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Auto-Responders

Auto-responders send a reply for you when you can't. MailPrism gives you two independent responders — one for vacations, one for after hours — and you can run either, both, or neither. Find them under Settings → Auto-responder.

ResponderTriggers onSchedule style
VacationYou being away between two datesA date range
After-hoursMail arriving outside your working hoursSet hours on set days
Vacation takes priority

If both responders would fire on the same email, the Vacation responder wins — so you won't send a "we're closed for the evening" reply while you're actually on holiday.

Vacation responder​

Turn this on when you're away. It replies to incoming mail between your start and end dates, then goes quiet again.

SettingWhat it controls
Start date / End dateThe window when the responder is active
Subject lineThe reply subject (use {original_subject} to echo theirs)
Response messageThe body of the reply (use {sender_name} for the sender's name)
WorkflowSend immediately, or Create draft for review
Response delayA short wait before replying — 30 sec to 5 min (1 min recommended)
Who receives responsesEveryone, My contacts only, or Whitelist only
  • My contacts only — people you've emailed before, or senders you've marked as trusted.
  • Whitelist only — only the email addresses you list get a reply; everyone else is skipped.
Why the response delay?

The short delay lets Gmail finish classifying the email first — so the responder can correctly skip a newsletter or promo that hasn't been sorted yet. Leave it at the recommended setting unless you have a reason to change it.

After-hours responder​

This one replies to mail that lands outside your working hours, then waits for the next business day.

SettingWhat it controls
Business hoursA start time and end time (e.g. 09:00–17:00)
Work daysThe days those hours apply (e.g. Mon–Fri)
TimezoneSo your hours track your local clock
Subject lineThe reply subject ({original_subject} echoes theirs)
Response messageThe body (use {business_hours} to show your schedule)
WorkflowSend immediately, or Create draft for review
Response delayA short wait before replying — 15 sec to 2 min (30 sec recommended)
Who receives responsesEveryone, My contacts only, or Whitelist only

Replies go out only for mail that arrives outside the hours and days you mark as working time.

Draft vs. send​

Both responders share the Workflow choice:

  • Send immediately — the reply goes out on its own.
  • Create draft for review — MailPrism writes the reply and leaves it as a draft, so you can check it before anything is sent.
Try draft mode first

If you're nervous about automatic replies, set the workflow to draft for a day. You'll see exactly what would have gone out, with zero risk of an unwanted send.

Which emails get a reply​

A responder only answers new mail that lands in your inbox — not mail you sent, not old mail, and not emails you re-run rules on. Specifically:

  • The email arrived in the last 24 hours (turning a responder on doesn't reply to your backlog).
  • It arrived in your workspace's primary Gmail account.
  • Rule processing is running — quiet hours and paused automation also pause responders.

Right before replying, MailPrism re-checks that the responder is still on, so turning it off during the response delay cancels the reply.

Built-in safety​

Auto-responders are deliberately cautious so they never turn into a spam machine or an auto-reply loop. These protections are always on:

  • No-reply addresses are skipped — MailPrism won't reply to no-reply@… senders.
  • Mailing lists are skipped — anything carrying an unsubscribe header is left alone.
  • Automated and system mail is skipped — newsletters, promotions, notifications, transactional receipts, spam, and cold outreach don't get a reply, so you avoid loops.
  • Auto-replies are skipped — mail that is itself an auto-reply (or a bounce) never gets one back, so two responders can't loop.
  • Rate limits — at most one auto-reply per sender per day (days run on UTC), plus a daily cap across all senders.
These exclusions can't be turned off

The safety filters and rate limits protect your reputation as a sender. They apply to every auto-reply, whatever your Who receives responses setting — including addresses on your whitelist. If anything goes wrong while checking them, MailPrism doesn't send.