Forwarding Emails for AI Review

One of the most powerful SlyReply workflows is forwarding existing email conversations to an agent for analysis. Get summaries, suggested replies, or expert opinions without retyping anything.

Common Forwarding Use Cases

Summarize a long thread — forward a 20-message chain and ask for a one-paragraph summary
Draft a reply — forward a difficult email and ask an agent to suggest a professional response
Get a second opinion — forward a proposal or offer and ask for analysis
Translate a conversation — forward a thread to a translation agent for the full exchange in another language
Legal review — forward contract negotiations to Lizzy the Lawyer for clause analysis

How to Forward

Open the email or thread you want reviewed in your email client
Click Forward
Set the To field to the agent's address
Add your instructions above the forwarded content

To: sunny-the-support-star@slyreply.ai
Subject: Fwd: Project timeline concerns

Sunny, this client is unhappy about the revised timeline.
Can you draft a diplomatic response that acknowledges
their concerns and proposes a compromise?

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: client@example.com
Subject: Project timeline concerns

I am very disappointed to hear the delivery date has
moved from March to June...

How SlyReply Handles Forwarded Content

When you forward an email, SlyReply:

Parses the forwarded content — including headers, quoted text, and any attachments
Separates your instructions from the forwarded message
Provides both to the agent so it understands the context and what you need

Tips for Effective Forwarding

Add clear instructions — write what you need above the forwarded content
Be specific — "Summarize the key decisions" is better than "What do you think?"
Include the full thread when context matters — do not trim relevant history
Attachments aren't carried by a forward yet — when you forward an email, attachments on the original message are not currently re-attached to the copy the agent receives, so the agent can't read them. If you need the agent to see a file, attach it directly to your forward, or paste the relevant text into the body. (The agent only ever sees what's actually attached to the email you send it.)

Privacy and Data-Protection Note

When you forward an email to SlyReply, the forwarded content — including any attachments — is sent to the AI provider you selected (Anthropic or OpenAI) to generate a response. Those providers are US-based sub-processors.

If the email you forward contains someone else's personal data — a client, colleague, customer, or any third party — you are sharing that data with SlyReply and the AI provider, usually without that person present. That carries real responsibilities:

You are the data controller; SlyReply is your processor. For third-party personal data you put through the service, our Data Processing Agreement sets out the Art. 28 processor terms — review it before forwarding business correspondence.
Have a lawful basis. Under UK/EU GDPR you need a valid reason (Art. 6) to share a third party's personal data with a sub-processor. For most businesses handling their own contacts' emails this will be legitimate interests, but think it through — and take advice for anything sensitive.
Be transparent. Your own privacy notice should tell people you use AI tools (including SlyReply) to help handle correspondence, so no one is surprised an AI processed their email.
Keep special-category data out. Don't forward health, biometric, political, or similarly sensitive personal data unless you have specifically confirmed it is appropriate.

See our Privacy Policy for how SlyReply handles data, and the Data Processing Agreement for the processor terms. For the fuller consent-and-privacy pattern when other people are involved, see The Forward-and-Reply Workflow. As a general rule: do not forward emails containing information you are not comfortable, and not permitted, to share with AI providers.