Communications

Overview#

Artifi's communications system provides a complete email ingestion and processing pipeline. Inbound emails are automatically classified, their attachments are extracted and analyzed, and AI agents process the contents -- turning vendor invoices into posted transactions, extracting receipt data, and more.

The system is designed around a zero-friction, fully automated flow:

Email received at entity address
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Spam classification (AI-powered)
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Attachments stored securely
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Agent processes content automatically
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Transaction posted via workflow
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Visible in Admin Dashboard Inbox

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Email Address Format#

Each legal entity gets dedicated email addresses for different purposes:

{purpose}@{entity_code}.{org_code}.mail.arfiti.com

Examples:

Each address maps to a specific legal entity and a default processing agent, determining how incoming emails are handled automatically.

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Inbound Email Pipeline#

Processing Flow#

1. Email received -- The mail provider receives the email and sends a webhook notification
2. Signature verification -- Webhook authenticity is verified using cryptographic signatures
3. Address resolution -- The recipient address is parsed to determine the organization, entity, and purpose
4. Spam classification -- AI classifies the email as legitimate, spam, or uncertain
5. Attachment storage -- Attachments are downloaded and stored in secure cloud storage
6. Agent event creation -- A processing event is created for the appropriate agent
7. Agent processing -- The agent analyzes attachments, resolves entities, and posts transactions

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Spam Classification#

Every inbound email is classified using AI before agent processing:

Fail-Open Design#

The spam filter is designed to never lose legitimate business documents. If the classification system encounters any error (timeout, API issue, budget exceeded), the email is accepted and processed normally. This is a deliberate safety choice -- a false negative (spam getting through) is far less costly than losing a real invoice.

Configurable Settings#

Settings are configurable per organization, and the budget resets automatically each month.

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Attachment Processing#

Storage#

When an email contains attachments, they are:

1. Downloaded from the email provider
2. Uploaded to secure cloud storage (Cloudflare R2)
3. Metadata recorded (filename, content type, size, content hash)

If cloud upload fails, the system falls back to storing the provider's reference URL.

Content Extraction#

Agents extract content from attachments on-demand using AI:

Extraction Output#

When an agent reads an attachment, it receives:

• Full extracted text (with English translation if the original is non-English)
• Detected language
• Extracted amounts (total, subtotal, tax, currency)
• Structured metadata (vendor name, invoice number, dates)
• Line items with descriptions, quantities, and amounts

Cost Efficiency#

Content extraction happens only when an agent decides to read an attachment. Spam emails incur zero extraction cost because the agent never processes them. For a typical month with 100 emails (50% spam), extraction costs are approximately $1-2.

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Agent Integration#

Bill Processor Agent#

The primary consumer of inbound emails is the bill processing agent. When it receives an email event:

1. Parses the email metadata (sender, subject, attachments)
2. For each attachment:
   • Extracts content using AI
   • Resolves the vendor (from memory, database, or creates inline)
   • Loads reference data (accounts, tax codes, payment terms)
   • Classifies line items (expense, prepaid, or asset)
   • Posts the transaction through the workflow system
   • Links the source attachment to the transaction
   • Checks for items that should be capitalized as fixed assets

Processing cost per bill: Approximately $0.003-0.005 (using efficient AI models)

Other Agent Types#

The email system supports multiple agent types for different purposes:

• Bank Statement Processor -- Extract transactions from statement PDFs
• Receipt Processor -- Extract expense data from receipt photos
• AR Invoice Processor -- Process incoming customer documents

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Admin Dashboard Inbox#

Inbox View#

The communications inbox provides a comprehensive view of all email activity:

• Stats bar: Unprocessed, processed, spam blocked, and total counts (30 days)
• Filters: Direction (inbound/outbound), status (pending/processing/completed/failed/archived), classification (spam/legitimate/uncertain)
• Search: Across subject, sender, and recipient addresses
• Pagination: 50 items per page

Each row shows the subject, sender/recipient, classification badge with confidence score, processing status, attachment count, and date.

Email Detail View#

Clicking an email opens a detailed view with:

• Metadata panel: Sender, recipients, CC, received date, processed date
• Classification details: Result, confidence score, reasoning
• Processing status: Current status and any error messages
• Agent execution: Agent type, instance ID, number of attempts
• Body viewer: Tabs for text and HTML views
• Attachment list: Files with storage location and preview capability
• PDF/Image preview: Collapsible preview panel for quick review
• Created documents: Bills and invoices linked to this email
• Actions: Mark as Real (override spam), Retry Processing, Archive

Key Actions#

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Outbound Email#

The system also supports sending emails for:

• Agent notification emails (anomaly alerts, processing summaries)
• Team invitation emails
• System alerts

Outbound emails are sent through the Resend API with proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).

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Entity Email Management#

Each legal entity can have multiple email addresses for different purposes:

When an email arrives, the system looks up the routing configuration to determine the entity, email type, and processing agent.

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Monthly Cost Example#

For an organization receiving 100 emails per month (50% spam):

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Security and Compliance#

Email Security#

• Webhook signatures verified cryptographically on every inbound email
• SPF/DKIM validation handled by the email provider before delivery
• Failed signature verification is rejected

Agent Security#

• Agents submit through the same workflow system as human users
• Same approval lanes apply (risk-based routing)
• Agent permissions are scoped to specific workflows and tools
• All agent actions are logged with full traceability

Data Privacy#