---
title: "Rules: choose which customer email gets a Draft and which is skipped"
canonical: https://replypen.com/product/rules
description: "ReplyPen is draft-only. Rules skip or always draft email by sender, domain, subject or body text, on top of the automatic skips. Nothing is sent without you."
question: "Can I control which customer emails AI writes a reply for?"
author: "ReplyPen team"
published: 2026-09-30
operator: ProBackup BV (Hasselt, Belgium)
---

# Rules: choose which customer email gets a Draft and which is skipped

Yes. ReplyPen is draft-only: it writes a Draft in your Gmail or Outlook thread, and nothing reaches a customer until you press send. Email that needs no reply, such as newsletters and notifications, is skipped automatically. Rules let you skip email or always get a Draft for it, matched by sender, domain, subject or body text.

Rules decide which email ReplyPen writes a Draft for. They do not change who sends: every reply is a
Draft, and a person sends it.

## What happens before you add any Rule?

Two things are on from day one:

1. **Draft-only.** Every customer email that needs a reply gets a Draft in your Gmail or Outlook
   thread. Nothing is sent unless you send it.
2. **Automatic skips.** Newsletters, notifications, receipts, auto-replies, internal mail and spam
   do not get a Draft.

Many small inboxes never need more than that.

## What can a Rule do?

| Rule | What it does | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Skip | No Draft for matching email | Updates from a supplier, a mailing list the automatic skips missed |
| Always draft | A Draft for matching email, even if it looks like something to skip | Your biggest customers, or anything that mentions a refund |

Either way, what ReplyPen writes stays a Draft in your inbox until you send it.

## What can a Rule match on?

- **Sender:** one address, such as `orders@supplier.com`
- **Domain:** everyone at a company, such as `bigclient.com`
- **Subject:** words in the subject line
- **Body text:** words in the message

## What can a Rule not match on?

A Rule matches what is in the email, not what ReplyPen knows about the person or the question.
"Existing customers", "angry customers" or "easy questions" are not things a Rule can match. When
you mean a group of customers, match their domains or addresses. When you mean a topic, match the
words customers use for it, in the subject or the body.

## Which Rules should a support inbox start with?

Start with none, and add one when you notice a pattern. The first ones most support inboxes add:

- **Skip** the domain of a supplier or tool that sends you updates the automatic skips do not catch.
- **Always draft** the domains of your largest customers, so their email never ends up skipped.
- **Always draft** email whose body mentions "refund", "cancel" or "complaint", so these always get
  a Draft you read.

## How do you see whether your Rules work?

Reports show, week by week, how many Drafts ReplyPen created, and how many you sent unchanged or
with edits. If email you care about gets no Draft, add an Always draft Rule for it. If Drafts appear
for email nobody needs to answer, add a Skip Rule. See what each Draft relied on in its
[Check note](https://replypen.com/product/inbox#what-is-in-a-check-note).

## What about auto-send?

Auto-send, for the kinds of email you choose with a Rule, is coming in a later version. It will be
off until you switch it on. Today nothing goes out without you: every reply is a Draft that a person
reads and sends.

## Questions

**Can a Rule target only my existing customers?**

Not directly. A Rule matches what is in the email (sender, domain, subject, body text), not who someone is in your records. Use the domains or addresses of those customers instead.

**Does a skipped email still count as a conversation?**

No. Email your Rules skip, and the newsletters, receipts and notifications skipped automatically, are never counted. You pay only for threads in which you use a Draft.

**What if the automatic skips miss something, or skip something they should not?**

Add a Rule. A Skip Rule catches updates the automatic skips let through, and an Always draft Rule makes sure matching email gets a Draft, even if it looks like something to skip.

## Related

- [Replies drafted in your own Gmail or Outlook inbox, with a Check note](https://replypen.com/product/inbox.md): ReplyPen leaves a ready-to-send Draft in your Gmail or Outlook thread for every customer email that needs a reply, with a Check note listing what it relied on.
- [Memory: what ReplyPen learns about your business, and how you correct it](https://replypen.com/product/memory.md): ReplyPen keeps what it learned about your business, your tone and your answers in Memory, in plain language you can read and correct.
- [What ReplyPen reads to answer your customer email](https://replypen.com/product/data-sources.md): ReplyPen drafts replies from your past emails, website and help center, plus files and tools you connect. It only reads these sources and never changes them.