---
sourceDocument: Brazil ServiceNow AI Platform Administration
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/platform-administration

 Release :

    - brazil

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Brazil ServiceNow AI Platform Administration

ft:clusterId :

    - platadm

bundleId :

    - platadm

workflow :

    - Platform


---

# Inbound email action processing

# Inbound email action processing {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Brazil  
Updated September 10, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 6 minutes to read
Summarize  
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## Summary of Inbound email action processing

Inbound email action processing in ServiceNow determines which inbound email actions to execute by matching the incoming email's type and conditions against predefined inbound actions.
The system processes inbound email triggers first, which take precedence over inbound email actions.
Only when an inbound email matches the type, watermark or record number, and condition does the system run the corresponding inbound action, processing actions in order based on their configured priority.
Show full answer Show less  

## Key Features

* **Email Type Matching:** The system evaluates email types (reply, forward, new) and uses subject line prefixes to distinguish them.
* **Subject Line Prefixes:**
  * **Reply prefixes:** Defined by the `glide.email.replysubjectprefix` property, which lists recognized reply prefixes (default: re:, aw:, r:, Accepted:, Tentative:, Declined:). Case sensitivity matters, so multiple cases should be defined.
  * **Forward prefixes:** Defined by `glide.email.forwardsubjectprefix` (default: fw:, fwd:), recognized case-insensitively.
  * **Forwarded emails as replies:** Properties can be configured to treat forwarded emails as replies by including forward prefixes in reply prefixes and adjusting forward prefixes accordingly.
* **User Matching:** The system matches the sender's email address to an active user in the User \[sysuser\] table to set the current user for inbound actions. Unique email addresses per user are recommended for reliable matching.
* **Watermark and Record Number Recognition:** Emails containing watermarks or record numbers in the subject or body are matched to existing records to properly associate the email.
* **Processing Order and Stop Processing:** Inbound actions run in ascending order by their configured order value. Actions with "Stop processing" enabled mark the email as processed and halt further action evaluation.

## Practical Application for ServiceNow Customers

By understanding inbound email action processing, customers can configure email prefixes to ensure correct classification of emails as replies or forwards, customize how forwarded emails are treated, and ensure that emails associate properly with existing records using watermarks or record numbers. Proper user email address management ensures that emails are linked to the correct user context for incident creation or updates. Additionally, setting inbound action order and stop processing flags allows for precise control over email processing workflows.

This enables streamlined incident management by automatically creating or updating incidents based on inbound emails, improving responsiveness and reducing manual effort in ticket handling.  
The system determines which inbound actions to run by comparing the inbound email type
and inbound action conditions to the incoming email message. Certain properties are available to
set the reply and forwarding prefixes in the email subject lines that your instance recognizes
when processing inbound emails.  
Note:  
Inbound email flows take priority over inbound email actions. If you create flows with inbound email triggers, emails are first processed by the inbound email triggers before they are processed by inbound email actions.

The system follows this processing flow to determine whether to run an inbound action.  
Figure 1. Inbound action processing work flow  
The system only runs an inbound action when:

* The incoming email type matches the inbound action Type.
* If present, the watermark or record number refers to a record in the Target table.
* The inbound action Conditions evaluates to true.
{#inbound-action-processing__ul_u31_fht_bx}

If any of these criteria are not met, the system skips the current inbound action and evaluates
the next active inbound action. The system processes inbound actions from the lowest to highest
Order value. If the inbound action has Stop processing enabled, the system updates the State of the email
record to Processed after running the inbound action
Script.

The following video shows how an inbound action condition prevents an incident from being
created.

## Prefixes recognized in email subject lines {#inbound-action-processing__section_nkj_tpk_ybb}

Email reply prefixes
:   When no watermark is present or the In-Reply-To email header is present, the instance
    recognizes email containing a prefix from the
    glide.email.reply_subject_prefix property as reply email. You can use
    this property to set non-standard reply prefixes in your email system.  
    {#inbound-action-processing__table_yf2_kgg_dcb__entry__2}

    | Property | Description |
    |-|-|
    | glide.email.reply_subject_prefix | Specifies the comma-separated list of prefixes in the subject line that identify an email reply. * Type: string * Default value: re:,aw:,r:,Accepted:,Tentative:,Declined: {#inbound-action-processing__ul_e5g_gry_bp} Note: The case of the reply prefix in the email, for example RE:, must exactly match the case of the prefixes defined in this property. If, for example, an email contains the Re: prefix and only RE: is defined in the property, the email will not be recognized as a reply. Therefore, it is a best practice to define multiple versions of the prefix, including mixed-case versions, such as RE:, Re:, and so on. |
    [ ]

    {#inbound-action-processing__table_yf2_kgg_dcb}

Email forward prefixes
:   Emails with certain prefixes trigger the forward type of inbound email action. The instance
    recognizes any email whose subject line contains a prefix from the
    glide.email.forward_subject_prefix property as forwarded email. Emails
    with these prefixes trigger inbound email actions of the type forward. Use this property to
    set non-standard forward prefixes in your email system or you want email forwards to behave
    like replies. If the value of the system property is empty, then the system reverts to using
    the values fw: and fwd:.  
    {#inbound-action-processing__table_bf1_jhg_dcb__entry__2}

    | Property | Description |
    |-|-|
    | glide.email.forward_subject_prefix | Specifies the list of prefixes (comma-separated) in the subject line that identify a forwarded email. * Type: string * Default value: fw:,fwd: * Location: Add to the System Properties \[sys_properties\] table {#inbound-action-processing__ul_cf1_jhg_dcb} Note: Prefixes are case insensitive. |
    [ ]

    {#inbound-action-processing__table_bf1_jhg_dcb}

Email forwards as replies
:   Properties are available to force inbound actions to process forwarded mail as replied
    mail. These properties control the subject prefix that the inbound actions use.  
    {#inbound-action-processing__table_gcr_sqz_dcb__entry__2}

    | Property | Value needed |
    |-|-|
    | glide.email.reply_subject_prefix | re:,Re:,RE:,aw:,r:,fw:,fwd:,Fwd:,FWD: |
    | glide.email.forward_subject_prefix | \[any text that is not a forward prefix\] |
    [ ]

    {#inbound-action-processing__table_gcr_sqz_dcb}These properties cause the Update Incident inbound action to process all forwarded and replied-to mail.  
    Note:  
    The glide.email.forward_subject_prefix property must contain some text so that the forwarded email can be processed as a Reply. It can be any text except a forward prefix (that is, fw:,fwd:,Fwd:,FWD:).

## Matching a sender email address to a user {#inbound-action-processing__section_qqk_jqk_ybb}

The instance matches a senders email address to an active user in the User \[sys_user\] table
using inbound actions.

When processing an email, the instance sets the current user to the user whose email address
matches email.from. Inbound actions can then reference that current user.
For example, the base system inbound action Create Incident sets the
caller_id of the incident to the value returned by
`gs.getUserID()`.

If multiple users have the same email address, the instance first searches for an active user
with the email address. The instance does not match inactive users.  
Note:  
Each user record must have a unique email address so that the instance can reliably match the email to the correct user.If a unique email address for each user is not possible, assign a shared email address to only one active user so that the instance always matches incoming email from that address to the active user.

## Matching watermarks in the Subject line or Body {#inbound-action-processing__section_wr1_k5l_ybb}

The following examples illustrate how the instance matches randomized watermarks in an email
subject line or body.  
Note:  
For instances upgraded from a release before Jakarta, the system can recognize both randomized and non-randomized watermarks during a watermark transition period.
{#inbound-action-processing__table_cjv_d2v_m4__entry__2}

| Subject Line or Body Contents | Matching Results |
|-|-|
| Ref:MSG0000008_ aLJc130zDhCVuh3spXmt | The instance recognizes this string as a watermark and searches the Email Watermarks \[sys_watermark\] table for a record with the number MSG0000008_ aLJc130zDhCVuh3spXmt. If this watermark exists, the instance matches the email to the associated record. If this watermark does not exist, the system processes inbound email messages as described in . |
| Ref:MSGWTR0000008_wfLLz42IxCgUvG2JlYnh | The instance recognizes this string as a watermark and searches the Email Watermarks \[sys_watermark\] table for a record with the number MSGWTR0000008_wfLLz42IxCgUvG2JlYnh. If this watermark exists, the instance matches the email to the associated record. If this watermark does not exist, the system processes inbound email messages as described in . |
[Table 1. Examples of matching watermarks in the Subject line or body]

{#inbound-action-processing__table_cjv_d2v_m4}

## Matching record numbers in the Subject line or Body {#inbound-action-processing__section_ufk_2jl_ybb}

The following examples illustrate how the instance matches record numbers in the subject line
of an email to an existing record when no watermark is present.  
{#inbound-action-processing__table_uc4_qjv_m4__entry__2}

| Subject line contents | Matching results |
|-|-|
| RE: Example INC0005574 | The instance recognizes this subject line as a reply and recognizes the INC prefix as belonging to the Incident table. The instance searches the Incident table for an existing record `INC0005574`. If this incident exists, the email is associated with this incident. If this incident record does not exist, the instance uses the inbound action for new emails to create an incident and associates the new incident with the email. |
| RE: Example "INC0005574" RE: Example \*INC0005574 | The instance recognizes this subject line as a reply but does not recognize the `"INC` prefix as belonging to the Incident table because of the quotation mark. The same error occurs for any character other than a space before the record number. The instance instead uses the inbound action for new emails to create an incident and associates the new incident with the email. |
| RE: "Example INC0005574" RE: Example INC0005574\* | The instance recognizes this subject line as a reply and recognizes the `INC` prefix as belonging to the Incident table. The instance searches the Incident table for an existing record `INC0005574"`, which it cannot find because of the quotation mark. The same error occurs for any character other than a space at the end of the record number. The instance instead uses the inbound action for new emails to create an incident and associates the new incident with the email. |
| RE: CHG0008593 and INC000576 | The instance recognizes this subject line as a reply and recognizes one, but not both, of the number prefixes. There is no way to predict which prefix the instance matches first. Whichever prefix it matches, it searches the corresponding table for a matching record. If the record exists, the email is associated with the table. If the record does not exist, the instance uses the inbound action for new emails to create an incident and associates the new incident with the email. Note: The instance does not support processing email with multiple numbers in the subject line because there is no way to predict which record the instance matches first. For this reason, do not include more than one $number variable in your notifications. |
| FW: Example INC0005574 | The instance recognizes this subject line as a forward because of the `FW:` prefix. It uses the inbound action for forwarded emails to create an incident and associates the new incident with the email. |
| Example INC0005574 | The instance recognizes this subject as a new email because it does not contain a matching reply or forward prefix. It uses the inbound action for new emails to create an incident and associates the new incident with the email. |
[Table 2. Examples of matching record numbers in the Subject line]

{#inbound-action-processing__table_uc4_qjv_m4}