PARSER GUIDES

Configure Email Processing

ParsersParser Settings

Control which emailed documents a parser accepts and how it handles email bodies

Email settings help you control who can send documents to a parser and which attachments PARSER should accept.

For the basic sending steps, see Send Documents by Email.

Open email settings

1. Open the parser.

2. Click Settings.

3. Open Parser Settings.

4. Select Email.

Limit email attachment file types

Use Limit email attachment file types when your parser should accept only selected formats from email.

1. Turn on Limit email attachment file types.

2. Open Accept only these attachment types.

3. Select the formats the parser should accept.

4. Click Save Parser.

This setting affects email attachments only. It does not change files accepted through app uploads, upload pages, or the API.

The default email selection accepts PDFs and files sent with a generic type that PARSER can identify from the filename. Add other formats when you expect Word, Excel, images, XML, CSV, or another supported type.

Set sender access

Use Sender access to prevent unknown or unwanted senders from adding documents.

Choose one option:

• Process all senders - Accept email from any sender.
• Only process listed senders - Accept email only from the addresses or domains you enter.
• Skip listed senders - Accept most email but ignore the addresses or domains you enter.

To add sender rules:

1. Choose a sender-access option.

2. Enter one email address or domain per line in Senders.

3. Click Save Parser.

Examples:

contact@parser.example
supplier.com
@trusted-vendor.com

A domain rule matches that exact domain. For example, supplier.com matches contact@parser.example, but it does not match contact@parser.example.

Filter by subject, body, or filename

Use Email processing rules when the subject, message text, or attachment filename can identify what PARSER should process. These rules use text matching before documents are created, so they do not use AI classification credits.

Email conditions apply to the whole message. Attachment filename conditions apply separately to each attachment, including supported images embedded in an email.

Turn on Process downloadable links when an email contains a link to a file instead of attaching the file directly. PARSER checks links in the selected email pages, downloads supported public files, and processes them like normal attachments. This setting is off by default.

For example, an email can say "Download invoice" while the linked address points to a PDF. PARSER uses the downloaded filename for Attachment filename conditions and applies Limit email attachment file types before creating a document.

Links that require a login, have expired, are unavailable, exceed the email size limit, or do not return a supported file are skipped. Ordinary web pages are not processed as files.

For each group, choose:

• Do not filter - Process messages or attachments normally.
• Only process matches - Process only when the conditions match.
• Skip matches - Ignore matching messages or attachments.

Add one or more conditions using contains, starts with, ends with, or equals. Matching is not case-sensitive. If you add multiple conditions, choose whether all rules or any rule must match.

For example, to process only one chart from a newsletter:

1. Under Attachment filename conditions, choose Only process matches.

2. Select Filename, equals, and enter BTC_2.png.

3. Click Save Parser.

Use an email condition when you want to reject the entire message before attachments are inspected. Body rules check only the email pages selected by Limit which pages to parse.

If filename conditions reject every attachment in a message, PARSER skips that message instead of creating an email-body document. This prevents a deliberately rejected attachment from triggering unexpected processing.

Understand forwarding and sender access

When someone uses the normal Forward action in Gmail or Outlook, PARSER usually sees the person who forwarded the message as the sender.

For example, if contact@parser.example forwards an invoice originally sent by contact@parser.example, allow contact@parser.example.

Outlook can also Redirect messages through a rule. A redirected message usually keeps the original sender, so the vendor's address or domain must be allowed instead.

How email context is used

For newly received email documents, PARSER keeps a snapshot of the message with the attachment. The email subject, message body, and available sender and recipient details can provide extra context during extraction.

Open the processed document and select the Email tab to view the saved message. This snapshot does not create another document or use additional credits.

See Send Documents by Email for the visual steps.

Process matching attachments together

Turn on Process email attachments together when one extraction result needs information from multiple attachments in the same email.

PARSER applies your email and attachment filters first. It then processes all matching attachments as one document, shows each attachment in the same document view, and produces one combined result and export. The attachments keep their individual filenames, so field instructions can refer to a specific file by name.

Files accepted through Process downloadable links join the same group. For example, an attached image and a linked PDF can be processed together in one extraction.

For example, if filename rules accept BTC_2.png and BTC_9.png, one table can describe the fields to extract from BTC_2.png and another table can describe the fields to extract from BTC_9.png.

Credits are still based on the combined page count of the accepted attachments. Two one-page images use two processing pages, while a 27-page PDF still uses 27 processing pages.

You cannot use this setting together with Split documents. Enabling one turns off the other.

Understand email conversation pages

PARSER treats each visible message in an email conversation as one page. Page 1 is the newest message, page 2 is the message before it, and so on. This works the same way when someone forwards a conversation to a PARSER inbox address.

A message always counts as at least one page, even when it contains only one line. If one message is longer than 5,000 visible characters, that message continues onto additional pages.

Use Limit which pages to parse in Settings -> Parser Settings -> Document Processing to select email pages. For example, entering 1-3 processes the three newest messages and skips the remaining conversation. PARSER keeps the complete, unmodified conversation in the document's Email tab.

Normal attachments remain separate documents. A PDF attachment keeps its PDF page count and follows the same page-range setting independently.

Process an email body without an attachment

Turn on Parse email body if no attachments exist when useful information sometimes appears only in the message.

When enabled:

• An email with no accepted attachment is converted into a document.
• The parser extracts information from the message content.

When disabled, an email without an accepted attachment is ignored.

Understand credits for email bodies

Each selected email message uses at least one processing page. A conversation containing three one-line messages therefore counts as three pages. If one message contains 5,001 visible characters, that individual message counts as two pages.

Attachments are counted separately and keep their normal page counts. See How Credits Are Calculated for more examples.

Test your settings

1. Send one test email with a supported attachment.

2. Use an address that should be accepted.

3. Confirm that the document appears in the parser.

4. If you use sender restrictions, also test one address that should be ignored.

5. If you enabled email-body processing, send a separate message without an attachment.

Troubleshooting

If an email does not create a document:

• Confirm that the sender matches your rules.
• Confirm that the subject, body, and filename match any enabled email processing rules.
• If the file is linked instead of attached, turn on Process downloadable links and confirm that the link is public and still available.
• Confirm that the attachment type is selected.
• Check that the attachment is present and within the email limits.
• Confirm that the parser is active.
• Check that the team has enough credits.

See Troubleshoot Email Imports for a complete checklist.

Next steps

• Choose the Right PARSER Email Address - Choose a parser, folder, or classifier destination
• Forward an Email from Gmail - Send a Gmail attachment
• Automatically Forward Gmail Emails - Create a recurring Gmail filter
• Automatically Forward Selected Outlook Emails - Create a recurring rule
• Document Type Rules - Choose which document types to process or skip