Integration guide

Outlook integration for AI agents and workflows

Swfte Studio has a Microsoft Outlook node. Its shipped data shows two read actions: get mail folders and get messages from a folder. It shows no send, draft or move action, so an Outlook workflow built from this data reads mail and leaves replies and sorting to a person.

Outlook has no entry of its own in the integration catalogue, which lists a single Microsoft entry in the miscellaneous category. The shipped template describes itself as an Outlook and Microsoft 365 integration test. The MCP tool list has no Outlook server, so this is a workflow node.

Built in Swfte Studio, run as a governed workflow, and held to the same rules as any governed agent.

Outlook at a glance

Catalogue
No entry of its own
Actions in the shipped data
2 (2 read, 0 write)
Credential type shown
microsoftOutlookOAuth2Api
MCP server
None in the MCP tool list
Shipped templates that use it
Outlook Email Workflow

What you can do with Outlook

Every action below is read from a node in a shipped workflow template. Nothing is listed that the data does not show.

Outlook actions in the shipped workflow templates
ActionTypeOperationWhat the data shows
Get Mail FoldersReadfolder.getAllLists mail folders. The template then looks for the one called Inbox.
Get MessagesReadmessage.getAllLists messages in a folder, chosen by its id. The template reads ten.

Both actions are reads. Sending, drafting and moving mail are not in the shipped data, even though the template’s description mentions creating a draft. Plan on a person sending anything that leaves the building.

The template starts from a manual trigger. New-mail events are not in the data: <Outlook trigger events - founder to fill>.

Work mail carries decisions and obligations

In many organisations Outlook is where approvals, supplier questions and legal exchanges actually happen. Mail in a Microsoft 365 tenant is also subject to the organisation’s own retention and access settings, and a workflow must not become a way around them.

The shipped template finds the Inbox by name and falls back to the first folder if it cannot find one, then reads ten messages. As with any fallback, decide whether you want it at all. Reading the wrong folder is a data decision, and a shared mailbox with a differently named folder would take that path without warning.

How to connect Outlook

The shipped template names the credential type microsoftOutlookOAuth2Api, an OAuth 2 connection to a Microsoft account.

  1. 01

    Use a shared mailbox where possible

    Connect a shared mailbox for a team, such as an accounts-payable address, rather than a person’s own.

  2. 02

    Check what the tenant allows

    In Microsoft 365, an administrator may need to approve the app before it can read mail. Ask early, because that decision can take longer than the build.

  3. 03

    Name the folder

    Replace the Inbox fallback with an explicit folder, and stop the run when it is not found.

  4. 04

    Gate what leaves

    Anything a model drafts goes through a human-input step before a person uses it.

Three governed Outlook workflows to build in Studio

Each has a label. A starting point builds on a shipped template, which is an integration test with no approval step. A design is intent only.

Inbox summary for a team mailbox

Starting point

Builds on the shipped template “Outlook Email Workflow” (6 nodes), which you can find in the template library.

Give a team a morning read of what arrived in its shared inbox, with nothing in the mailbox changed.

  1. Get the mail folders and find the Inbox by its name.
  2. Get the latest messages from that folder.
  3. A policy rule redacts personal identifiers before an LLM node writes the summary.
  4. An output step delivers the summary to the team.

Where the approval sits. Reading alone needs no approval. The redaction and the choice of recipients are the controls here.

Supplier-query routing suggestion

Designed

Suggest which person should answer each supplier question, without moving or answering anything.

  1. Get messages from the shared accounts folder.
  2. An agent reads each one and suggests an owner from a list you supply.
  3. A human-input step shows the suggestions to the team lead, with approve and reject branches.
  4. Approved suggestions go to the owners as output. Mail is not moved.

Where the approval sits. The lead approves the assignment list, and the people who receive it do the actual work in Outlook.

Folder structure check before an automation

Designed

Confirm the folders a later workflow depends on still exist and are named as expected.

  1. Get the mail folders for the mailbox.
  2. A code node sets them beside the list the team agreed.
  3. Missing or renamed folders go to the mailbox owner in a human-input step.
  4. The result is recorded as output. Nothing is changed in Outlook.

Where the approval sits. The approval here confirms the owner has seen the differences. There is no write to approve.

Shipped template
A governed template with its approval step already in it ships in the platform.
Starting point
A shipped template runs the same actions. It is an integration test with no approval step, so you add the gate.
Designed
Design intent. It uses the actions listed above plus generic nodes, and nothing has been built as a template.

Approvals and records for Outlook

Mail is people’s words and a company’s obligations, so decide what a workflow may read before you connect it.

Needs a person’s approval

  • Connecting a person’s own mailbox in place of a shared one.
  • Sending message text to a model when it may contain personal or commercial detail.
  • Falling back to any folder other than the one the workflow was built for.

Can run without one

  • Listing folders in a shared mailbox the owner has agreed.
  • Reading messages from a named folder for a redacted summary.

What is recorded

  • Each folder and message action, with the run it belongs to.
  • The lead’s or owner’s decision on each list the workflow produced.
  • Policy decisions on the text, such as redaction before a model call.

Microsoft 365 keeps its own retention and access rules, and Swfte does not alter them. The workflow adds a pause, a policy check and a record of what it did. Tenant administrators should know the connection exists.

A policy step in a design below describes the intent. The policy engine acts only on runs that have a policy attached, and a self-serve way to author policies is not something we describe as built.

Swfte’s own security position and any attestations are on the trust page. How approvals, policy and records fit together is on the governed agents page.

Comparing tools for Outlook work

These comparison pages are dated and sourced. Each says who should pick the other tool.

Outlook questions

Can a Swfte workflow send email through Outlook?

Not with the actions in the shipped data, which get mail folders and get messages. The template’s description mentions creating a draft, but no node does it.

Is there an Outlook MCP server in Swfte?

No. The MCP tool list has eight entries and Outlook is not one of them. You reach Outlook through the Studio workflow node.

Will my Microsoft 365 administrator need to approve the connection?

Possibly. Many tenants require an administrator to consent to an app before it can read mail. The shipped template uses an OAuth 2 credential, so ask the administrator before you plan a launch date.

Why does the catalogue list Microsoft and not Outlook?

The integration catalogue has a single Microsoft entry in the miscellaneous category. The Outlook node appears in the shipped workflow templates, which is the evidence this page rests on.

What does the run record show for a Microsoft 365 mailbox?

The run ledger records the policy decisions, approvals and actions for the run. It shows that a folder or message action ran and who approved any list that followed, and it is kept apart from Microsoft 365’s own audit logs.

Build a governed Outlook workflow

Begin with a read-only workflow on a test account, then add one write with an approval in front of it.

Build this in Studio

Describe what you need in plain language. Studio builds the agents and workflows, and you keep every version.