ShingleAI unifies your business communications into a single inbox. This page explains how messages are organized, what channels are supported, and how threading works.
Message Basics
A message is any communication sent or received through ShingleAI. Each message has:
| Property | Description |
|---|
| Direction | Incoming (received) or outgoing (sent) |
| Timestamp | When the message was sent or received |
| Sender | Who sent the message |
| Recipient(s) | Who received the message |
| Content | The message body and any attachments |
| Thread ID | Groups related messages together |
Supported Channels
ShingleAI supports multiple communication channels:
| Channel | Description | Status |
|---|
| Email | Gmail, Outlook, Office 365 | Available |
| SMS | Text messages via Twilio | Available |
| WhatsApp | WhatsApp Business messages | Coming soon |
| Signal | Signal messenger | Coming soon |
| Telegram | Telegram messages | Coming soon |
| Voicemail | Transcribed voicemails | Coming soon |
Email is the primary channel. Connect your Google or Microsoft account in Resources to start receiving messages.
Email Messages
Email messages include additional properties:
| Property | Description |
|---|
| Subject | Email subject line |
| To/CC/BCC | Recipients and their visibility |
| Headers | Technical email headers |
| Labels | Gmail labels or Outlook categories |
| Attachments | Files attached to the email |
Email Features
- HTML rendering - Emails display with full formatting
- Attachment preview - View images and documents inline
- Reply/Forward - Respond directly from ShingleAI
- Labels sync - Gmail labels and Outlook categories are synced
Threads
A thread is a group of related messages. Threading helps you follow conversations without losing context.
How Threading Works
ShingleAI groups messages into threads based on:
- Email headers - The
In-Reply-To and References headers
- Subject matching - Messages with the same subject
- Participants - Messages between the same people
When you click a message in your inbox, you see the entire thread—all related messages in chronological order.
Thread View
The thread view shows:
- All messages in the conversation
- Newest messages at the bottom
- Sender information for each message
- Timestamps
- Attachments
You can reply from the thread view, and your response will be part of the same conversation.
Inbox Organization
Messages are organized into four views:
Inbox
Your main inbox shows messages that need attention:
- Unread messages
- Messages you haven’t archived
- Recent conversations
Sent
Messages you’ve sent, organized by date.
Snoozed
Messages you’ve temporarily hidden. Snoozed messages reappear at a time you choose:
- Later today
- Tomorrow
- Next week
- Custom date/time
Snoozing is useful for messages you can’t deal with right now but don’t want to forget.
Archived
Messages you’ve filed away. Archived messages are:
- Removed from your inbox
- Still searchable
- Still accessible in the Archived view
- Not deleted
Message Actions
From any message, you can:
| Action | Keyboard | Description |
|---|
| Reply | R | Send a response |
| Reply All | A | Reply to all recipients |
| Forward | F | Send to someone else |
| Archive | E | Move to archived |
| Snooze | H | Hide temporarily |
| Delete | # | Move to trash |
Searching Messages
Find messages using the search bar in the header. You can search by:
- Content - Words in the message body
- Sender - Email address or name
- Subject - Email subject line
- Date - Messages from a specific time period
- Attachments - Messages with files
Example searches:
from:john@example.com - Messages from Johnsubject:invoice - Messages with “invoice” in the subjecthas:attachment - Messages with attachmentsafter:2024-01-01 - Messages after a specific datebefore:2024-12-31 - Messages before a specific datefrom:john has:attachment - Combine multiple filters
Messages are automatically linked to contacts:
- When a message arrives, ShingleAI checks the sender’s email
- If a contact exists with that email, the message is linked
- Click the contact name to see their full profile
This means you can:
- View all messages with a contact from their profile
- See contact details directly from a message
- Quickly create contacts from message senders
