Delegation

Last updated: March 29, 2026

Give trusted team members access to your inbox so they can read, triage, or reply to emails on your behalf.

What is Delegation?

Delegation lets you grant another InflowMail user access to your connected email accounts. This is useful when you need an assistant, colleague, or team member to help manage your inbox while you are busy, traveling, or on leave.

Invite by email: Send an invitation to any email address. If they already have an InflowMail account, they can accept immediately. If not, they can sign up and accept.

Controlled access: Choose between read-only and read-write access. Optionally restrict access to specific connected accounts.

Fully audited: Every action a delegate takes is logged, so you always know what was done on your behalf.

Instant revocation: Remove a delegate at any time and their access stops immediately.

How Delegation Works

InflowMail provides two access levels for delegates. Both levels allow viewing the inbox and searching emails. The difference is whether the delegate can take actions.

Access Levels

Read

The delegate can view your unified inbox, read emails, and search across your connected accounts. They cannot reply, move, delete, or modify emails in any way. This level is suitable for monitoring and triage without taking action.

Write

The delegate has full read access plus the ability to reply to, forward, archive, star, and manage emails on your behalf. This level is suitable for assistants who actively manage your inbox.

Account Restrictions

By default, a delegate can access all of your connected email accounts. You can optionally restrict a delegate to specific accounts only. For example, you might grant access to your work account but not your personal account.

Note: Delegates never have access to your account settings, connected account credentials, OAuth tokens, billing information, or security settings. They can only interact with email content at the permission level you grant.

Adding a Delegate

Follow these steps to invite someone to access your inbox.

1. Go to Account Settings

Navigate to Account Settings and find the Delegates section.

2. Enter the delegate's email

Type the email address of the person you want to invite. They do not need to have an InflowMail account yet — the invitation will prompt them to sign up if needed.

3. Choose a permission level

Select either Read (view only) or Write (view and manage). You can change this later.

4. Send the invitation

Click Invite. The delegate receives an email with an invitation link that is valid for 7 days. If the invitation expires, you can resend it from the same page.

5. Delegate accepts

Once the delegate clicks the invitation link and signs in, the delegation is active. The invitation token is cleared after acceptance for security.

Plan limits: The number of delegates you can add depends on your subscription plan. If you have reached your limit, you will need to upgrade or remove an existing delegate before adding a new one.

Managing Delegates

You can manage your delegates at any time from Account Settings.

Change permissions: Switch a delegate between Read and Write access at any time. The change takes effect immediately.

Restrict accounts: Limit which of your connected email accounts a delegate can access. You can add or remove account restrictions at any time.

Resend invitations: If a pending invitation has expired, you can resend it with a fresh 7-day window.

Remove a delegate: Revoke access instantly. The delegate will no longer be able to view or interact with your inbox. You can optionally provide a reason for revocation, which is recorded in the audit log.

Using Delegated Access

If someone has granted you delegate access, here is how to use it.

Switching to a delegated inbox

When you have active delegations, you will see the option to switch to another user's inbox from the account switcher. Select the person whose inbox you want to view, and InflowMail will load their unified inbox with the permissions they have granted you.

Visual indicator

When viewing a delegated inbox, InflowMail clearly indicates that you are acting on behalf of another user. This helps prevent accidental actions in the wrong inbox.

Permission boundaries

If you have read-only access, action buttons such as Reply, Forward, and Archive will not be available. If the owner has restricted access to specific accounts, you will only see emails from those accounts.

Tip: You can quickly switch back to your own inbox at any time using the account switcher. Your own inbox remains unaffected while you are viewing a delegated inbox.

Audit Trail

Every action a delegate takes on your behalf is recorded in a detailed audit log. This gives you full visibility into what was done and when.

What is logged

Field Description
Who The delegate who performed the action
On behalf of The inbox owner
Action What was done (e.g., read email, sent reply, archived)
Resource The email or item that was acted on
IP address The IP address the delegate connected from
Timestamp When the action occurred (UTC)

You can review the delegate audit log from your Account Settings under the Delegates section.

Security

Delegation is designed with security as a priority.

No credential exposure: Delegates never see your passwords, OAuth tokens, or API keys. They interact with your emails through InflowMail's interface only.

Instant revocation: When you remove a delegate, their access is terminated immediately. There is no grace period or delay.

Invitation tokens expire: Invitation links are valid for 7 days and are single-use. Once accepted, the token is permanently deleted.

Email verification: The accepting user's email address must match the invitation email exactly. A different user cannot accept an invitation meant for someone else.

No self-delegation: You cannot invite yourself as a delegate, preventing accidental misuse.

Full audit trail: All delegate actions are logged with IP address, user agent, and timestamp for accountability and compliance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a delegate change my account settings or connect new email accounts?

No. Delegates can only interact with email content at the permission level you grant. They cannot access account settings, billing, security configuration, or connect or disconnect email accounts.

How many delegates can I add?

The number of delegates depends on your subscription plan. Check your Account Settings to see your current limit. You can upgrade your plan to add more delegates.

What happens if I remove a delegate who is currently viewing my inbox?

Their access is revoked immediately. The next action they attempt will be denied, and they will be redirected back to their own inbox. No data is cached on their side.

Can I be a delegate for multiple people at the same time?

Yes. If multiple people have granted you delegate access, you will see all of them in your account switcher and can switch between their inboxes as needed. Each delegation is independent with its own permission level.

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