Microsoft Outlook

Overview

Microsoft Outlook is a data source type in Integration Designer that provides native Outlook connectivity through the Microsoft Graph API. Unlike the Email Trigger (IMAP) and Email Sender (SMTP) data sources, Microsoft Outlook uses Azure AD authentication and the MS Graph API for a unified read and send experience. Use cases include:

Email-triggered workflows: Automatically start processes when emails arrive in an Outlook mailbox
Customer communication: Send emails and replies directly from business processes
Document processing: Trigger workflows when emails with attachments are received
Unified inbox management: Read and send from the same data source configuration

Microsoft Outlook supports three scope modes:

Read Emails — monitor a mailbox and trigger processes
Send Emails — send emails from processes via notification templates
Read & Send Emails — both capabilities in a single data source

When to use Microsoft Outlook vs Email Trigger / Email Sender

FlowX.AI offers two ways to connect to email: Microsoft Outlook (MS Graph API) and Email Trigger / Email Sender (IMAP/SMTP). Choose based on your mail provider and requirements.

	Microsoft Outlook	Email Trigger + Email Sender
Protocol	MS Graph API	IMAP (read) + SMTP (send)
Authentication	Azure AD (client credentials)	Username + password / app password
Read + Send	Single data source (Read & Send scope)	Two separate data sources
Reply threading	Native — uses MS Graph message ID to maintain conversation threads	Manual — requires `Message-ID` header forwarding
Provider support	Microsoft 365 / Outlook only	Any IMAP/SMTP-compatible mail server
Best for	Organizations using Microsoft 365	Gmail, self-hosted mail servers, or mixed environments

If your organization uses Microsoft 365, the Outlook data source is the recommended approach. It simplifies configuration by combining read and send into a single data source with Azure AD authentication.

How it works

Create an app registration in Azure AD with the required MS Graph permissions for your scope.

Create a Microsoft Outlook data source

Configure the connection in Integration Designer with your Azure AD credentials and select the desired scope.

Connect to processes

For Read scope: link to a Message Start Event node and activate from Manage Triggers. For Send scope: link to a notification template and use the Send Notification action.

Process emails

FlowX.AI monitors the mailbox (Read) or sends emails (Send) through the MS Graph API.

Creating a Microsoft Outlook data source

Prerequisites

Before configuring a Microsoft Outlook data source, ensure you have:

Access to Integration Designer with appropriate permissions
An Azure AD app registration with the required MS Graph API permissions:

Scope	Required permissions (any one)
Read Emails	`Mail.Read`, `Mail.ReadBasic`, or `Mail.ReadWrite`
Send Emails	`Mail.Send` or `Mail.ReadWrite`
Read & Send Emails	One read permission + one send permission

Azure AD credentials: Tenant ID, Client ID, and a Client Secret (or, starting with 5.9.1, a certificate — see Step 2)

MS Graph permissions must be configured as Application permissions (not Delegated) in your Azure AD app registration, since the connection uses client credentials flow.

Step 1: Access Integration Designer

Navigate to FlowX Designer → Your workspace → Projects → Your project → Integrations → Data Sources
Click the + button to open the Add Data Source dialog
Select Microsoft Outlook as the data source type

Step 2: Configure authentication

string

required

The Azure AD tenant ID for your organization.

This field accepts configuration parameters. Use ${configParam} syntax to reference environment-specific values.

string

required

The application (client) ID from your Azure AD app registration.

This field accepts configuration parameters for environment-specific credentials.

string

required

The client secret generated in your Azure AD app registration.

Store sensitive credentials in configuration parameters and reference them here using ${configParam} syntax.

boolean

Available starting with FlowX.AI 5.9.1. Authenticate to Microsoft Graph with a certificate instead of a client secret. When you turn this ON, the Client Secret above is ignored and the certificate is used to authenticate. Configure:

Certificate type — how the certificate is provided: Base64 (paste the encoded certificate content) or Path (a path to the certificate file reachable by the integration).
Format — the certificate format: PEM or PKCS12.
Password — the certificate password. Required only when the format is PKCS12.

This field accepts configuration parameters. Store the certificate content or path and the password in configuration parameters and reference them with ${configParam} syntax.

Step 3: Test the connection

Click the Test Connection button to verify your Azure AD credentials:

Result	Message	Action
✅ Success	”Established connection”	Proceed to configure scope
❌ Error	”Failed to establish connection”	Check Azure AD credentials and permissions

The data source can be created even if the test connection fails. If the test fails on creation, you will be redirected to the Authorization tab with a failed connection message instead of the Settings page.

Step 4: Configure scope and email

select

required

The email capabilities for this data source:

Option	Description
Read Emails	Monitor a mailbox and trigger processes when emails arrive
Send Emails	Send emails from processes via notification templates
Read & Send Emails	Both read and send capabilities

string

required

The email address of the mailbox to monitor or send from.Validation: Must be a valid email format.

This field accepts configuration parameters for environment-specific values.

Step 5: Name and description

string

required

A unique, descriptive name for the Microsoft Outlook data source.Validation rules:

Required field
Must be unique within the project
Only letters, numbers, and these characters allowed: [], (), ., _, -
Minimum 3 characters, maximum 50 characters

string

Optional description explaining the purpose of this data source.

Click Create to save the data source.

Settings page

After creating the data source, configure monitoring and validation settings in the Settings tab. The available settings depend on the selected scope.

Read scope settings

For data sources with Read Emails or Read & Send Emails scope:

Filtering criteria

string

The email address that will be monitored. Editable after creation.

This field accepts configuration parameters.

string

The mailbox folder to monitor for incoming emails.Default: InboxSupported well-known folder names:

Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Deleted, Junk, Archive, Outbox

This field accepts configuration parameters for environment-specific folder names.

string

Displays the scope selected during creation. This field is read-only.

Attachment validations

Toggle ON the Add validations to Attachments option to configure validation rules for incoming email attachments.

If any validation fails, the email will not be processed and a warning will appear in the Failed Triggers section in Runtime.

array

Restrict which attachment file types are accepted:Earlier releases selected allowed types from the file type categories below.

Type	Extensions
PDF	`.pdf`
DOCUMENT	`.doc`, `.docx`, `.txt`
IMAGE	`.png`, `.jpg`, `.jpeg`, `.tif`, `.tiff`, `.gif`
EXCEL	`.xls`, `.xlsx`, `.csv`
ZIP	`.zip`

Leave empty to accept all file types.

Individual file extensionsAllowed File Types selects individual file extensions instead of these categories. The categories no longer exist in the runtime, so the table above serves only as a reference for what each one used to cover.Selected extensions are stored as bare uppercase values without a leading dot (PDF, DOCX). Input is tolerant of case and of a leading dot, and existing data sources are migrated automatically, with each stored category expanded into the individual extensions it covered.

number

Maximum allowed size per attachment file.Maximum: 25 MB

number

Maximum number of attachments allowed per email.

All fields in the Settings section accept configuration parameters, enabling environment-specific configurations.

Send scope settings

For data sources with Send Emails scope only, the Settings tab shows a simplified view:

string

The email address used as the sender (“From” address) for outgoing emails.

string

Displays the scope selected during creation. This field is read-only.

Send-only data sources do not display the Mailbox Folder or Attachment Validations fields, since those apply only to the Read scope. Sent emails are automatically saved to the Sent Items folder.

Authorization page

The Authorization tab displays the Azure AD credentials and allows you to update them or re-test the connection:

string

required

Azure AD tenant ID.

string

required

Azure AD application (client) ID.

string

required

Azure AD client secret.

boolean

Available starting with FlowX.AI 5.9.1. Use a certificate instead of the client secret. When turned ON, the Client Secret is ignored. Set the Certificate type (Base64 or Path), the Format (PEM or PKCS12), and, for PKCS12, the certificate Password. See Step 2: Configure authentication for details.

Click Test Connection to verify the credentials. The test validates both the authentication and the required MS Graph permissions for the configured scope.

Connecting to processes

Reading emails (process trigger)

To trigger processes when emails arrive:

Configure the Message Start Event

Open your process definition and add a Message Start Event (Start Catch Message) node.

Select Microsoft Outlook as trigger type

In the node configuration, set Trigger Type to Microsoft Outlook. Then select the Microsoft Outlook data source (only data sources with Read or Read & Send scope are shown).

Activate the trigger

Navigate to Runtime Settings → Manage Triggers and activate the trigger.

Message Start Event - Microsoft Outlook trigger

The trigger must be activated from Manage Triggers in Runtime Settings before email monitoring begins.

The Microsoft Outlook data source polls for new emails every 30 seconds by default, using the same polling scheduler as the Email Trigger (configurable via EMAIL_GATEWAY_IMAP_POLLING_INTERVAL). Each polling cycle processes up to 50 messages (configurable via EMAIL_GATEWAY_MS_GRAPH_MAX_MESSAGES_PER_POLL). Emails with the same timestamp as the last processed email are deduplicated automatically using their internet message ID.

Sending emails (notification template)

To send emails from processes:

Link to a notification template

Open a notification template and set Email Server to Predefined Email Connection. Select the Microsoft Outlook data source (only data sources with Send or Read & Send scope are shown).

Add a Send Notification action

Add a Send Notification action to a process node and select the notification template.

Notification template - Outlook data source

Replying to received emails

Microsoft Outlook supports replying to emails received via the Read scope, maintaining the original conversation thread in the recipient’s inbox.

Configure the Send Notification action

Add a Send Notification action to a process node. In the action configuration, turn on the Reply to received emails toggle.

Set the Reply to Email Header

Specify the process key that holds the original email’s header parameters (e.g., emailMessage.headerParams). This is required when the reply toggle is on.

Configure recipients (optional)

By default, the reply is sent to the original sender. You can override this by adding explicit Receivers, CC, or BCC addresses. Duplicate recipients are automatically removed.

The reply mechanism uses the x-ms-graph-message-id header from the original email to thread the reply correctly. If this header is not available, the system falls back to the standard Message-ID header and looks up the original message via the MS Graph API. Sent replies are automatically saved to the Sent Items folder.

Email data schema

When an email triggers a process, the following data structure is available in your process variables:

{
  "emailMessage": {
    "subject": "Support Request #12345",
    "dateTime": "2026-01-15T10:30:00Z",
    "sender": "customer@example.com",
    "body": "Email body content...",
    "fileAttachments": [
      {
        "filePath": "email-attachments/proc-123/invoice.pdf",
        "downloadPath": "internal/files/uuid-456/download"
      }
    ],
    "headerParams": {
      "Message-ID": "<abc123@example.com>",
      "x-ms-graph-message-id": "AAMk..."
    }
  }
}

Schema fields

Field	Type	Description
`subject`	string	Email subject line
`dateTime`	string (ISO 8601)	Timestamp when email was received
`sender`	string	Sender’s email address
`body`	string	Email body content
`fileAttachments`	array	List of attachment metadata objects
`fileAttachments[].filePath`	string	Storage path in Document Plugin
`fileAttachments[].downloadPath`	string	API path to download the file
`headerParams.Message-ID`	string	Standard email message identifier
`headerParams.x-ms-graph-message-id`	string	MS Graph message ID (used for replies)

Managing triggers at runtime

Manage Triggers

Navigate to Runtime → Runtime Settings → Manage Triggers to view and control Microsoft Outlook email triggers.

Column	Description
State	Current status: `Active` or `Deactivated`
Trigger Type	”Email Trigger” for Microsoft Outlook email triggers
Event Name	The Microsoft Outlook data source name
Location	`Local`, or the library project the trigger comes from

Activation requirements

For a Microsoft Outlook trigger to appear in Manage Triggers:

Microsoft Outlook data source must be created with Read or Read & Send scope
Data source must be linked to a Message Start Event node
The process must be part of a build in the Active Policy

Failed Triggers

When emails fail validation or processing errors occur, they appear in the Failed Triggers section under Runtime Settings. Failed triggers display the timestamp, trigger name, cause type, context (e.g., sender address), and detailed error messages. Click a row to open the details page with full diagnostic information.

Common failure causes

File type not permitted
File size exceeded
File count exceeded
Authentication failure
Missing permissions

Message: “The file {filename} could not be uploaded because it is not on the list of permitted file types.”Resolution: Update the Allowed File Types in the data source Settings tab, or ask the sender to use an accepted format.

Message: “{filename} is too large. Maximum allowed: 25 MB”Resolution: The attachment exceeds the configured maximum file size. Ask the sender to reduce the file size.

Message: “File limit exceeded. For this trigger there is a limit of {limit} per email.”Resolution: The email has more attachments than allowed. Ask the sender to split attachments across multiple emails.

Use case: document processing with auto-reply

This example walks through a complete email-triggered workflow: an email with an attachment arrives, the process extracts and classifies the document, then replies to the sender with a confirmation.

Create a Microsoft Outlook data source

Configure a data source with Read & Send Emails scope, pointed at your intake mailbox (e.g., documents@company.com). Set attachment validations to accept PDF and DOCUMENT types with a 25 MB size limit.

Design the process

Create a process with a Message Start Event node configured to trigger from the Outlook data source. The email data is available in process variables under emailMessage.

Access email data in downstream nodes

Use the email schema fields in Script or Business Rule nodes to route the process:

// Access email fields in a Script node
var subject = input.get("emailMessage").get("subject");
var sender = input.get("emailMessage").get("sender");
var attachments = input.get("emailMessage").get("fileAttachments");

// Route based on subject keywords
if (subject.contains("invoice")) {
    output.put("documentType", "INVOICE");
} else {
    output.put("documentType", "GENERAL");
}

Process the attachment

Use the fileAttachments[].downloadPath to retrieve the file from the Document Plugin for classification, data extraction, or storage.

Reply to the sender

Add a Send Notification action with the Reply to received emails toggle turned on. Set the reply header to emailMessage.headerParams. The reply is threaded under the original email in the sender’s inbox.

Activate the trigger

Navigate to Runtime Settings → Manage Triggers and activate the trigger to begin monitoring.

Best practices

Use configuration parameters

Store Azure AD credentials (Tenant ID, Client ID, Client Secret) in configuration parameters for secure, environment-specific management.

Set appropriate validations

Configure file type, size, and count limits for Read scope to prevent processing of unwanted or oversized attachments.

Monitor failed triggers

Regularly review the Failed Triggers section to identify issues with email processing or connection problems.

Use least-privilege permissions

Grant only the minimum required MS Graph permissions for your scope. Use Mail.Read instead of Mail.ReadWrite if you only need read access.

Troubleshooting

Connection test fails

Common causes:

Invalid credentials: Verify Tenant ID, Client ID, and Client Secret in Azure AD
Missing permissions: Ensure the app registration has the required MS Graph application permissions
Permissions not consented: Admin consent may be required for application permissions
Expired client secret: Generate a new client secret in Azure AD

Emails not triggering processes

Check:

Does the data source have Read or Read & Send scope?
Is the trigger Active in Manage Triggers?
Is the correct mailbox folder configured?
Do incoming emails pass attachment validation rules?
Review Failed Triggers for error details

Emails not sending

Check:

Does the data source have Send or Read & Send scope?
Is the data source linked to a notification template?
Is the notification template’s Email Server set to Predefined Email Connection?
Does the Azure AD app have Mail.Send permission?
Review process instance logs for error details

Permission errors

Required MS Graph application permissions by scope:

Scope	Required permission
Read	`Mail.Read`, `Mail.ReadBasic`, or `Mail.ReadWrite`
Send	`Mail.Send` or `Mail.ReadWrite`

Ensure:

Permissions are set as Application (not Delegated)
Admin consent has been granted
The app registration is in the correct Azure AD tenant

Email Trigger

Configure IMAP connections to trigger processes from incoming emails

Email Sender

Configure SMTP connections to send emails from processes

Send Notification Action

Send emails and reply to received emails from process nodes

Message Start Event

Configure message-based and email-based process triggers

Integration Designer

Learn about other data source types and workflow creation

Configuration Parameters

Use environment variables for flexible configurations

​Overview

​When to use Microsoft Outlook vs Email Trigger / Email Sender

​How it works

​Creating a Microsoft Outlook data source

​Prerequisites

​Step 1: Access Integration Designer

​Step 2: Configure authentication

​Step 3: Test the connection

​Step 4: Configure scope and email

​Step 5: Name and description

​Settings page

​Read scope settings

​Filtering criteria

​Attachment validations

​Send scope settings

​Authorization page

​Connecting to processes

​Reading emails (process trigger)

​Sending emails (notification template)

​Replying to received emails

​Email data schema

​Schema fields

​Managing triggers at runtime

​Manage Triggers

​Activation requirements

​Failed Triggers

​Common failure causes

​Use case: document processing with auto-reply

​Best practices

Use configuration parameters

Set appropriate validations

Monitor failed triggers

Use least-privilege permissions

​Troubleshooting

​Related resources

Email Trigger

Email Sender

Send Notification Action

Message Start Event

Integration Designer

Configuration Parameters

Overview

When to use Microsoft Outlook vs Email Trigger / Email Sender

How it works

Creating a Microsoft Outlook data source

Prerequisites

Step 1: Access Integration Designer

Step 2: Configure authentication

Step 3: Test the connection

Step 4: Configure scope and email

Step 5: Name and description

Settings page

Read scope settings

Filtering criteria

Attachment validations

Send scope settings

Authorization page

Connecting to processes

Reading emails (process trigger)

Sending emails (notification template)

Replying to received emails

Email data schema

Schema fields

Managing triggers at runtime

Manage Triggers

Activation requirements

Failed Triggers

Common failure causes

Use case: document processing with auto-reply

Best practices

Troubleshooting

Related resources