Inbox Drafts
Push AI-generated outreach drafts to your email client's Drafts folder. Review, edit, and send from Gmail, Outlook, or any IMAP client.
Why It Matters
Kit’s AI drafts outreach emails, but many founders prefer to review and send from their native email client. Inbox Drafts bridges this gap: when Kit generates a draft, it appears in your Gmail, Outlook, or Apple Mail Drafts folder automatically. You review in the tool you already use, send when ready, and Kit tracks the result.
No competitor offers this workflow. Most outreach tools force you to send from their UI. Kit lets the AI do the thinking while you keep control of your inbox.
How It Works
- Kit’s AI researches a prospect and generates a draft email
- The draft is pushed to your email client’s Drafts folder via IMAP
- You open your email client and see the draft ready to review
- Edit the subject or body if needed, then send from your inbox
- Back in Kit, click “Mark as Sent” to update the campaign status
- Kit schedules follow-up emails and continues tracking replies
Setting Up
Prerequisites
- SMTP credentials configured in Email Delivery settings
- IMAP connection verified (Kit auto-discovers your Drafts folder during verification)
Enable Inbox Drafts
- Go to Outreach > Email Delivery
- In the IMAP section, verify your connection
- After verification, a new toggle appears: Push drafts to inbox
- Enable the toggle
- Kit will show the detected Drafts folder name (e.g.,
[Gmail]/Drafts)
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Push drafts to inbox | When enabled, AI-generated drafts appear in your email client’s Drafts folder |
| Detected folder | The IMAP folder Kit writes to (auto-discovered, e.g., [Gmail]/Drafts, Drafts) |
Working with Inbox Drafts
Viewing Synced Drafts
Drafts that have been pushed to your email client show an In Drafts badge on the message card in Kit. On the message detail page, a cyan banner confirms the sync status and when it last synced.
Sending from Your Email Client
- Open your email client (Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, etc.)
- Navigate to your Drafts folder
- Find the Kit-generated draft (it has the correct To, Subject, and body)
- Review and edit as needed
- Press Send
The draft disappears from your Drafts folder (your email client handles this automatically).
Updating Kit After Sending
After sending from your email client, return to Kit and click Mark as Sent on the message. This:
- Updates the message status to “Sent”
- Activates the prospect in your campaign
- Schedules follow-up emails (if configured)
- Fires webhook events for integrations
Manual Push and Remove
Even with auto-sync enabled, you can manually control individual drafts:
| Action | When to Use |
|---|---|
| Send to Drafts | Push a specific draft to your email client (shown when sync is available but draft isn’t synced yet) |
| Remove from Drafts | Remove a synced draft from your email client without sending it |
| Mark as Sent | Tell Kit you sent the draft from your email client |
Draft Lifecycle
| Event | What Happens in IMAP |
|---|---|
| AI generates draft | Draft pushed to your Drafts folder |
| You refine the draft in Kit | Old draft replaced with updated version |
| You approve in Kit | Draft stays in your Drafts folder (safety net while Kit queues the send) |
| Kit sends the email | Draft removed from your Drafts folder |
| Email bounces | Draft removed (terminal state) |
| You reject the draft | Draft stays for re-editing |
| You send from your email client | Your email client removes it automatically |
Tracking and Analytics
Emails sent from your email client do not have open or click tracking. This is intentional: Kit does not inject tracking pixels into Inbox Drafts.
What still works:
- Reply detection via IMAP (Kit polls your inbox for replies)
- Bounce detection via IMAP
- Campaign sequence progression (follow-ups still schedule)
- Webhook events
What does not work:
- Open tracking (no pixel)
- Click tracking (no URL rewriting)
This tradeoff reflects Kit’s philosophy: authentic, personal outreach over surveillance metrics.
Supported Email Clients
Inbox Drafts works with any email client that supports IMAP:
| Provider | Drafts Folder | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Gmail | [Gmail]/Drafts |
Draft appears in Gmail’s compose UI |
| Outlook / Office 365 | Drafts |
Works with desktop and web |
| Apple Mail | Drafts |
Syncs via iCloud or any IMAP account |
| Fastmail | Drafts |
Full support |
| Generic IMAP | Auto-detected | Kit uses RFC 6154 SPECIAL-USE attributes |
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| Toggle not visible | Verify your IMAP connection first. The toggle only appears after successful verification. |
| Draft not appearing | Check that IMAP credentials are correct and the Drafts folder was detected. Try re-verifying IMAP. |
| “In Drafts” badge not showing | The sync runs as a background job. Wait a few seconds and refresh the page. |
| Draft disappeared unexpectedly | Kit removes drafts when a message reaches a terminal state (sent, bounced, failed). Check message status. |
| Stale drafts in Drafts folder | Kit automatically cleans up synced drafts older than 30 days. |
Quick Checklist
- SMTP credentials configured and verified
- IMAP connection verified (Drafts folder auto-detected)
- “Push drafts to inbox” toggle enabled
- Test: create a prospect, trigger AI draft, check your email client
- After sending from email client, click “Mark as Sent” in Kit
Next Steps
- Setting Up Email Delivery – Configure SMTP and IMAP
- Messages – Managing outreach messages in Kit
- Engagement Tracking – Understanding open and click metrics