> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.alex.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Item types > What opens each kind of Inbox item, who gets it, how to work it, and what closes it. There are six kinds of item. For each one, this page covers what opens it, whose Mine it shows in, how to work it, and what closes it. Items open only while your company's Inbox is recording (see [Set up the Inbox](https://docs.alex.com/inbox/set-up.md)). ## Reply needed **Opens when** a candidate sends a text, WhatsApp message or email while Alex is paused for them. While Alex is paused, Alex holds the message instead of answering it. **Shows in Mine for** the person who paused Alex (it's addressed to them, if they can use the Inbox), and for everyone who owns or follows the job. > [!TIP] > > You pause Alex from the candidate's Activity thread with **Pause Alex**. Pausing means "I'm handling this candidate myself", so every message they send while paused lands in your Inbox. ### How to work it You see the full conversation with the candidate, with the **Reply needed** note above the message box. It says Alex is paused for this candidate, so Alex isn't replying. * **To answer yourself**, write your reply in the message box and send it by text, WhatsApp or email. Sending closes the item as **Replied**. * **To hand the conversation back to Alex**, resume Alex. You can do that from the conversation, or with **Mark complete** (see [Mark complete on a reply](https://docs.alex.com/inbox/using-your-inbox.md#mark-complete-on-a-reply)). Resuming closes the item as **Alex resumed**. ![A Reply needed item: the conversation, with the Reply needed note above the message box](https://mintcdn.com/apriora/MDTG4MwWsGXMaoCb/images/inbox/inbox-reply-needed.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=MDTG4MwWsGXMaoCb\&q=85\&s=06c6f32c32124c0786005d0ecebe200d) ### What closes it | Closes when | Shown as | | - | - | | Someone sends the candidate a message (email, text or WhatsApp) | Replied | | Alex is resumed for the candidate, anywhere in Alex | Alex resumed | | Someone marks it complete and keeps Alex paused | Marked complete | ## Asked for a person **Opens when** a candidate asks to talk to a person: * during an interview, * in a text conversation with Alex, or * in an interview where nobody caught it live, and Alex finds the request when it reviews the transcript afterward. **Shows in Mine for** everyone who owns or follows the job. ### How to work it You see the conversation with the **Asked for a person** note, which says what the candidate asked for when Alex recorded it. Get in touch with the candidate however suits you: * **Reply in the conversation** by text, WhatsApp or email. Sending closes the item as **Replied**. * **Follow up another way**, such as a call or a meeting, then **Mark complete**. ![An Asked for a person item, with the note above the message box](https://mintcdn.com/apriora/MDTG4MwWsGXMaoCb/images/inbox/inbox-asked-for-person.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=MDTG4MwWsGXMaoCb\&q=85\&s=1d76bf4d513edea5b6103a653b92a1ff) ### What closes it | Closes when | Shown as | | - | - | | Someone sends the candidate a message (email, text or WhatsApp) | Replied | | Someone marks it complete | Marked complete | ## Alex couldn't answer **Opens when** a candidate asks a question Alex doesn't have the answer to. Alex checks: * each interview, once it ends, and * each text conversation, once it has been quiet for an hour. A candidate has one question item per job. New questions they ask are added to the same item, and the item shows the latest one. **Shows in Mine for** everyone who owns or follows the job. ### How to work it You see the conversation with the **Alex couldn't answer** note, which shows the candidate's latest unanswered question, where they asked it (text, WhatsApp, email, phone or video) and when. You can: * **Answer the candidate** in the message box. Sending closes the item as **Answered**. * **Teach Alex the answer** by adding it to the job's interview guide from the job's unanswered questions. That also closes the item as **Answered**, and Alex can answer the next candidate who asks. * **Mark complete** if no answer is needed. ![An Alex couldn't answer item, showing the candidate's question](https://mintcdn.com/apriora/MDTG4MwWsGXMaoCb/images/inbox/inbox-question.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=MDTG4MwWsGXMaoCb\&q=85\&s=f66435ca36f98eb5402df4a177e1e59c) ### What closes it | Closes when | Shown as | | - | - | | Someone sends the candidate a message | Answered | | Someone adds the answer to the job's interview guide, or dismisses the question | Answered | | The candidate is rejected, in Alex or in your ATS | Decided, or Decided elsewhere | | The candidate withdraws, or their application is deleted | Withdrawn | | Someone marks it complete | Marked complete | ## Needs decision **Opens when** a candidate completes the last interview round on a job and nobody has decided on them yet. It opens once, when the interview completes. **Shows in Mine for** everyone who owns or follows the job. ### How to work it You see the candidate's interview report, with the **Needs a decision** note and the decision bar below it. The note shows the interview score when there is one. 1. Read the report. 2. Optionally, add a note for the team in **Add a note for the team (optional)**. It's saved on the report. 3. Choose **Reject** (or press **R**) and pick a reason, or **Shortlist** (or press **S**) and pick the decision. In either menu you can press **1**, **2**, **3** and so on to pick an option. 4. If your workflow doesn't already email the candidate about this decision, Alex asks whether to send them the decision email. The decision is saved like any other decision in Alex and closes the item as **Decided**. The rejection reason you picked shows with the decision in the candidate's Activity thread. | Reject reasons | | - | | Lack of skills or qualifications | | Lack of interest | | Not enough experience | The **Shortlist** menu lists your company's decisions other than Reject, such as Shortlisted or Submitted. ![A Needs decision item: the report, with the decision bar and its Reject and Shortlist buttons](https://mintcdn.com/apriora/MDTG4MwWsGXMaoCb/images/inbox/inbox-needs-decision.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=MDTG4MwWsGXMaoCb\&q=85\&s=3cea20ab5d56df0bd6ef09e8e26216a0) ![The Reject menu, asking why you're rejecting the candidate](https://mintcdn.com/apriora/MDTG4MwWsGXMaoCb/images/inbox/inbox-reject-menu.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=MDTG4MwWsGXMaoCb\&q=85\&s=7f25710a02813d1dbf474df03c0885ee) > [!NOTE] > > You need **Decisions: Can set** to see the decision bar. Without it you can read the report, but someone else has to decide. ### What closes it | Closes when | Shown as | | - | - | | Someone decides in Alex: in the Inbox, on the report, or from the Reject or Shortlist link in an Alex email | Decided | | A decision syncs in from your ATS | Decided elsewhere | | The candidate withdraws, or their application is deleted | Withdrawn | | The application is reopened | Reopened | | Nobody decides within your company's time limit (see [Close decisions nobody acted on](https://docs.alex.com/inbox/set-up.md#close-decisions-nobody-acted-on)) | Closed with no decision in time | | Someone marks it complete | Marked complete | A **Needs decision** item also closes on its own when the candidate no longer qualifies, for example when they start a new interview on the job's last round. ## Follow up (Send to Inbox) **Opens when** a candidate reaches a **Send to Inbox** step in the job's workflow. You decide what it asks for: the step's title is what the list shows, such as "Check salary expectations". A candidate has one item per Send to Inbox step on a job. If they reach the same step again while the item is open, the item moves back to the top with the step's latest title and note. **Shows in Mine for** everyone who owns or follows the job. ### How to work it The **From your workflow** note shows the step's title and its note. Below it, depending on how the step is set up, you see either: * **the conversation**, so you can reply to the candidate by text, WhatsApp or email, or * **the interview report**, when the step comes after the interview (see the setup below). Do what the note asks, then **Mark complete**. Replying to the candidate doesn't close this item, because the step may ask for something other than a reply. ### Set up a Send to Inbox step 1. Open the job's workflow and add **Send to Inbox** from **Actions**, at the point where a person should take over. For example, after an **Is** check that a candidate's expected salary is above the range. 2. Give it a **Title**: the line your team sees in the list, such as "Check salary expectations". You can add variables, such as the candidate's first name. 3. Optionally add a **Note** with what to look at or do, such as "Ask whether the shift premium closes the gap." 4. Choose the **Right panel**: **Conversation**, or **Report**. Report is only available when the step comes after **Interview Completed** or a decision, because the report doesn't exist before the interview ends. 5. Save the workflow. > [!NOTE] > > The step adds a candidate only while your company's Inbox is recording, and the rest of the workflow runs either way. It doesn't add a candidate whose application was already withdrawn or deleted, unless the step runs because the candidate withdrew. ### What closes it | Closes when | Shown as | | - | - | | The candidate withdraws, or their application is deleted | Withdrawn | | Someone marks it complete | Marked complete | A rejection doesn't close it: the step may still need someone, for example to let the candidate know why. ## Asked for an accommodation **Opens when** a candidate asks for an accommodation for a disability, a health condition or a similar need, for the interview or for the job: * during an interview, * in an email conversation with Alex, or * by clicking **Need an accommodation?** on the interview welcome screen. The email still goes straight to your company's accommodation address; the item tells you it was started. A request that is both an accommodation and a request to talk to someone shows once, as **Asked for an accommodation**. The exception is a request made on a call that hands the candidate to your team while the call is still going: it shows as **Asked for a person**. A candidate has one accommodation item per job. A later request is added to the same item. **Shows in Mine for** everyone who owns or follows the job. > [!NOTE] > > The list shows only "Asked for an accommodation". What the candidate asked for shows only when you open the item, and shared reports leave the item's Activity out. ### How to work it You see the conversation with the **Asked for an accommodation** note. It shows what the candidate asked for in their own words, or as Alex summarized it from the interview. For a request from the welcome screen, it says when the candidate started the email and which address it went to, for example "Marisol started an accommodation request by email from the interview welcome screen on Nov 9, 2026, to [accommodations@example.com](mailto:accommodations@example.com). Check that inbox for it." Get in touch with the candidate however suits you: * **Reply in the conversation** by text, WhatsApp or email. Sending closes the item as **Replied**. * **Follow up another way**, such as answering their email, then **Mark complete**. ### What closes it | Closes when | Shown as | | - | - | | Someone sends the candidate a message (email, text or WhatsApp) | Replied | | The candidate withdraws, or their application is deleted | Withdrawn | | Someone marks it complete | Marked complete | When an admin turns recording on with a backfill, requests from while it was off come back as **Asked for a person**. A request this Inbox already recorded as an accommodation, before recording was turned off, isn't brought back a second time. ## What happens when an item closes An item closes when it's handled, whether you did it in the Inbox, somewhere else in Alex, or in your ATS. You don't have to clear items by hand when the work is already done. A closed item moves to everyone's **Done**. Open it and a green banner says how it closed, who closed it, and when, for example "Replied by Jordan Lee ยท 2:41 PM". If a teammate closes the item while you have it open, you see **Handled by a teammate** and can move on with **Next**. Closing is shared, so nothing reopens an item for everyone. If the candidate needs something again later, a new item opens. To keep working a closed item yourself, use [Mark To do](https://docs.alex.com/inbox/using-your-inbox.md#mark-to-do): it's back in your To do only. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.