> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.custral.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Get started with Email

> Connect a mailbox and send your first tracked email.

## What you'll do

Connect an email channel and send your first message from Custral. By the end you'll have sent a tracked email and watched the reply thread back into a Conversation.

<Note>
  New to Custral? Do this in a [sandbox](/start/sandboxes/overview) first, a throwaway workspace where nothing you send
  is real.
</Note>

## Before you start

* **Admin access** to connect a new mailbox (or a mailbox a teammate has already connected).
* An email account to connect: Google, Microsoft, or IMAP.

## Steps

<Steps>
  <Step title="Connect an email channel">
    Open **Settings → Channels** and connect your mailbox through the provider flow. Each connected mailbox becomes an
    email **Channel**, personal (just you) or shared (a team inbox).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open the composer">
    From the inbox, click **New** in the Email Browser. You can also start a message from any record with an email
    address, or by replying to a thread.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Write and send">
    Add a recipient, subject, and body, then send. If you have more than one mailbox, pick which **Channel** sends. As
    you type, **Smart compose** offers grey ghost-text, press **Tab** to accept it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm it worked">
    The sent message appears as a **Conversation** in your inbox and on any record resolved from the recipient's
    address. When they reply, it threads onto the same conversation automatically.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Try it out

Send a test email to your own address, then reply to it from your regular mail app. Watch the reply land back in Custral on the same thread. That's the Conversation model threading it for you.

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Smart compose" icon="wand-magic-sparkles" href="/comms/email/smart-compose">
    Let AI finish your sentences as you type.
  </Card>

  <Card title="AI writing assistant" icon="robot" href="/comms/email/ai-assist">
    Summarize, draft, and rewrite replies.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Templates" icon="file-lines" href="/comms/email/templates">
    Save reusable messages for repeat sends.
  </Card>

  <Card title="How threading works" icon="circle-nodes" href="/comms/email/threading">
    Understand the Conversation model behind the inbox.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


## Related topics

- [Email](/comms/email/overview.md)
- [How threading works](/comms/email/threading.md)
- [Get started with AI](/ai/getting-started.md)
- [Get started with Blocks](/blocks/getting-started.md)
- [Integrations](/integrations/overview.md)