create-email-workflow

Create Email Workflow Procedure

Overview

Creates a server-side workflow triggered when an email is received at a Glide-provided email address. All parts of the email become available as variables.

Available Variables

Variable	Description	Example
From	Sender email address	john@example.com
From Name	Sender display name	John Doe
To	Recipient address (the Glide address)	abc123@workflows.glideapps.com
Subject	Email subject line	New Order #12345
Body	Plain text body	Order details...
HTML Body	HTML formatted body	<p>Order details...</p>
Date	When email was received	Timestamp
Attachments	File attachments	URLs to attachments
Reply-To	Reply address if different	support@example.com
CC	CC recipients	Email addresses

Procedure

Step 1: Navigate to Workflows

COMMAND: NAVIGATE
URL: https://go.glideapps.com/app/{appId}/workflows

EXPECTED: Workflow editor loads

Step 2: Create New Workflow

COMMAND: SNAPSHOT
PURPOSE: Find new workflow button

COMMAND: CLICK
REF: {ref of new workflow button}
ELEMENT: New workflow button

EXPECTED: Workflow type selection appears

Step 3: Select Email Type

COMMAND: SNAPSHOT
PURPOSE: Find workflow type options

COMMAND: CLICK
REF: {ref of Email option}
ELEMENT: "On Email" or "Email" trigger type

EXPECTED: New email workflow created
VERIFY: Right panel shows email address for receiving

Step 4: Name the Workflow

COMMAND: SNAPSHOT
PURPOSE: Find workflow name input

COMMAND: CLICK
REF: {ref of name input}
ELEMENT: Workflow name input

COMMAND: TYPE
REF: {ref of name input}
ELEMENT: Workflow name
TEXT: {workflowName}

EXAMPLES: "Email Lead Capture", "Support Ticket Creator", "Order Parser"

Step 5: Copy Receiving Email Address

COMMAND: SNAPSHOT
PURPOSE: Find email address in properties panel

FIND:
  - Email address displayed in right panel
  - Copy button or selectable text
  - Usually format: {unique-id}@workflows.glideapps.com

Copy the email address:

COMMAND: CLICK
REF: {ref of copy button or email field}
ELEMENT: Copy email address button

Or select and copy manually.

Step 6: Extract Email Address

COMMAND: EVALUATE
CODE: async () => {
  try {
    const email = await navigator.clipboard.readText();
    return { inboundEmail: email };
  } catch (err) {
    return { error: err.message };
  }
}

EXPECTED: JSON with inboundEmail
SAVE: Store this address to provide to user/external system

Step 7: Add Workflow Nodes

Now add nodes to process the incoming email.

Common patterns:

Create Support Ticket from Email

1. Add Row to "Tickets" table
   • Title = Subject
   • Description = Body
   • Requester = From
   • Status = "New"

Parse Order from Email

1. Query JSON on Body (if structured)
2. Add Row to "Orders" table

Forward to Team

1. Send Email node
   • To = team distribution email
   • Subject = "Fwd: " + Subject
   • Body = Body

Step 8: Using Email Variables in Nodes

When configuring nodes, email variables are available as data sources:

COMMAND: SNAPSHOT
PURPOSE: Find data binding in node configuration

FIND: Data/variable selector in node properties

COMMAND: CLICK
REF: {ref of data selector}
ELEMENT: Data source selector

COMMAND: SNAPSHOT
PURPOSE: Find email variables

FIND: Email trigger variables:
  - From
  - Subject
  - Body
  - (all others listed above)

COMMAND: CLICK
REF: {ref of desired variable}
ELEMENT: "{variableName}" email variable

EXPECTED: Node now uses that email data

Step 9: Verify Configuration

COMMAND: SNAPSHOT
PURPOSE: Confirm email workflow setup

VERIFY:
  - Workflow name is set
  - Email address is visible and copied
  - Nodes are configured with email variables

Use Cases

Lead Capture

• Receive: Contact form submissions forwarded via email
• Parse: Name, email, message from subject/body
• Action: Create row in Leads table, notify sales team

Support Tickets

• Receive: Customer support emails
• Parse: Subject as title, body as description
• Action: Create ticket, send auto-reply

Email-to-Table

• Receive: Reports or updates from external systems
• Parse: Extract key data from body
• Action: Log to appropriate table

Notification Relay

• Receive: Alerts from external monitoring
• Parse: Alert type, severity
• Action: Push notification to admins, log event

Parsing Email Content

If Body Contains Structured Data

Use Query JSON or string parsing:

Example - Email body with key:value pairs:

Order ID: 12345
Customer: John Doe
Total: $99.99

Use Template columns or string operations in Glide to extract.

If Body is Natural Text

Consider using AI-powered parsing:

1. Add AI node (Generate Text)
2. Prompt: "Extract the order number from this text: {Body}"
3. Use result in subsequent nodes

Error Recovery

Email Address Not Appearing

ISSUE: No email address in properties panel

CHECK:
  - Is this an Email type workflow?
  - Is the workflow saved?

TRY: Refresh page and check again

Workflow Not Triggering on Email

ISSUE: Sent email but workflow didn't run

CHECK:
  - Is the email sent to exact address? (case matters)
  - Is the sender's email on a blocklist?
  - Did the email get marked as spam?

TRY: Send test email from different sender

Attachments Not Accessible

ISSUE: Can't access email attachments

CHECK:
  - Does the email have attachments?
  - Are attachments within size limits?

NOTE: Attachments are provided as URLs, not direct files

Report Format

EMAIL WORKFLOW CREATED:
  Name: {workflowName}
  Inbound Email: {email address}
  Variables Used: {list of email variables bound in nodes}
  Nodes Added: {list}
  Status: SUCCESS | FAILED
  
USER ACTION REQUIRED:
  Send emails to: {inbound email address}
  Or configure external system to forward to this address.