# Shared inbox with an AI agent: three setups for small teams

> How a small team shares one inbox while an AI agent drafts replies: a shared inbox tool, a shared mailbox at Microsoft or Google, or one person who approves.

Updated: 2026-10-28 · Fact-checked: 2026-10-28 · Canonical: https://commandmail.app/en/guides/shared-inbox-ai-agent · Deutsch: https://commandmail.app/de/anleitungen/gemeinsames-postfach-mit-ki-agent.md

The most reliable way for a small team to share an inbox with an AI agent is to give every person their own access, assign each conversation to one person, and let the agent write drafts that a human approves. Shared inbox tools such as Front, Missive and Help Scout are built for this, with built-in AI features, and the shared mailboxes in Microsoft 365 and Google cover part of it. Command Mail fits the narrower case where a single person approves.[^4][^5][^6]

Command Mail is our product. This guide compares the three setups by what they actually do for a team of two to ten people, and is open about what Command Mail does not do.

## What a shared team inbox has to do

A shared inbox works when everyone can see what comes in and it is still clear who replies. Without that, two people answer the same customer, or nobody does because each assumes the other will.

A team needs four things for this: personal access for each person instead of a shared password, a way to assign conversations, internal notes the customer never sees, and a sender that shows the team address. Add an AI agent and you need a fifth: a clear rule for who approves its drafts before anything goes out.

## Setup 1: a shared inbox tool with built-in AI

Shared inbox tools are made for exactly this job. They pull an address such as support@ into one workspace where each person signs in separately, and most now include AI drafts.

**Front** gives you a shared inbox for up to ten seats on its Starter plan at $25 per seat per month, billed annually. The pricing page lists assignments, internal comments and shared drafts. AI reply drafts come with Copilot, an add-on at $20 per seat per month on Starter and Professional and included in Enterprise. The pricing page also lists connecting external AI agents built with Claude, Codex and others. Front offers a 14-day trial.[^4]

**Missive** costs $14 per user per month, billed yearly, on Starter, which covers up to five users. Its feature list includes team inboxes, internal threads, collaborative drafting, assignment and AI drafts, paid with Missive AI credits or your own key for Anthropic, OpenAI or Gemini. API and MCP access for your own agents starts with Productive at $24 per user per month, billed yearly. The trial runs 30 days.[^5]

**Help Scout** has a free plan with five users, one inbox and 100 contacts a month. The pricing page shows $25 per user per month for Standard and $45 for Plus; its text does not make clear whether these are monthly or annual prices. It lists unlimited AI Drafts, replies drafted from past conversations and help content, from Plus upward.[^6]

These tools offer the features for working an inbox together, such as assignment and internal notes; which ones you get depends on the plan. The trade-off is a new interface to learn. Their built-in AI works inside it, and you can bring your own agent through Front's external agents feature or Missive's API and MCP access. Check which plan includes that before you commit.[^4][^5]

## Setup 2: a shared mailbox at your email provider

If your team already runs on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, you can share a mailbox without adding a tool. At Microsoft, Copilot helps with limits; at Google, the AI features are not available in delegated accounts.

### Microsoft 365 shared mailbox

In Microsoft 365, an ordinary shared mailbox needs no license of its own up to 50 GB; more storage and certain archiving and compliance features need further licenses. Everyone who opens it needs a licensed Exchange Online mailbox. People with the right permissions send as the mailbox or on its behalf, so customers see the team address.[^7]

Microsoft says Copilot Chat in Outlook now works in shared and delegated mailboxes: it summarizes and drafts within the permissions each person has. Sending on the mailbox's behalf, marking, deleting, categorizing and rules are not supported there yet and are listed as coming soon. Copilot keeps the chat history in each person's own account, so others in the same mailbox do not see it.[^8] Chatting with Copilot in Outlook requires a work or school account and the new Outlook for Windows or Outlook on the web.[^11] Whether a given Copilot experience is available to you also depends on the app, license and your organization's configuration, Microsoft says.[^12] A shared mailbox has no built-in way to assign mail to a person; categories or flags can serve as a workaround.

### Google: delegation and groups

In Gmail, delegation lets other people into your mailbox: up to ten on a personal account and up to 1,000 on a work or school account. Delegates can read, send and delete. When a delegate sends from your account, Google says their own address appears as well. Gmail Help lists Gemini in Gmail, Smart Compose and Smart Reply among the features delegates cannot use.[^9]

The other Google option is a Google Group set up as a Collaborative Inbox. Members with the right permission can take conversations and assign them to others; group owners or managers decide who has that permission.[^10] The help page does not mention AI features for this view.

## Setup 3: Command Mail when one person approves

Command Mail fits a team where an agent drafts replies and exactly one person decides what goes out. For example, a three-person office forwards support@ to Command Mail, the owner's agent writes drafts, and she approves each version.

For several people, Command Mail offers a Team plan at €39 per person per month, set up together with you on request; the home page lists shared mailboxes for it.[^2] In the application code at commit `9cab1eb`, each person has their own account, and every address is assigned to exactly one account. If you own a domain verified by DNS that Command Mail sends for itself, an address on that domain in another person's account may send once the domain owner allows it, and that permission can be taken back.

To be clear about what Command Mail does not offer: in the application code at commit `9cab1eb` we find neither shared access by several accounts to the same address nor assignment, internal comments or an indicator of who is replying. Forwarding is not syncing; archiving or deleting in Command Mail changes nothing at your old provider.

## What you need for the Command Mail setup

- A Command Mail account for the person who approves. Every address belongs to exactly one account, so the team address goes into this one.
- Pro if mail should be sent from Command Mail. The free plan does not send.[^1]
- Forwarding of the team address from your current provider and, for sending, a sending route. A forwarded-only address usually sends only once SMTP or the relay is set up; see [Connect your own domain](https://commandmail.app/en/guides/connect-your-own-domain).
- An agent that supports MCP, such as Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code or Codex, connected to `https://commandmail.app/mcp`.[^1]

## Set up Command Mail step by step

1. **Connect the team address.** Add the address in the approver's account and set up forwarding at your current provider to its private intake address.[^3]
2. **Connect the agent with draft permissions.** On the authorization page, grant `mail:read` and `mail:draft`. If the agent should send the approved version itself, add `mail:send-approved`. Leave `mail:send` off.[^1]
3. **Keep the mailbox on `suggest`.** Under `Settings` → `Automation & rules` you set the level per mailbox. On `suggest` and `rules`, an agent sends only drafts you have approved.[^3]
4. **Set up a sending route.** Under `Settings` → `Connections`, give the team address a sending route if it has none yet.
5. **Approve and send.** According to the documentation, only a person in the browser can approve drafts. Then you send the draft yourself, or the agent sends exactly the approved version with `mail:send-approved`.[^3]

## Check that approval works

From a second address, send a typical customer question to the team address and ask the agent to draft a reply. The draft should wait for you under Drafts and not go out. Approve it, send it yourself or have the agent send that exact version, then check in the second address that the reply arrives with the sender you expect. With the relay, a relay address as sender is correct, and replies reach the team address through Reply-To.

## Which setup fits your team?

The choice depends mostly on how many people answer the same emails and whether you want to use your own agent. The details on Front, Missive and Help Scout come from their pricing pages.[^4][^5][^6]

| Situation | Setup that fits |
| --- | --- |
| Several people answer the same customer emails | Front, Missive or Help Scout |
| The team already works in Microsoft 365 | Shared mailbox, Copilot Chat in Outlook if available for your accounts |
| Small Google team, no new tool | Google Group as a Collaborative Inbox |
| One person approves, your own agent drafts | Command Mail on `suggest` with approval |
| Support with tickets, SLAs and reporting | Front or Help Scout |

## Common problems when sharing an inbox

One avoidable mistake is a shared password. It hides who sent what and has to change every time someone leaves. All three setups above give each person their own access.

Another is two agents working the same mail. If one agent drafts in a shared inbox tool and another in a forwarded copy, you get duplicate drafts and, at worst, duplicate replies. Decide where the agent works and grant draft permissions only there.

A third is unclear approval. If anyone may send the agent's drafts, there is a risk that nobody checks them. Write down who approves and what the agent must never answer alone, such as prices, cancellations or complaints.

## Next steps

If several people answer the same emails, try Front, Missive or Help Scout; each offers a trial or a free plan.[^4][^5][^6] If one person approves and you work with Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code or Codex, [Reply to emails with AI](https://commandmail.app/en/guides/reply-to-emails-with-ai) walks through the approval flow in detail. How approvals hold up is explained in [Human in the loop for email](https://commandmail.app/en/learn/human-in-the-loop-email).

[Start Command Mail for free](https://commandmail.app/login?signup=1) and connect your agent with read and draft permissions first.

## Sources and review date

Reviewed: 2026-10-28. Vendor pages and Command Mail's public pages were retrieved on that date. Statements about who owns addresses in Command Mail and when an address in another account may send also rest on the application code at commit `9cab1eb`. We have not run our own tests of the tools named here.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can several people work in the same mailbox in Command Mail?

Not according to the application code at commit `9cab1eb`. Every address is assigned to exactly one account there, and we find no features for assignment, internal comments or an indicator of who is replying. The home page lists shared mailboxes for the Team plan. Tools such as Front, Missive or Help Scout are built for teams that work one inbox together.

### Can an AI agent draft replies in a Microsoft 365 shared mailbox?

According to Microsoft, Copilot Chat in Outlook can summarize and draft in shared and delegated mailboxes. Sending on the mailbox's behalf, marking, deleting and rules are not available there yet, Microsoft says.

### Does Gemini work in a delegated Gmail account?

No. Gmail Help lists Gemini in Gmail, Smart Compose and Smart Reply among the features delegates cannot use.

### Should we just share one login?

Better not. A shared login hides who sent what, and you have to change the password whenever someone leaves. Shared mailboxes, delegation and shared inbox tools give every person their own access.

### What does Team cost at Command Mail?

According to the home page, €39 per person per month, set up together with Command Mail on request. Each person has their own account.

## Sources

1. [Command Mail: plans, agent permissions and autonomy levels](https://commandmail.app/llms.txt), accessed 2026-10-28
2. [Command Mail: home page with the Team plan](https://commandmail.app/en), accessed 2026-10-28
3. [Command Mail: documentation, permissions and autonomy](https://commandmail.app/en/docs), accessed 2026-10-28
4. [Front: pricing and features](https://front.com/pricing), accessed 2026-10-28
5. [Missive: pricing and features](https://missiveapp.com/pricing), accessed 2026-10-28
6. [Help Scout: pricing and features](https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/), accessed 2026-10-28
7. [Microsoft Learn: About shared mailboxes in Microsoft 365](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/email/about-shared-mailboxes), accessed 2026-10-28
8. [Microsoft Support: Shared and delegated mailboxes with Copilot Chat in Outlook](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/sharing/shared-delegated-mailboxes-copilot-chat-outlook), accessed 2026-10-28
9. [Gmail Help: Delegate & collaborate on email](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/138350?hl=en), accessed 2026-10-28
10. [Google Groups Help: Take & assign conversations](https://support.google.com/groups/answer/2467048?hl=en), accessed 2026-10-28
11. [Microsoft Support: Frequently asked questions about Copilot in Outlook](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/frequently-asked-questions-about-copilot-in-outlook), accessed 2026-10-28
12. [Microsoft Learn: Microsoft Copilot requirements](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/microsoft-365-copilot-chat-requirements), accessed 2026-10-28

[^1]: [Command Mail: plans, agent permissions and autonomy levels](https://commandmail.app/llms.txt), accessed 2026-10-28
[^2]: [Command Mail: home page with the Team plan](https://commandmail.app/en), accessed 2026-10-28
[^3]: [Command Mail: documentation, permissions and autonomy](https://commandmail.app/en/docs), accessed 2026-10-28
[^4]: [Front: pricing and features](https://front.com/pricing), accessed 2026-10-28
[^5]: [Missive: pricing and features](https://missiveapp.com/pricing), accessed 2026-10-28
[^6]: [Help Scout: pricing and features](https://www.helpscout.com/pricing/), accessed 2026-10-28
[^7]: [Microsoft Learn: About shared mailboxes in Microsoft 365](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/email/about-shared-mailboxes), accessed 2026-10-28
[^8]: [Microsoft Support: Shared and delegated mailboxes with Copilot Chat in Outlook](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/sharing/shared-delegated-mailboxes-copilot-chat-outlook), accessed 2026-10-28
[^9]: [Gmail Help: Delegate & collaborate on email](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/138350?hl=en), accessed 2026-10-28
[^10]: [Google Groups Help: Take & assign conversations](https://support.google.com/groups/answer/2467048?hl=en), accessed 2026-10-28
[^11]: [Microsoft Support: Frequently asked questions about Copilot in Outlook](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/frequently-asked-questions-about-copilot-in-outlook), accessed 2026-10-28
[^12]: [Microsoft Learn: Microsoft Copilot requirements](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/microsoft-365-copilot-chat-requirements), accessed 2026-10-28

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