--- title: "Approve drafts before they send" description: "Review the drafts your agents save in the MachineMail dashboard: edit them, send now or retry a failed send, undo a send in the first seconds, or delete them." canonical: "https://machinemail.dev/docs/guides/approve-drafts" --- # Approve drafts before they send > Review the drafts your agents save in the MachineMail dashboard: edit them, send now or retry a failed send, undo a send in the first seconds, or delete them. Source: https://machinemail.dev/docs/guides/approve-drafts An agent can save a reply as a draft instead of sending it. A person then reads it in the dashboard and decides: send it, fix it first, or throw it away. This guide covers the person's side. The agent's side is in [Drafts](https://machinemail.dev/docs/concepts/drafts): how an agent creates drafts, and how to give it a key that can draft but not send. ## Open your drafts Open [machinemail.dev/app/drafts](https://machinemail.dev/app/drafts), or choose **Drafts** in the sidebar. Every unsent draft in the organization is listed on the left. Select one to read it on the right. A thread with an unsent reply also shows a **Draft reply** bar above its messages. Choose **Review in Drafts** to jump to it. Each draft has a status: | Status | Meaning | | ------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Draft** | Waiting for a person. It never sends on its own. | | **Scheduled · sends in** | The agent set a send time. It goes out automatically at that time. | | **Sending soon** | Its send time has passed and it is still queued to send automatically. | | **Sending** | It is going out now. | | **Send failed** | The scheduled send failed. It is not retried automatically. | ## Read the draft The header shows **From** (the inbox), **To**, **Cc** and **Bcc**, **Sends** for a scheduled draft, and when it was drafted or last edited. A reply draft quotes the message it answers. Choose **Open thread** to read the whole conversation first. ## Edit it if needed 1. Choose **Edit**. 2. Change **To**, **Cc**, **Subject** or the **Body**. You can attach files or remove attachments. Bcc is kept as it is. 3. Choose **Save**, or press ⌘↵ (Ctrl+↵ on Windows and Linux). To stop editing, choose **Cancel** or press Esc. If you made changes, the dashboard asks **Discard your changes?** Choose **Keep editing** or **Discard changes**. A scheduled draft keeps its send time while you edit. The editor shows how long is left before it sends automatically. Save before then. ## Send it 1) Choose **Send now**. 2) Check the recipients in the **Send draft now** dialog. 3) Choose **Send now** again. A scheduled draft goes out at once instead of at its scheduled time. Once sent, the draft leaves the list and becomes a normal message in its thread. **Send now** is turned off while the draft has no recipients. ## Undo a send When **Undo send** is on, a send from the dashboard waits 5 seconds before it goes out. While it waits, the bar at the bottom shows a countdown and an **Undo** button. Choose **Undo** or press Z to take the send back. The draft stays as it was. Undo send is on for new organizations. To change it, open [Settings → Organization](https://machinemail.dev/app/settings#organization) and use the **Undo send** switch. It applies to everyone in the organization, and only to sends from the dashboard. After the 5 seconds, sent mail can't be recalled. ## Retry a failed send A scheduled send can fail. The draft then shows **Send failed** and the note "The scheduled send failed and is not retried automatically." 1. Fix what is wrong, for example a recipient address, with **Edit**. 2. Choose **Retry send**. 3. Confirm in the **Retry sending this draft** dialog with **Retry send**. ## Delete a draft 1. Choose **Delete**. 2. Type `DELETE` and choose **Delete draft**. The draft is deleted without being sent. A scheduled send is cancelled. The agent is not told. > **Not in the dashboard:** The dashboard can't set a send time. Agents create drafts with the API or the MCP `create_draft` tool. A message you close in the dashboard's composer is also kept as a draft; see [Write a new > message in the dashboard](https://machinemail.dev/docs/guides/send-from-the-dashboard). ## Troubleshooting | Symptom | Fix | | -------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | A draft sent before anyone reviewed it | The agent set a send time, and a draft with a send time goes out on its own. Ask the agent to leave `send_at` empty. See [Drafts](https://machinemail.dev/docs/concepts/drafts). | | **Send now** is greyed out | The draft has no recipients, or it is already sending. Add a recipient with **Edit**. | | "That draft no longer exists" | Someone sent or deleted it, or it went out on schedule, while you had it open. | | **Undo** never appears | **Undo send** is off for the organization. Turn it on in **Settings → Organization**. | ## Related - [Drafts](https://machinemail.dev/docs/concepts/drafts) - [Reply in thread](https://machinemail.dev/docs/guides/reply-in-thread) - [Write a new message in the dashboard](https://machinemail.dev/docs/guides/send-from-the-dashboard) - [Create a key for an agent](https://machinemail.dev/docs/guides/api-key-for-an-agent)