> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.sensbot.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# WooCommerce Email Assistant Installation

> Sensbot Email Assistant for WooCommerce – installation, connection and mailbox setup guide

Most of a shop's support mail is the same handful of questions: where is my order, can I change the address, can I return this, is this back in stock. Answering one takes a minute of looking the order up and a minute of writing.

Sensbot Email Assistant does both parts. It reads the mail arriving in your support mailbox, finds the order the customer is writing about in the data it synced from your store, and leaves the reply waiting in your **Drafts** folder. You open it, change what you want, and send it.

<img className="block" src="https://mintcdn.com/sensbotai/mD-VZN_xFqyPzxyo/images/woocommerce/woo-ea-gmail.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=mD-VZN_xFqyPzxyo&q=85&s=750aa8f48833a694bc2577dc4f4d2327" alt="A customer email in Gmail with the Sensbot panel beside it showing the drafted reply" width="1600" height="900" data-path="images/woocommerce/woo-ea-gmail.png" />

<Warning>
  The assistant **never sends**. Every reply is a draft in your own mailbox until a person sends it.
</Warning>

<Note>
  This plugin connects your **store**. The **mailbox** is connected afterwards in the Sensbot dashboard, by signing in to Google or Microsoft or by giving IMAP details. Nothing about your mail passes through your WordPress site, and no mailbox password is ever stored in WordPress.
</Note>

***

## Before you start

| Requirement                                                                        | Why                                                                 |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| WordPress 6.5 or newer, PHP 8.1 or newer                                           | Plugin requirement                                                  |
| WooCommerce installed and active                                                   | Drafts are grounded in your real orders and products                |
| Your store reachable over **HTTPS** on a public address                            | Sensbot's servers read your store from the outside                  |
| **Pretty permalinks** enabled (Settings → Permalinks, anything other than "Plain") | The WordPress REST API path `/wp-json/` has to work                 |
| A support mailbox on Gmail, Microsoft 365 / Outlook, or any IMAP host              | This is where the drafts appear                                     |
| An administrator account in WordPress                                              | The settings screen requires the **manage\_woocommerce** capability |

<Note>
  You do **not** need a Sensbot account first. Connecting creates it and starts a 14 day free trial, with no payment card.
</Note>

***

## Step 1 · Install the plugin

1. In your WordPress admin, go to **Plugins**, then **Add New Plugin**.
2. Search for **Sensbot Email Assistant**.
3. Click **Install Now**, then **Activate**.

You can also install it from the WordPress.org listing: [Sensbot Email Assistant for WooCommerce](https://wordpress.org/plugins/sensbot-email-assistant-for-woocommerce/).

<Note>
  This plugin has no front-end code. Your visitors see nothing and load nothing extra. A chat assistant on the storefront is the separate [Sensbot Chatbot](/integrations/woocommerce) plugin, and the two can be used together.
</Note>

***

## Step 2 · Connect the store

1. Go to **WooCommerce**, then **Sensbot Email Assistant**.
2. Check the **Your email** address. This becomes your Sensbot account address and the sign-in link is sent there.
3. Tick **I accept the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy**.
4. Click **Connect & start free trial**.

<img className="block" src="https://mintcdn.com/sensbotai/mD-VZN_xFqyPzxyo/images/woocommerce/woo-ea-connect.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=mD-VZN_xFqyPzxyo&q=85&s=3e29a3758ab5571e552e5caa357441f9" alt="The Sensbot Email Assistant settings screen before connecting: an email field, the terms checkbox and the Connect and start free trial button" width="2520" height="884" data-path="images/woocommerce/woo-ea-connect.png" />

The plugin creates one **read only** WooCommerce REST API key named `Sensbot Email Assistant (read-only)` and hands it to Sensbot. Sensbot cannot change anything in your store, and the key is deleted when you disconnect or delete the plugin.

Follow the **Set my password** link that appears, so you can sign in to the dashboard directly later.

***

## Step 3 · Connect the mailbox

Once the store is in, the settings screen says **One step left: connect the mailbox the assistant should work in**. Until a mailbox is attached the assistant has nothing to read and writes no drafts.

<img className="block" src="https://mintcdn.com/sensbotai/mD-VZN_xFqyPzxyo/images/woocommerce/woo-ea-connected.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=mD-VZN_xFqyPzxyo&q=85&s=e8fb58a11856db627581809e3e00285a" alt="The settings screen after connecting, showing the store data import finished and the mailbox not connected yet" width="2520" height="1074" data-path="images/woocommerce/woo-ea-connected.png" />

1. Click **Open Sensbot dashboard**.
2. Open the **Email Assistant** tab for your store.
3. Click **Connect Email Account** and choose how to connect:
   * **Gmail** — sign in to Google and confirm access.
   * **Outlook / Microsoft 365** — sign in to Microsoft and confirm access.
   * **IMAP / SMTP** — enter your mail server details.

<img className="block" src="https://mintcdn.com/sensbotai/mD-VZN_xFqyPzxyo/images/woocommerce/woo-ea-dashboard-mailbox.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=mD-VZN_xFqyPzxyo&q=85&s=86491cf67ef83896c777129624d078de" alt="The Sensbot dashboard Email Assistant tab with the Connect Email Account button and the three setup steps" width="2880" height="1800" data-path="images/woocommerce/woo-ea-dashboard-mailbox.png" />

Back in WordPress, click **Refresh status**. The **Mailbox** row turns to `Connected`.

<Note>
  A Google or Microsoft sign-in cannot happen inside a WordPress settings screen, which is why this step lives in the dashboard. Shared mailboxes such as `info@yourstore.com` on Microsoft 365 need a little extra care: see [Microsoft 365 Setup](/customization/email-assistant/outlook-addin/microsoft-365-setup).
</Note>

<Note>
  We can also connect some helpdesk platforms instead of a raw mailbox. Write to [support@sensbot.ai](mailto:support@sensbot.ai) and tell us which one you use.
</Note>

***

## Step 4 · Let it learn your writing

The assistant reads the replies you have already sent and copies how your shop writes: greeting, sign-off, length, how formal you are.

Give it a little time on a real mailbox before you judge the first drafts, and shape it in the dashboard:

* **[Writing style](/customization/email-assistant/writing-style)** — signature, greeting, tone.
* **[Custom instructions](/customization/email-assistant/custom-instructions)** — what to promise, what never to say.
* **[Email filters](/customization/email-assistant/email-filters)** — which messages it should touch at all.
* **[Auto reply rules](/customization/email-assistant/auto-reply)** — how far it is allowed to go on its own.

Full detail: [Email Assistant Configuration](/customization/email-assistant).

***

## Step 5 · Work the drafts where you already work

The drafts land in your mailbox's own **Drafts** folder, so you can simply work in Gmail or Outlook as usual.

Two optional add-ins put the assistant beside the message, with the reasoning, the order it found, and a **Generate new reply** button:

* [Gmail add-on](/customization/email-assistant/gmail-addon/installation)
* [Outlook add-in](/customization/email-assistant/outlook-addin/general)

<img className="block" src="https://mintcdn.com/sensbotai/mD-VZN_xFqyPzxyo/images/woocommerce/woo-ea-outlook.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=mD-VZN_xFqyPzxyo&q=85&s=04965307e547fc481b634ae904a85776" alt="The Sensbot add-in in Outlook, showing the drafted reply next to the customer's message" width="1600" height="900" data-path="images/woocommerce/woo-ea-outlook.png" />

Everything is also readable in the dashboard: the customer's email, the draft, the order behind it, and why the assistant answered the way it did.

<img className="block" src="https://mintcdn.com/sensbotai/mD-VZN_xFqyPzxyo/images/woocommerce/woo-ea-draft-dashboard.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=mD-VZN_xFqyPzxyo&q=85&s=6127eecf053bcdaa367e6116bdce5acc" alt="The Sensbot dashboard showing a processed customer email, the drafted reply and the matched order" width="2880" height="1360" data-path="images/woocommerce/woo-ea-draft-dashboard.png" />

***

## What the plugin does on your site

* Creates one read only WooCommerce REST API key, `Sensbot Email Assistant (read-only)`.
* Adds one settings screen under **WooCommerce**.

Nothing else. No storefront script, no tables, no background calls: the settings screen talks to Sensbot only when you click something.

What Sensbot reads with the key, on a recurring schedule: products, product categories, orders, the WooCommerce system status and your published pages. That is what lets a draft quote the real order, the real price and your real policy instead of guessing. Order records include the buyer's name, email address, phone number and addresses. See the [Privacy Policy](https://sensbot.ai/privacy-policy/).

Your mail is read by Sensbot's servers through the mailbox connection you made in the dashboard, and never passes through WordPress.

***

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Connecting fails with an error about reaching the store" icon="triangle-exclamation">
    Sensbot validates the key by calling your store from the outside. It fails when the site is not on HTTPS, is not publicly reachable (local address, staging password, "Coming soon" mode, IP allowlist), has permalinks set to **Plain**, or has a security plugin blocking the WooCommerce REST API.

    Test it: open `https://your-store.com/wp-json/` in a browser. If that does not return JSON, fix that first.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The mailbox says Not connected yet, but I connected it" icon="rotate">
    Click **Refresh status** on the settings screen. The row is read from Sensbot at page load, so it lags until you ask for it again.

    If it stays that way, open the dashboard and check the **Email Assistant** tab: a Google or Microsoft consent that was closed halfway leaves no connection behind.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="No drafts are appearing" icon="inbox">
    Work through it in this order:

    1. Is the **Mailbox** row `Connected`?
    2. Is the **Store data import** row `Finished`?
    3. Are the incoming messages actually landing in the connected mailbox, and not being filtered into another folder by a rule before Sensbot sees them?
    4. Do your [email filters](/customization/email-assistant/email-filters) exclude the kind of message you are testing with?

    A draft can also be deliberately withheld. Every draft passes a validator first, and one that claims something the assistant cannot stand behind is suppressed and the message marked as needing a person. Those are visible in the dashboard.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The drafts do not sound like us" icon="pen">
    The assistant learns from the replies you actually send, so the more real sent mail there is in the mailbox, the closer it gets. You can steer it directly in [Writing style](/customization/email-assistant/writing-style) and [Custom instructions](/customization/email-assistant/custom-instructions).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A draft quoted an old price or the wrong order state" icon="clock">
    Store data is read at connect and refreshed on a recurring schedule, not instantly. A change made in WooCommerce takes some time to reach the assistant.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I deactivated the plugin. What did I lose?" icon="power-off">
    Nothing. Deactivating stops Sensbot reading your store data. Your account, your mailbox connection and your settings stay as they are, so you can activate again without setting anything up a second time.

    To actually close the connection, use **Disconnect** on the settings screen, or delete the plugin.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Trial, pricing and billing

Connecting starts a **14 day free trial**, with no payment card. After the trial, paid plans start at 49 EUR per month. Current plans and limits are at [sensbot.ai/pricing](https://sensbot.ai/pricing/). If no payment method is added, the trial ends, drafting stops, and nothing is charged.

Billing is handled in the Sensbot dashboard, not in WordPress.

***

## Disconnecting and removing everything

* **Disconnect** on the settings screen closes the connection on Sensbot's side and deletes the API key, while keeping the plugin installed.
* **Deleting the plugin** does the same and also removes every setting it stored.

To have the data already held on Sensbot's servers deleted, write to [support@sensbot.ai](mailto:support@sensbot.ai).

***

## 🎉 Done

Your support mailbox now has drafts waiting in it, written from your real orders. You stay in control of every send.

Need help? Contact us at [support@sensbot.ai](mailto:support@sensbot.ai).