> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.buildvision.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Email

> Get bid invitations into BuildVision from the inbox they arrive in.

Bid invitations arrive by email, so the shortest path from an invitation to a
quote is letting BuildVision read them where they already land. There are two
ways to do that.

## Two ways in

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Connect an inbox" icon="inbox" href="/integrations/email/connect-inbox">
    **Recommended.** BuildVision checks the mailbox for you and picks up new
    bids without anyone doing anything.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Forward bid invites" icon="share" href="/integrations/email/forwarding">
    Send individual bids to BuildVision as they come in.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Which one should you use?

**Connect an inbox if you can.** BuildVision sees the whole conversation, which
means it reads the original invitation, the attachments, and any links to a
bidding portal in their original form. Nothing depends on someone remembering to
forward anything.

**Forward when connecting isn't an option**, for example when bids reach a
mailbox you can't connect, or when you want to try BuildVision against a handful
of real bids before involving IT.

Forwarding works, but it is less reliable at detecting projects and files, and
at finding [saved credentials](/integrations/email/saved-credentials) for
bidding portals. Forwarding rewrites the
message, which can break the links and strip the context BuildVision reads.
BuildVision still pulls what it can from links and attachments in a forwarded
bid.

You can use both. Many teams connect their main bid inbox and forward the
occasional bid that arrives somewhere else.