Email Inbox

During test execution, the AI agent has access to an email inbox that can receive and process emails. This is useful for testing features like:

• Account verification
• Password reset flows
• Email notifications
• Newsletter subscriptions

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How It Works

The inbox feature is powered by a direct integration with our email backend. When a test step requires checking email (e.g., “Wait for the welcome email”), the agent queries the inbox system directly.

• Polling: The agent polls for new emails for up to 3 minutes. If no matching email is found within this time, the step fails.
• No Pagination: The system always looks for the newest email that matches your criteria. It does not support pagination or “get more” requests.
• Text-Only View: The agent sees a text summary of the email (subject, match reason, attachment summary), not the raw HTML or JSON.

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What the Agent Can Do

The agent interacts with the inbox in three specific ways:

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Filtering & Matching

To find the right email, the system uses strict filtering and natural language matching:

• Recipient: Emails are strictly filtered by the to_address. The agent only sees emails sent to the specific address configured for the test.
• Content Matching: The agent uses your natural language query (e.g., “password reset email”) to match against the subject, body, and attachments.
• Time Window: The system enforces a strict time cursor based on when the test run started.
  • The agent can only see emails received after the test execution began.
  • Emails received before the test started are invisible to the agent.

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Email Configs

QA.tech provides these system email configurations by default:

• Single use Test Email Address - New generated email for each test (can be re-used by having another test depend on the first)
• Project e-mail address - Static email always accessible for the project

To use custom email addresses for testing:

1. Navigate to Settings » Configs
2. Select “Email Inbox” type
3. Configure the email settings
4. Save the configuration
5. Add the config to your test case settings

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Supported Email Types

The inbox feature only works with emails managed by the QA.tech system.

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Using Email Inbox in Tests

1. Create or edit a test case
2. Under the Settings tab, select the email config to use
3. The test will now have access to the email inbox

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Manual Access

You can view test emails manually:

1. Go to Settings
2. Select Email Inbox
3. View all received test emails

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Important Considerations

• Shared Inboxes: If multiple tests use the same email inbox simultaneously (e.g., two password reset tests), emails may get mixed up. Use separate email configs for concurrent tests.
• Sharing Emails Between Tests: If Test B needs to check an email triggered by Test A:
  • Output Values: In Test A, save the email address as an Output Value. In Test B, use that value to tell the agent which inbox to check.
  • Shared Configs: If using a Fixed/Project email, both tests can use the same config. Be mindful of the time window (Test B must start before the email arrives, or you must trigger the email during Test B).
• Cross-Test Limitations: Because of the strict time window, a test cannot see emails that arrived before it started.
  • If Test A triggers an email and finishes, and then Test B starts and tries to read that email, Test B will fail to find it.
  • Solution: Combine the trigger and verification into the same test, or ensure the email is triggered after the verification test starts (e.g., using dependencies where the second test triggers the resend).
• Timeout: The agent will wait up to 3 minutes for expected emails before failing.
  • Extending the wait: You can add explicit “Wait” steps (e.g., “Wait 2 minutes”) before the email check. Since the inbox cursor is fixed at the start of the test run, waiting before checking effectively extends the window for receiving emails.
• Invitation Links Since the browser state will be kept when opening the email you should log out after inviting a user to avoid that the invitation link redirects to the inviters account.