Abstract
This disclosure describes an email gateway architecture for automated agents (including AI-based agents) that communicate with users by email on a dedicated subdomain, consolidating both inbound and outbound message handling in a single component to preserve correct conversational threading. The gateway assigns and retains a stable message identifier for each outbound message, mapped to its internal conversation, task, or record. For inbound messages, the gateway reconstructs the correct conversation by matching standard reference headers (such as In-Reply-To and References) against its stored identifiers, even where the inbound provider does not preserve application context. Where reference headers are absent, altered, or insufficient — for example, when a user composes a new message rather than replying — the gateway applies fallback association using signals such as address-tagging in the subdomain reply-to address, sender address, subject, and timing. Outbound messages carry consistent subdomain identity and threading headers so that ordinary email clients display a coherent conversation. Because threading is reconstructed from the gateway's own identifier mapping rather than any single provider's proprietary threading, the underlying send and receive transport may be supplied by one or more interchangeable email providers without loss of threading continuity. Travel Code, Inc. publishes this disclosure to place the described techniques in the public domain as prior art.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Karpovich, Yahor, "Defensive Publication — Email Gateway with Message-Identifier Threading for Consolidated Inbound and Outbound Agent Communications on a Dedicated Subdomain", Technical Disclosure Commons, (August 20, 2026)
https://www.tdcommons.org/dpubs_series/11448