Agent behaviour rules

Tune what the agent does per context — authority, tone, and escalation.

Agent behaviour rules let you override the global agent settings for specific threads. Each rule matches a context — a sender domain, a label, a keyword — and applies its own authority level, voice, confidence threshold, and escalation logic. Rules live in the Rules ⚡ Brain hub.

What a rule controls

A behaviour rule is a self-contained set of agent instructions scoped to a matching condition. When a thread matches, the rule’s settings take precedence over global defaults for every agent action on that thread.

Setting	What it does
Authority	Sets the mode — Manual, Copilot, or Autopilot — for matching threads
Auto-send	Enables or disables autonomous send within the chosen authority level
Confidence floor	The minimum score required before the agent acts; below it, the draft is escalated
Send delay	Undo window duration for autonomous Autopilot sends on this rule
Voice	Writing style the agent adopts (formal, concise, warm, etc.)
Standing instructions	Natural-language instructions the agent follows when composing on this rule
Dos / Don’ts	Explicit content rules: things to always include or never say
Escalation triggers	Keywords or conditions that force a human-review escalation regardless of confidence

Ready-made behaviour templates

Aiemaily ships eight curated templates in Rules ⚡ Brain. Each template is a fully configured rule you can activate in one click and then customise. Templates cover the most common inbox patterns and are a fast starting point for most users.

VIP care — Copilot, high confidence floor, warm voice, always notify before sending
Trusted clients → Autopilot — Autopilot with a tight domain allow-list and formal voice
Cold decline — Autopilot, politely declines unsolicited outreach within your standing instructions
Recruiters — Copilot, stages a polite holding reply; escalates if the role matches your criteria
Scheduling — Autopilot, handles meeting-request threads within working-hours guardrails
Teammates — Copilot, concise voice, auto-triages without drafting unless asked
Newsletters skip — Manual, suppresses triage and drafts entirely; threads are summarised on demand only
Escalate — Manual override; any matching thread is flagged for your immediate attention with no agent action

Start with templates

Activate the ‘Trusted clients → Autopilot’ and ‘VIP care’ templates first. They cover the two most common use cases and demonstrate the full range of rule settings. Customise from there rather than building from scratch.

Creating a rule from scratch

1
Open Rules ⚡ Brain
Click the brain icon in the left nav or go to Settings → Rules ⚡ Brain. The hub lists all active rules in priority order.
2
Add a new rule
Click “New rule” and choose your match condition: sender domain, label, subject keyword, or a combination.
3
Set authority and auto-send
Choose Manual, Copilot, or Autopilot. If Autopilot, decide whether auto-send is on and set your confidence floor.
4
Write standing instructions
In plain language, tell the agent what to always do or say on threads matching this rule. E.g. “Always reference the client’s account number in the opening line.”
5
Save and test
Save the rule, then run the agent on an existing matching thread (on-demand run from the thread view) to verify the output before new mail arrives.

Rule priority and conflicts

Rules are evaluated in the order they appear in the Rules ⚡ Brain list. The first matching rule wins. Drag rules to reorder them — more specific rules should sit above broader ones.

If no rule matches a thread, the global default authority mode applies.

Thread-level overrides beat rules

A manual authority override set directly on a thread (via the thread action bar) takes precedence over any behaviour rule. This is useful for one-off exceptions without changing the rule.

Frequently asked

Feature overview

Rules & Brain

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