One secret ID.
All your email accounts.
Email Setup creates your permanent workspace address automatically, even before you connect a mailbox. It uses your account email name followed by five random digits, such as [email protected]. Copy the real address shown in your workspace.
Forward new mail and keep the provider’s original copy. InboxTiger does not fetch old mail or delete it from Gmail or your business mailbox. The secret email ID is a forwarding destination; it is different from the administrator’s WEBHOOK_SECRET.
Gmail / Google Workspace
Copy your secret ID
Open Email tickets → Manage mailboxes. In step 1 click Copy ID. You do not need to add Gmail first.
Enable forwarding in Gmail
Open desktop Gmail → Settings → See all settings → Forwarding and POP/IMAP → Add a forwarding address. Paste your secret InboxTiger ID. Open InboxTiger’s inbox to read Google’s forwarding confirmation. Finish confirmation in Gmail, select Forward a copy of incoming mail, choose Keep Gmail’s copy in the Inbox, and save changes. Google’s confirmation identifies the Gmail address so InboxTiger can add it to the connected account list.
Connect sending
Click Set up SMTP on the Gmail account. Select Google / Gmail, use
smtp.gmail.com, port587, your full Gmail address, and a Google app password. InboxTiger sends an 8-digit sending verification code to your original Gmail inbox. Enter it in InboxTiger. Gmail saves messages sent through its SMTP account in Sent automatically.Create an app password after enabling Google 2-Step Verification, if your account supports it. Workspace administrators can restrict app passwords. Google login and mailbox SMTP are separate connections.
cPanel / business email
Copy the same secret ID
Use the ID in Email Setup for all addresses in this workspace.
Create the forwarder
In cPanel open Email → Forwarders → Add Forwarder. Forward your business address to the secret InboxTiger ID. Keep the original email account so it retains a copy.
Connect the address
From your original business mailbox, send a new email to the secret InboxTiger ID with the subject exactly Connect Email. InboxTiger adds the sender to the connected accounts list. Click Refresh connection status if needed. This incoming message does not by itself prove ownership; use Verify email or complete SMTP verification.
Set up SMTP and Sent
Click Set up SMTP → Business / Other. Use your provider’s Secure SSL/TLS settings from Email Accounts → Connect Devices: SMTP hostname, port 465 or 587, full username and mailbox password. For a standard mailbox also enter its secure IMAP hostname, username, password and exact existing Sent folder (for example Sent or INBOX.Sent). This connection is only for saving sent copies. Receiving uses forwarding and does not need PHP’s IMAP extension.
Custom mail hostnames must be approved in InboxTiger’s existing mail-host configuration. The server must allow outgoing SMTP and IMAP 993. SMTP-only providers such as Brevo do not have a mailbox Sent folder; select SMTP-only mode for them.
Manual add / Cloudflare-routed addresses
At the bottom of Email Setup, open How to add email manually on InboxTiger? → add email now. Enter the original address. InboxTiger sends a 6-digit ownership code to it using the platform’s configured outgoing email service. Enter the code, then configure forwarding and SMTP. Ownership verification and SMTP readiness have separate badges.
For Outlook, configure automatic forwarding to the same secret ID. If no recognizable provider confirmation arrives, use manual add first. For a Cloudflare custom address, configure its routing to deliver a copy to your secret ID; keep your original destination as required. Cloudflare Email Routing receives mail but is not an SMTP sending mailbox. Configure your actual mailbox provider or a verified SMTP service for replies.
Existing InboxTiger connections
Import 2026-10-10_mail_setup.sql, upload the updated files, then open Email Setup. The app creates your persistent ID and repairs older mailbox records automatically. Existing tickets, credentials and legacy forwarding addresses are retained. Removing an account keeps its saved tickets and the workspace’s ID. Remove its forwarder at the provider too.
Cloudflare and R2
Keep your working *@inboxtiger.com → inboxtiger-email Worker routing rule. The current MailAI-style Worker posts to https://inboxtiger.com/incoming.php with WEBHOOK_SECRET. PHP stores raw email and attachments in your private R2 bucket. This Mail Setup update does not require a new Worker, new R2 credentials, a receiving subdomain or a cron trigger. The previously supplied R2 Worker remains compatible too.
If something is missing
No secret ID: import the Mail Setup SQL into the database used by admin/config.php, upload every file from this release, reload Email Setup, and read any displayed configuration error. No incoming message: check the Cloudflare routing rule, Worker endpoint and webhook secret. No ownership code: check your original inbox/spam and InboxTiger’s system SMTP; SMTP setup is another way to prove ownership. No reply: confirm SMTP verification, provider credentials and hosting outbound access. Read delivery status before retrying a send.
Use InboxTiger on your laptop or mobile. WhatsApp, Telegram, MSG91 and AiSensy are not part of email setup. AI drafts use your business knowledge and remain editable before you send.