Block email addresses

Prevent certain email addresses from receiving a reply from your AI Agent by blocking their email address directly from the Ada dashboard, on the Blocked senders tab on the Channels > Email page.

How to block or unblock an email address

You can block or unblock email addresses in two places:

From the Conversations view

From their message:

Click the ”…” next to a sender’s email address above a message and select Block sender.

From the right-hand Details panel

In the right-hand Details panel, go to the Metavariables section.

You can block an address stored in the email metavariable or the email_from_address metavariable by clicking the ”…” next to the displayed email address.

Remember: the email metavariable represents the email’s original sender and does not change throughout the course of a conversation. The email_from_address metavariable represents the most recent sender of a new email in the conversation (could be the original sender or a CC’d recipient if they sent the last message) and updates with every new message the AI Agent receives.

Same steps are followed to unblock.

From the Block Sender page

Navigate to Email Channel Settings > Block Sender tab in your dashboard.
Click the ”+ Add New” button
Enter one or more email addresses to block, ensuring each email address is separated by a comma.

Only users with edit permissions can block or unblock email addresses. Read-only users can view the block list and associated conversations but cannot make changes.

What happens when an email address is blocked?

Any past conversations between the blocked sender and the AI Agent will now show a red Blocked indicator in the conversation where the email address appears.

New emails sent from blocked senders after they’ve been added to the list:

Will not create new conversations
Will not receive AI Agent replies
Are excluded from analytics and not assessed for resolution. These emails will not receive a CSAT
Are not sent via Launch Controls (if you are using this feature)

What happens when an email address is unblocked?

Once unblocked, messages from the sender will:

Create new conversations (or continue existing open ones)
Receive AI Agent replies
Be included in your conversation view and reporting

Unblocking is forward-looking only. Past conversations will no longer show the “Blocked” indicator next to the sender’s email address, but any messages received while the sender was blocked remain excluded from reporting.

Blocked email addresses and CCs

If a blocked sender sends an email that includes multiple CC’d participants, the AI Agent will reply only to the CC’d participants.
If non-blocked sender sends an email that includes a blocked sender in the CC field, the AI Agent will remove the blocked sender from the recipient list and they will not see the AI Agent’s reply.

Blocked email addresses and Launch Controls

Emails from an address assigned to the “route to a human” group are not blocked even if the sender is on the Blocked Senders list.
Emails from an address assigned to the “automation group” will not receive an AI Agent response if the sender is on the the Blocked Senders List.

Learn more about expected launch controls behaviour here.

FAQs

How long will my block persist on the blocked email addresses?

Blocked email addresses follow Ada’s standard data retention policy of two years. After two years, blocked email addresses will be automatically removed from the blocked senders list. If the sender reaches out again after two years, a new conversation will be created and the AI Agent will respond as usual. You can re-add those addresses to the blocked senders tab if you would like the block to persist.

Does blocking apply to CC'd participants?

If a blocked address is in the CC list, it’s removed before a reply is sent.

Can I bulk block or unblock email addresses?

Yes, bulk actions are available to you in the Blocked senders tab.

Does blocking apply across all channels?

No. Blocking only affects the Email channel.

How can I view all the past conversations this blocked sender has had with my AI Agent?

Click the View all conversations option that appears when you click the ”…” next to the blocked email address either in the Conversations view or in the Blocked senders table.