How to Set an Out-of-Office Reply

Enable automatic replies when you're away, with separate messages for internal and external senders.

Enable automatic replies so people know you’re away. Set separate messages for colleagues and external contacts, and schedule replies for specific dates.

Enable an Immediate Out-of-Office

“Turn on my out-of-office reply”

tool: mailbox-settings
params:
  action: "set-auto-replies"
  enabled: true
  internalReplyMessage: "I'm currently out of the office and will respond when I return."

This turns on auto-replies immediately and keeps them on until you disable them.

Schedule Auto-Replies for Specific Dates

“Set my out-of-office from March 10 to March 15”

tool: mailbox-settings
params:
  action: "set-auto-replies"
  enabled: true
  startDateTime: "2026-03-10T00:00:00Z"
  endDateTime: "2026-03-15T23:59:59Z"
  internalReplyMessage: "I'm on leave from 10–15 March. Back Monday 16th."

Scheduled mode automatically activates and deactivates at the specified times.

Set Separate Messages for Internal and External Senders

“Set different out-of-office messages for internal and external people”

tool: mailbox-settings
params:
  action: "set-auto-replies"
  enabled: true
  startDateTime: "2026-03-10T00:00:00Z"
  endDateTime: "2026-03-15T23:59:59Z"
  internalReplyMessage: "On leave. For urgent issues, contact James (james@company.com)."
  externalReplyMessage: "Thank you for your email. I'm currently out of the office and will respond after 15 March."
  externalAudience: "all"

Control Who Gets the External Reply

`externalAudience`	Who receives the external message
`none`	Nobody outside your organisation
`contactsOnly`	Only people in your contacts
`all`	Everyone outside your organisation

If you omit externalAudience, the existing setting is preserved. If no external message is set, external senders receive no auto-reply.

Disable Auto-Replies

“Turn off my out-of-office”

tool: mailbox-settings
params:
  action: "set-auto-replies"
  enabled: false

Check Current Auto-Reply Status

“What’s my current out-of-office status?”

tool: mailbox-settings
params:
  action: "get"
  section: "automaticRepliesSetting"

This shows whether auto-replies are enabled, the schedule, and the current messages.

Mailbox settings output showing active auto-reply with dates

Parameter Reference

Parameter	What it does	Example
`action`	Must be `set-auto-replies`	`"set-auto-replies"`
`enabled`	Turn on (`true`) or off (`false`)	`true`
`startDateTime`	When auto-replies activate (ISO 8601)	`"2026-03-10T00:00:00Z"`
`endDateTime`	When auto-replies stop (ISO 8601)	`"2026-03-15T23:59:59Z"`
`internalReplyMessage`	Message for people in your organisation	`"On leave until Monday."`
`externalReplyMessage`	Message for people outside your organisation	`"Out of office until 15 March."`
`externalAudience`	Who gets the external reply: `none`, `contactsOnly`, `all`	`"all"`

Tips

Omit startDateTime and endDateTime to enable immediately (always-on mode)
Include startDateTime and endDateTime for scheduled auto-activate/deactivate
You can include HTML in your reply messages for formatting
Check your current status with action: "get" before making changes
If you enable auto-replies without providing a message, the server warns you — it will note if a previously configured message will be reused, or warn that recipients will receive a blank reply

Configure Working Hours — set your work schedule
Verify Your Connection — ensure you’re authenticated
Tools Reference — mailbox-settings

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