# Gate modes

> Every message an agent sends goes through the server's gate. What each mode holds, what always waits, and what is refused.

Kind: guide · ~3 min · Verified v0.200.0 · Next: [Screened mail](https://pr-1976-stg.superartifacts.app/docs/mail/screened-mail.md)

Every send, reply and forward goes to a gate that runs on the server. The agent does not decide, and nothing written in an email can change the outcome. Each answer is `sent`, `held` or an error with a reason.

A held message waits in **Review**. You can edit it, approve it or reject it. The agent is told not to send it again. After you approve, there are five seconds to press **Undo** before it goes. An agent can also save a draft with `mail_draft`, which sends nothing and waits the same way.

## The three modes

A person sets a mailbox's mode and allow list in the dashboard. The agent can read them with `mail_rules` and cannot change them.

- **review** holds every message. It is the only mode on Free.
- **filtered** sends a message in a conversation a person started, or only to addresses on the allow list. It holds attachments and flagged threads, and anything no rule covers.
- **none** sends unless one of the always held cases below applies. It needs Team.

If a plan change leaves a mailbox in a mode the plan no longer has, the mailbox drops to the nearest allowed mode that is no more permissive. If there is none, sends are refused.

## Always held, in every mode

- The first message to an address that has never written to the workspace, unless a person put that address or its domain on the allow list.
- A reply to machine mail: autoresponders, lists and bulk mail.
- A reply to a message whose sender failed DMARC alignment, because its From address may be forged.

## Refused

Limits refuse a message instead of holding it: no recipients, a mode the plan does not allow, an attachment over the plan's size, and the daily and monthly send limits. See [Plans and limits](https://pr-1976-stg.superartifacts.app/docs/mail/plans-and-limits.md).

| Reason | What it means | Outcome |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `review_mode` | This mailbox reviews every message. | Held for a person |
| `first_contact` | First message to an address that has never written to this workspace. | Held for a person |
| `replying_to_machine` | It answers an automatic or list message, which Mail never replies to on its own. | Held for a person |
| `unauthenticated_sender` | It answers a message whose sender could not be verified, so the From address may be forged. | Held for a person |
| `draft` | The agent saved this as a draft rather than sending it. | Held for a person |
| `attachment` | It carries an attachment. | Held for a person |
| `thread_flagged` | Screening flagged something in this thread. | Held for a person |
| `no_send_rule` | No rule lets this message go without a person. | Held for a person |
| `no_recipients` | It has no recipients. | Refused |
| `mode_not_allowed` | The mailbox’s mode is not part of the workspace’s plan. | Refused |
| `attachment_cap` | An attachment is over the plan’s size limit. | Refused |
| `daily_cap` | The workspace reached today’s send limit. | Refused |
| `monthly_cap` | The workspace used this month’s sends. | Refused |

Every message that goes out ends with a line saying an AI agent sent it.