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View Email

Note

This tool is available by default on the following MCP servers: Dynamics 365 Customer Service. The tools and examples in this documentation illustrate current capabilities. Tool names, descriptions, parameters, response formats, and available functionality can change over time.
When you build agents, integrations, or orchestration logic, don't hard-code dependencies on specific tool names, parameter structures, tool metadata, or response schemas. Instead, design your solution to discover and use available tools at runtime.
As the platform evolves, Microsoft might add, remove, rename, or modify tools and tool metadata. Designing against capabilities rather than specific tool identifiers helps maintain compatibility across service updates.

Use this capability when you want to read the full content of an email - its subject, body, sender, and recipients - directly in chat.

What it does

The assistant fetches a specific email from Dynamics 365 and displays it inside chat. You can see the full email body, who sent it, who received it, and which customer account it's linked to. A link to the email in Dynamics 365 is also provided.

Try prompts like

  • "Open the email from the customer"
  • "Show me that email"
  • "What does the email say?"
  • "View the email about the login issue"
  • "Read the latest email on this case"
  • "Open the unlinked email"

What you see in chat

The assistant displays the email as an app-in-chat component showing the full email body, subject, sender, recipients, and timestamps. A direct link to the email in Dynamics 365 is included.

Helpful tips

  • If you don't know which email to open, say "show me the email about [topic]" or "find the email from [person]" to search first.
  • You can reply directly from the email view - just say "reply to this email."
  • If the email body appears empty, it means the original email was sent without body content.

Tip

After viewing an email, you can take action on it. Say "reply to this email", "link this to the case", or "create a case from this email."

What happens next

After the email appears, you can continue with prompts like:

  • "Reply to this email"
  • "Forward this to my manager"
  • "Link this email to the case"
  • "Create a case from this email"
  • "Summarize this email"

Does this change data?

No. Viewing an email doesn't change data.

This only reads and displays the email content. Replying, forwarding, or linking are separate actions that may change data.

What you can do from the app-in-chat component

From the email view in chat, you can:

  • Read the full email body and metadata
  • See sender and recipient details
  • Open the email in Dynamics 365
  • Reply, reply all, or forward the email
  • Link the email to a case or create a case from it

Prerequisites

This tool requires the following:

  • Email is configured.

Learn more in Configure email.

Tool summary

Property Value
User-facing name View Email
Internal tool name view_email
Purpose Fetches and displays the full content of a Dataverse email activity — subject, body, sender, recipients, and linked customer account

Tool behavior

Fetches and displays the full content of a Dataverse email activity — subject, body, sender, recipients, and linked customer account. Returns the body as plain text in structuredContent.body and a direct Dynamics 365 deep link in structuredContent.deepLink. Use for reading or reviewing any email by its activityId GUID.

Annotations

Annotation Value Meaning
readOnlyHint true This tool does not modify data.
destructiveHint Not set Not applicable (read-only tool).
idempotentHint Not set Not applicable (read-only tool).
openWorldHint Not set Uses default (queries Dataverse).

Input concepts

Email identifier

Input Description Required
activityId activityId (the Dataverse email activity GUID to view, required). Yes

Response and UI behavior

This tool renders an interactive email view.

This MCP tool is supported by an MCP app.

Response type

Interactive component (app-in-chat)

The widget displays the email subject, body, sender, recipients, timestamps, and linked customer context. A Dynamics 365 deep link is provided for navigating to the full email form.

Routing notes

Use view_email for:

  • "Open the email", "show me the email", "what does the email say"
  • Viewing any email by activityId
  • Reading an email before replying or forwarding

Don't use view_email when:

  • The user wants to search for emails without a known activityId — use list_emails
  • The user wants to compose a new email — use draft_email
  • The user wants to edit a draft — use edit_email_draft
Tool Relationship
list_emails Searches emails by subject or sender to find the activityId
draft_email Opens compose form for a new email
edit_email_draft Opens an existing draft for editing
send_email Sends an email immediately
link_email_to_case Links the viewed email to an existing case
create_case_from_email Creates a new case from the viewed email
match_cases Finds existing cases that may match the email

Data mutation classification

Read-only.

This tool only reads and displays email data. No data is modified.

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