# Auto-approve rules and auto-send (/docs/inbox/auto-approve-rules)
An auto-approve rule lets an agent's routine replies skip the approval queue: replies from a chosen agent, above a confidence you pick, on the channels you pick. A rule can send at once, or after a review window during which the draft counts down and anyone can stop it. Drafts a guardrail holds for a person, such as replies with legal terms or deals above $100K, always wait, whatever the rules say.
- **Who can use it:** Creating, pausing and removing rules needs **Manage auto-approve rules** (Owner and Admin by default). Other roles can open the rules read-only, with a **View only** notice. Stopping and resuming a countdown on a draft needs **Approve agent drafts** (Owner, Admin and Member by default). See [Roles and permissions](/docs/settings/roles).
- **Before you start:** At least one agent that drafts replies for approval. See [Deploy, pause and set autonomy](/docs/agents/agent-autonomy).
## Open the rules [#open-the-rules]
In the Command center, click **Auto-approve rules** at the top of the approval queue. The number on it is how many rules you have.
The dialog lists each rule with its agent, what it does in three sentences, how many replies it sent today and how many waiting drafts match it.
You can also open the rules from **Manage rules** on the queue's **Auto-sent today** tab. With no rules yet, the dialog says **No rules yet**: every draft waits for you until you add one.
## Create a rule [#create-a-rule]
### Start a new rule [#start-a-new-rule]
In the rules dialog, click **New rule**.
### Fill in the rule [#fill-in-the-rule]
| Field | What to choose |
|---|---|
| **Name** | A name the queue can show when the rule sends a reply, such as "Closer replies under $100K" (up to 60 characters). |
| **Replies from** | The agent whose replies the rule covers. |
| **With confidence** | The lowest confidence it sends: 0.80, 0.85, 0.90 or 0.95 or higher. |
| **On channels** | The channels it sends on, all of them to start with. **Clear all** (or **Select all**) changes every box at once; pick at least one. |
| **Never send** | **On deals above $100K** and **With legal terms in the reply**, both on by default. |
| **When it sends** | **Send right away**, or after a 5-minute, 30-minute or 2-hour review window. |
The form asks you to name the rule ("Name the rule so the queue can say which one sent a reply.") and to pick at least one channel.
Turning off a **Never send** box only changes what new drafts may skip: drafts a guardrail already holds for you still wait.
### Check what it will do [#check-what-it-will-do]
**What this rule does** repeats the rule in plain words and lists the drafts waiting now that it would match, for example "4 waiting drafts match (Amara Okafor, Hana Suzuki, Noah Weber and 1 more). They start counting down in the queue." With **Send right away**, those drafts send as soon as you create the rule, and the button says so: **Create rule and send** *n* **now**.
### Create it [#create-it]
Click **Create rule**. A notice in the dialog says **Created** "*name*" and what happened: it applies to new drafts from now on, or matching drafts count down in the queue, or matching replies went out. **Undo** removes the rule; replies already sent stay sent.
**Back to rules** returns to the list. If you leave with the form filled in, it asks **Discard this rule?**.
## Pause, turn on or remove a rule [#pause-turn-on-or-remove-a-rule]
- **Pause a rule:** turn off its switch. It shows **Paused**, and drafts it would send wait for you instead. Turn the switch back on to resume it.
- **Remove a rule:** open its **…** menu, choose **Remove rule** and confirm. Drafts it would have sent wait for you.
Each change shows a notice at the top of the dialog, such as **"Invoice answers" is paused**. After removing a rule, **Undo** on the notice brings it back; if a change fails, **Retry** tries again. A notice that still offers **Undo** when you close the dialog follows you out to the corner of the page.
## How auto-send works [#how-auto-send-works]
1. An agent writes a draft. If a guardrail holds it (legal terms, a deal above $100K, a lead routed to you), it waits for a person and no rule can send it.
2. Otherwise, the first rule in the list that fits the draft takes it: a rule that's on, for the draft's agent and channel, at or below the draft's confidence, and (with **On deals above $100K** ticked) for a deal of $100K or less. Rules apply to replies only, never to escalations or CRM updates.
3. A rule that sends right away sends the reply at once. A rule with a review window starts a countdown on the draft, visible in the queue and in the thread.
4. When the countdown ends, the reply goes out. Its footer in the thread says **Auto-sent under** followed by the rule's name, a notice tells you which agent sent it to whom, and the queue's **Auto-sent today** tab counts it.
## Stop or resume a countdown [#stop-or-resume-a-countdown]
### Stop it [#stop-it]
On the card in the queue, or on the draft in the thread, click **Stop auto-send**. The draft now waits for you: "Auto-send stopped. It waits for you." **Undo** on the notice resumes the countdown.
### Resume it [#resume-it]
Click **Resume auto-send**. The countdown picks up where it stopped, with at least a minute left.
A countdown also stops when someone edits the draft ("You edited it, so it waits for you to send it."), asks the agent for a different draft, or opens it in **Edit draft** (it resumes if they close the editor without saving). A draft that comes back to the queue, after a snooze or an **Undo**, gets a fresh review window.
## Turn auto-send off for one account [#turn-auto-send-off-for-one-account]
To keep every draft for one company waiting for a person, whatever the rules say, open one of its threads in the inbox and turn off **Auto-send replies under $100K** under **Autonomy on this account** in the details column.
Drafts for that account then show "Auto-send is off for this account, so it waits for you." Turn the switch back on to let rules send them again. See [Contact details beside the thread](/docs/inbox/contact-panel#set-the-accounts-autonomy).
## Troubleshooting [#troubleshooting]
Check whether a guardrail holds the draft (**Held for you:** on the card), whether its confidence is below the rule's, whether the rule covers the draft's channel and agent, whether the rule is paused, and whether auto-send is off for that account. Edited drafts also wait for you.
The dialog shows **Couldn't create the rule** with the reason; no replies were sent. Click **Retry**.
Your role can view rules but not manage them. An owner or admin can give it **Manage auto-approve rules** in **Settings** → **Members & roles**.
## Next steps [#next-steps]