Drafts and two-way sync
Drafts written in Ikigai appear in your mail server's Drafts folder and vice versa — how the two-way draft sync works and what happens on edits elsewhere.
Ikigai treats your mail server as the source of truth and keeps drafts mirrored in both directions. You can start an email in the CRM, polish it later in Gmail on your phone, and send it from either side — without duplicates or stale leftovers.
Where drafts live
Anything you compose but do not send is saved automatically and appears in the Drafts folder of the Mail section. The empty state says it plainly: "No drafts. When you save an unfinished email — it shows up here."
The same draft is pushed to your mail provider:
- Gmail (OAuth) mailboxes — the draft is created and updated through the Gmail API, so it shows up in Gmail's own Drafts.
- IMAP mailboxes — the draft is appended to the server's Drafts folder over IMAP (requires IMAP to be configured on the mailbox — see Connect a mailbox).
What syncs, in which direction
| You do this | Ikigai does this |
|---|---|
| Save a draft in the CRM | Creates the same draft on the mail server. |
| Edit the draft in the CRM | Updates the server copy to the latest revision. |
| Edit or create a draft in Gmail / your mail client | The next sync pulls it into the CRM Drafts folder. |
| Delete a draft in the CRM | Removes the server-side copy as well. |
| Send the email (from either side) | The draft disappears everywhere; a leftover Drafts-folder copy of an already-sent email is cleaned up automatically. |
Editing a draft elsewhere
If you open the same draft in Gmail or another mail client and change it, the change flows back into Ikigai on the next mailbox sync. The sync is revision-aware: an outdated background update never overwrites a newer edit — only the latest revision of a draft is pushed to the provider.
Drafts without a recipient (notes to self, attachment stashes) are left alone — a draft with any recipient is imported into the CRM Drafts folder even if it is unrelated to CRM correspondence.
When sync fails
If pushing a draft fails — for example the Gmail connection expired — the draft is marked with a sync error and stays safe in the CRM. Reconnect the mailbox (its card shows Reconnect) and the draft syncs on the next attempt.
Tip: drafts cannot be archived — the triage bar will tell you "Drafts can't be archived". Finish or delete them instead; bulk-deleting from the Drafts list also removes the server copies.
Continue in the Inbox & email category with Working the inbox.
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