Salesforce Email Agent Integration
Overview
The Salesforce Email integration allows Brainfish to monitor incoming email cases in your Salesforce org and automatically respond with AI-generated answers. Once connected, Brainfish polls for new EmailMessage records on Salesforce Cases, generates a response using your configured knowledge sources, and sends the reply back either as a direct email to the case contact or as an internal case comment.
This article covers the integration settings, how to disconnect, and how to reconnect.
Prerequisite: You must have a Salesforce External Client App with a Client ID and Client Secret already configured. See the companion article How to Connect Brainfish to Salesforce Using OAuth for setup instructions.
Configuration Page Layout
When you open a Salesforce Email agent, the configuration page is divided into three accordion sections on the left and a preview/simulation panel on the right:
| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| Connection Settings | Manage the Salesforce OAuth connection. When connected, configure auto-reply, reply action, and queue monitoring. |
| Agent Settings | Configure the agent profile, response style, and custom instructions. |
| Knowledge Settings | Select which knowledge sources the agent uses to generate responses. |
Connection Settings (When Connected)
Once your Salesforce org is connected, the Connection Settings section displays:
- Organisation name and environment type (Production or Sandbox)
- Connected as the Salesforce username used during OAuth
- A Connected badge confirming the integration is active
- A Disconnect button to remove the connection
Below the connection status card, two additional panels appear:
Enable Auto-Reply
A toggle that enables or disables automatic AI responses to incoming Salesforce email cases.
- Enabled: Brainfish actively polls for new incoming email messages on Salesforce Cases and generates AI responses.
- Disabled: Brainfish does not poll or respond to cases. The integration remains connected but is effectively paused.
Reply Action
When auto-reply is enabled, you choose how the AI response is delivered back to Salesforce. There are two options:
| Option | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Send email reply (default) | Sends the AI-generated response as an email directly to the case contact. The customer receives the reply in their inbox as if a support agent responded. |
| Add case comment | Adds the AI-generated response as an internal comment on the Salesforce Case. The customer does not receive an email this is useful for agent-assisted workflows where a human reviews the AI suggestion before sending. |
Queue Selection
A multi-select dropdown that lets you choose which Salesforce queues the agent should monitor.
- How it works: The dropdown lists all Queue-type Groups from your connected Salesforce org (up to 200). You can search and select multiple queues.
- When queues are selected: Brainfish only processes email cases that are owned by one of the selected queues. This is useful when you want to limit AI responses to specific support queues (e.g. "Tier 1 Support" or "General Enquiries").
- When no queues are selected: Brainfish monitors all incoming email cases across the entire org, regardless of which queue owns them.
Tip: Use queue selection to start with a single low-volume queue and expand to additional queues as you gain confidence in the AI responses.
How the Integration Works End-to-End
- Customer sends an email that creates (or updates) a Salesforce Case.
- Brainfish polls for new EmailMessage records on Cases, optionally filtered by the selected queues.
- Brainfish maps the case to a conversation thread and generates an AI response using the configured knowledge sources and agent settings.
- Based on the Reply Action setting:
- Send email reply → Brainfish creates an outbound EmailMessage on the Case, which Salesforce delivers to the customer.
- Add case comment → Brainfish adds a CaseComment visible to your support team inside Salesforce.
- The cycle repeats as new email messages arrive on monitored cases.
Disconnecting from Salesforce
To disconnect the integration:
- Open your Salesforce Email agent configuration page.
- In the Connection Settings section, click the Disconnect button (trash icon).
- A confirmation dialog appears: "Are you sure you want to disconnect Salesforce? The agent will remain but will need to be reconnected to Salesforce to function."
- Click Disconnect Salesforce to confirm.
What Happens When You Disconnect
- The OAuth token is revoked on the Salesforce side.
- The integration record and stored authentication credentials are deleted from Brainfish.
- The agent itself is preserved all agent settings, knowledge source selections, and configuration (auto-reply, reply action, queues) remain intact.
- The agent stops polling and will not respond to any new Salesforce cases until reconnected.
- The Connection Settings panel switches to the disconnected view, showing the Client ID, Client Secret, and Sandbox toggle fields.
Reconnecting to Salesforce
If you previously disconnected (or if the connection expired), you can reconnect:
- Open the Salesforce Email agent configuration page.
- In the Connection Settings section (now showing the disconnected form), enter your Client ID and Client Secret from your Salesforce External Client App.
- If your External Client App is in a Sandbox org, toggle Sandbox environment on.
- Click Connect to Salesforce.
- You will be redirected to Salesforce to authorise the connection via OAuth.
- After successful authorisation, Salesforce redirects you back to the agent configuration page.
- The Connection Settings section now shows the Connected status with your org details.
Note: Your previous auto-reply, reply action, and queue settings are retained on the agent. After reconnecting, verify they are still correct and click Save changes if any adjustments are needed.
Re-authorisation Tips
- Use the same Client ID and Client Secret as before unless you have rotated your Salesforce app credentials.
- If you switched between Production and Sandbox environments, make sure the Sandbox environment toggle matches your External Client App's org type.
- If the OAuth authorisation fails, double-check that the callback URL in your Salesforce External Client App is still correctly configured (see the OAuth setup guide).
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Possible Cause | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| Connection shows an error after connecting | OAuth token may have expired or been revoked in Salesforce | Disconnect and reconnect using the steps above |
| Queues dropdown shows no options | The connected Salesforce org has no Queue-type Groups, or the connected user lacks permission to query Groups | Verify queues exist in Salesforce Setup and that the connected user has appropriate permissions |
| Auto-reply is enabled but no responses are being sent | Queues may be selected that have no incoming cases, or auto-reply may have been toggled off | Check the queue selection matches queues receiving cases; confirm auto-reply is toggled on |
| "Failed to initiate OAuth flow" error on connect | Client ID or Client Secret may be incorrect | Verify the credentials match your Salesforce External Client App |
| Agent is connected but customers are not receiving email replies | Reply action may be set to "Add case comment" instead of "Send email reply" | Change the Reply Action to "Send email reply" and save |
Related Articles
- How to Connect Brainfish to Salesforce Using OAuth — Setting up the External Client App (Client ID and Secret)