The Cockpit inbox: review, link and auto-route items

The Inbox in the Cockpit is the single entry point for everything that reaches Zalion from outside: forwarded requisitions, supplier quotes, replies, order confirmations and data from connected systems. Zalion reads every item, recognises what it is and suggests the right next action. This article explains how the inbox is laid out and what each action does.

Table of contents

1. How items get into the inbox
2. Inbox layout
3. My items, filters and search
4. Viewing an item
5. Actions: what each one does
6. Linking an item to a thread
7. The action log
8. Auto-routing: assigning items automatically
9. Frequently asked questions

1. How items get into the inbox

The Source column shows where an item came from:

• Forward: you or a colleague forwards an email to your company's Zalion address (usually companyname@prod.mail.zalion.ai). Your Zalion contact sends you this address.
• Monitored Inbox: emails from an Outlook mailbox connected to Zalion, for example a personal mailbox or a shared purchasing mailbox. Order confirmations that Zalion could not match to a purchase order also land here.
• Integration: requests or quotes that a connected system (for example your ERP or SRM system) hands over to Zalion.
• Manual Upload: documents uploaded directly in Zalion.

2. Inbox layout

Open the Cockpit in the left navigation. At the top you will find two tabs:

• Inbox: all open items that still need a decision. The number on the tab shows how many there are.
• Action log: everything that has already been actioned or dismissed (see section 7).

Each row in the inbox is one item, with these columns:

• Time: when the item arrived.
• Subject: the email subject, with via and the source or mailbox underneath.
• Source: where the item came from (see above).
• Object: what Zalion recognised: Requisition, RFQ, Quote, Order Confirmation, Purchase Order or Invoice. If Zalion could not classify the content, it shows Unknown.
• User: who the item belongs to.
• Action: the next action Zalion recommends, plus further options (see section 5).

Hover briefly over a subject. A card with a summary of the content appears. This tells you what the item is about without opening it.

While Zalion is still reading a new email, the row is marked Processing… and the action is locked. This usually takes only a moment. The inbox then updates by itself.

3. My items, filters and search

An item belongs to the user who brought it in: for a forwarded email, the person who forwarded it; for a monitored mailbox, the mailbox owner. Items from shared mailboxes without a fixed owner show as Unknown.

When you open it, the inbox shows only your own items. To change this:

• Click the filter icon in the User column. Pick a colleague or Unknown, for example to cover holidays.
• Remove the user filter to see everyone's items.
• The Source and Object columns can be filtered the same way. Several filters apply at once.

Use the search field (Search subject, sender, object…) to find a specific item. Your filters stay saved in your browser until you change them.

4. Viewing an item

Click a row. The content opens on the right:

• Emails: sender, recipients, subject, the full text and, under Attachments, every attached file to download.
• Items from an integration: the object type, the Reference from the source system and a summary. If a negotiation is already running for a request, you see Negotiation already running and can open it directly.

5. Actions: what each one does

For every item, Zalion suggests the most suitable action. It is shown directly on the button in the Action column. The arrow next to it opens further actions. Under each action Zalion gives the reason for the suggestion, for example Exact purchase order number match, Part of a known reply chain or Sender matched to a known supplier.

Which actions appear depends on the item. You only see what makes sense for that item.

Action	Use it when	What happens
Draft RFQ	An internal requisition should go out to suppliers.	Zalion creates an RFQ draft and opens it. See Turn a requisition into an RFQ.
Analyze Quotes	Supplier quotes have already arrived.	Zalion starts a new negotiation thread with the quotes and opens it.
Start request	A request comes from a connected system.	Zalion starts the thread for it and opens it.
Link to thread	The item belongs to a running thread, for example a supplier reply in a new email chain or an order confirmation for a purchase order.	You pick the thread. The item is filed there (see section 6).
Dismiss	The item needs no action, for example a newsletter, a duplicate or a test mail.	The item leaves the inbox and appears in the action log as Dismissed.

Some actions ask for confirmation first. Afterwards Zalion briefly confirms that the action is done. If the action created something new, Zalion opens it straight away. The item leaves the inbox and appears in the action log.

6. Linking an item to a thread

After you click Link to thread, a list of threads opens. Zalion's Suggested threads are at the top. Use the search to find any other thread. You can select several threads, up to 50 per action. Confirm selection files the item. Click Open thread in the confirmation message to jump straight in.

7. The action log

The Action log tab shows every completed item in your organisation. Use the Actioned and Dismissed buttons to filter the list. Each row shows:

• Action taken: Linked to existing thread, Started new thread or Dismissed, with the step underneath, such as Analyze Quotes or Draft.
• Target: the thread or draft the item ended up in. Click it to open it.
• By: who performed the action, or Automatic if Zalion routed the item itself.

This is also where you check what Zalion handled automatically.

8. Auto-routing: assigning items automatically

Zalion handles clear-cut cases by itself. They don't wait in your inbox but go straight into the right thread. Only one action ever runs automatically: Link to thread, which attaches an email to an existing thread. Zalion never starts new threads (Draft RFQ, Analyze Quotes) automatically.

How Zalion decides

As soon as an email and all its attachments have been read, each area of Zalion checks whether the email belongs to it: order confirmation, quote negotiation and RFQ. Each area answers clear match, possible match or no match, with a reason. Zalion only routes the email automatically when all of these conditions are met:

1. Exactly one area reports a clear match.
2. That match points to exactly one thread.
3. Automatic routing is switched on for that area.

If any condition is missing, the email stays in the inbox. Zalion shows its suggestion with the reason, and you decide. A possible match is never actioned automatically, however good it looks.

What counts as a clear match

Order confirmations:

• The email contains exactly the purchase order number of a purchase order in Zalion. Zalion attaches it to that purchase order's thread. If the number is only similar (for example one character differs), it counts only as a possible match. The exception is when Zalion is very confident that it still means the same purchase order.
• The email belongs to an Outlook conversation that is already linked to exactly one order confirmation thread.
• If the purchase order number and the email conversation point to different threads, or the email mentions several purchase orders in different threads, you decide.
• If an email mentions a purchase order number Zalion doesn't know yet, it stays in the inbox. When the purchase order arrives in Zalion later, Zalion checks the email again and routes it automatically if it now matches.

Quote negotiations:

• The email is a reply in a known email conversation of a negotiation thread.
• The sender clearly belongs to exactly one supplier (no other supplier uses the same email domain), and exactly one thread is running with that supplier. If several threads are running with the supplier, it's only a possible match.
• If the agent of the matching thread is not active, nothing is routed automatically.

Never automatic: new requisitions and RFQs, quotes for a new evaluation, items from integrations, and matches based only on the product catalogue or only on the recognised document type.

Settings

Under Settings › Administration › Auto-routing there is one switch per area (order confirmation and quote negotiation) for automatic linking. Both switches are on by default. If you switch an area off, every email for that area waits in the inbox for your decision. Changes apply immediately.

Tracing automatically routed emails

Every automatically routed email appears in the Action log with Automatic in the By column. Under Target you open the thread it went to. An automatic routing can't be undone from the inbox. If an email ended up in the wrong thread, contact your Zalion representative.

9. Frequently asked questions

I forwarded an email but can't see it.

Check the user filter first: the item belongs to the person who forwarded it. Then check the action log. Zalion may already have routed the email automatically. New emails also need a moment to be processed.

Why is an action I expected missing?

Zalion only shows actions that fit the recognised content. While an item is still processing, its actions are briefly locked.

Why wasn't an email routed automatically?

Usually it fits more than one thread, or Zalion only found a possible match, for example a similar rather than an exact purchase order number. The reason is shown under the suggested action. The rules are in section 8.

Can I assign an item to someone else?

No, reassigning is not available at the moment. You can still see and work on your colleagues' items using the user filter.

Can I restore a dismissed item?

Dismissed items stay visible in the action log. You can't move them back to the inbox from there at the moment. In that case, contact your Zalion representative.