By default the trigger accepts any sender and format and runs each attachment as soon as it arrives; see Email trigger for the full set of options, including turning off Run automatically to hold attachments in the Inbox instead.

​
Step 2: Find the workflow’s email address

The workflow’s email address is displayed on its Settings tab. It follows the format specific to your workflow and organization. Copy this address to use for forwarding or as a destination address.

​
Step 3: Connect the rest of the workflow

Connect the email trigger to your action and output nodes, just like any other trigger. For example: Email Trigger → Extract Action → Callback Output Save and activate the workflow.

​
Step 4: Send a test email

Send an email with a document attachment to the workflow’s email address. Ingestly processes each attachment as a separate document.

​
Handling attachments

  • Each attachment in an email creates a separate document. It also starts a separate run, unless the trigger’s Run automatically setting is off, in which case the document is held instead
  • Only supported formats are processed: .pdf, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tif, .tiff, .gif, .webp, .csv, .docx, .docm, .xlsx, .xlsm, .pptx, .pptm, .odt, .ods, .odp, .rtf. The legacy binary formats .doc, .xls, and .ppt are not accepted. See supported formats
  • Unsupported attachments are ignored
  • The email body itself is not processed. Only attachments are ingested
The total inbound email payload (headers, body, and all attachments) is capped at 30 MB. Messages larger than that are rejected before they reach the workflow. For larger documents, use the webhook trigger instead.

​
Combining with other triggers

You can have both an email trigger and an upload trigger (or webhook trigger) in the same workflow. Documents from any trigger flow through the same downstream actions and outputs.
Email ingestion is useful for automating document processing from existing workflows. For example, set up an email forwarding rule to automatically send invoices to your workflow.