Email to JSON Checklist for Customer Support Teams

List required fields like subject, body_text, body_html, from, to, cc, bcc, message_id, thread_id, received_at, attachments[], tags[], queue_id, priority, sentiment_score, and sla_due_at. Align with your helpdesk custom fields to prevent lossy mappings later.

Capture References, In-Reply-To, List-Id, and Priority while normalizing From and Reply-To. This supports accurate thread linking, mailing list handling, and VIP priority routing.

Use message_id, In-Reply-To, and References to derive thread_id and suppress duplicates within a defined time window. Normalize subjects by removing common prefixes like Re or Fwd for fallback matching.

Whitelist file types, set size limits, and include content_type, size, filename, and sha256 in attachments[]. Flag potentially dangerous files for quarantine and require agent approval.

Derive queue_id and sla_policy from the inbound address, then compute sla_due_at immediately. Store business-hours calendars per queue so breach calculations are consistent.

Apply DLP rules for payment data and credentials, replacing matches with tokens while preserving context for agents. Avoid logging full bodies or attachments in debug traces.

Provision addresses like billing@, tech@, and success@ to encode routing intent. Maintain a directory mapping each address to queue_id, ACLs, and SLA policy for deterministic triage.

Parse tags from addresses like support+vip@ or support+partner@ and add them to tags[] in JSON. Enforce a controlled vocabulary to prevent routing drift.

Populate spf_result, dkim_result, and dmarc_result fields so agents and automations can flag spoofed mail. Tighten workflows for invoices or credential-related topics when authentication fails.

Detect Auto-Submitted, Precedence, and X-Auto-Response-Suppress headers to filter noisy bots and out-of-office loops. Route legitimate system alerts to a dedicated queue with lower SLA.

Canonicalize aliases and decode IDNs, mapping recipients to queue_id or group_id in JSON. This prevents misroutes when customers email legacy or regional addresses.

Include escalate_to, escalation_level, and escalation_reason derived from keywords, priority tags, or sentiment. Use time-based rules for after-hours to page on-call responders.

Handle RFC 2047 encoded-words and Base64 or Quoted-Printable bodies and headers. Fail closed to a safe default and log encoding errors for later review.

Prefer text/plain when present, else sanitize HTML by stripping scripts and dangerous attributes while preserving readable structure. Store both body_text and body_html for downstream consumers.

Use language-aware reply markers and signature delimiters to keep only the customer's latest message. This improves sentiment accuracy and prevents duplicate context in tickets.

Map Content-ID references to cid: URIs and list attachments with disposition, filename, and sha256. Decide whether inline images should be persisted or ignored for search and storage efficiency.

Parse Date and the most recent Received header to set received_at and sent_at. Fall back gracefully when sender clocks are wrong and always store server arrival time.

Decode SMTPUTF8 names and convert punycode domains to Unicode while preserving raw forms. Populate normalized_from and raw_from to aid matching and auditing.

Use HMAC signatures with a rotated secret and reject unsigned or mismatched payloads. Require HTTPS with strong ciphers and pin certificates if your platform supports it.

Combine message_id and a delivery_id to form an idempotency key and store it in a processed set. Always return 2xx for duplicates to stop retries without creating new tickets.

Treat webhook deliveries as at-least-once and design handlers to be safe on replay. Cap max retries and surface a dead-letter queue for manual recovery.

Support a since cursor to fetch missed events during webhook outages. Reconcile by comparing message_id sets to ensure no email is lost.

Bind subject to title, body_text to description, attachments[] to file uploads, and sla_due_at to due fields. Use tags[], sentiment_score, and queue_id for automations and views.

Throttle requests to your helpdesk API and queue overflow during traffic spikes. Monitor response latency to auto-scale workers and protect SLAs.

Collect multipart/alternative, calendar invites, winmail.dat, long quoted threads, RTL languages, and bounce reports. Store expected JSON outputs to run deterministic tests.

Dual-deliver emails to a sandbox endpoint and compare created tickets, fields, and dedup outcomes. Validate that SLA timers and routing decisions match your current system.

Emit metrics like parse_error_rate, webhook_5xx, and retry_count, then page on-call when thresholds breach. Include sample message_ids in alerts for quick triage.

Track P50 and P90 response times and breach counts by queue and hour. Feed insights into staffing plans and routing rules.

Compute the percentage of emails that create multiple tickets and the accuracy of thread linking. Review samples monthly and adjust reply stripping and matching heuristics.

Archive raw MIME and generated JSON with retention aligned to policy and privacy rules. Build a reprocessor that can safely re-enqueue messages for downstream systems.