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Setup Guide: Microsoft Exchange (EWS)

Use the Exchange activities when your company runs its own Exchange Server (on-premises). This guide helps you collect the connection details and shows where to enter them. You do not need to configure the Exchange server.

note

For Microsoft 365 / Exchange Online mailboxes, use the Office 365 package instead.

1. Information You Need​

InformationWhere to get itExample
Server (EWS address)Step 2.1, or ask your IT team"https://mail.company.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx"
Email Auto discover (alternative to Server)Your mailbox address"user@company.com"
UserStep 2.2"botuser"
PasswordYour Windows (domain) password–
DomainStep 2.2"MYDOMAIN"

You need either Server or Email Auto discover, not both.

2. Get the Information​

Step 2.1: Find the EWS Address with Outlook​

If Outlook is connected to the Exchange mailbox on any Windows computer:

  1. Hold Ctrl and right-click the Outlook icon in the system tray (click ^ if it is hidden). Select Test E-mail AutoConfiguration.
  2. Enter your E-mail Address and Password. Clear Use Guessmart and Secure Guessmart Authentication, keep Use AutoDiscover selected, and click Test.
  3. On the Results tab, find Availability Service URL and copy the address ending in /EWS/Exchange.asmx. This is the value for Server.

If this does not work, send your IT team this request:

Please send me the EWS URL (ending in /EWS/Exchange.asmx) for the mailbox <address>.

Step 2.2: Find Your Domain and User Name​

  1. Press Windows + R, type cmd, and press Enter.
  2. Type whoami and press Enter. The result looks like MYDOMAIN\botuser:
    • The part before \ is the Domain (MYDOMAIN).
    • The part after \ is the User (botuser).

3. Enter the Information in akaBot Studio​

All Exchange activities are under Mail > Exchange in the Activities panel.

Step 3.1: Exchange Scope​

All settings for this activity: Exchange Scope

Exchange Scope connects to the mailbox once. Every Exchange activity placed inside it uses that connection.

  1. Drag Exchange Scope into your workflow.
  2. In the Properties panel:
    • New Connection – choose one option:
      • Option A (recommended): enter Server, for example "https://mail.company.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx". Leave Email Auto discover empty.
      • Option B: enter Email Auto discover, for example "user@company.com". Leave Server empty.
    • Logon:
      • User: "botuser"
      • Password: your password
      • Domain: "MYDOMAIN" (leave empty if you log in with a full address such as user@company.com)

Step 3.2: Add Activities Inside the Scope​

Place the following activities in the Do area of Exchange Scope. Leave their Connection and Logon properties empty – they use the scope's connection.

A. Get Exchange Mail Messages​

All settings for this activity: Get Exchange Mail Messages

  • Mail Folder: "Inbox" (default)
  • Top: 30 (default)
  • Only Unread Messages: selected by default
  • Messages: exchangeMails (type List<MailMessage>). Create the variable by clicking the box and pressing Ctrl+K; check in the Variables panel that its scope is the Sequence that also contains the For Each loop.

B. Send Exchange Mail​

All settings for this activity: Send Exchange Mail

  • To (required): "client@example.com"
  • Subject: "Invoice Notification"
  • Body: "Please find the invoice attached."

C. Move Message To Another Folder​

All settings for this activity: Move Message To Another Folder

  • Mail Message: one email, for example the current item of a For Each loop over exchangeMails
  • Mail Folder: the destination folder, for example "Processed"

D. Delete Exchange Mail Message​

All settings for this activity: Delete Exchange Mail Message

  • Mail Message: one email to delete
  • Delete Mode:
    • MoveToDeletedItems (default): moves the email to Deleted Items.
    • SoftDelete: removes the email from all folders. Your IT administrator can still recover it for a limited time.
    • HardDelete: deletes the email permanently.

Tips for Mail Message

  • Type the name of an existing variable, such as item. Do not create a new variable with a name that already exists, or Studio shows "A variable with the same name already exists in the specified scope".
  • Use one email (the current loop item), not the whole list.
  • Use Move or Delete on the same email, not both. After an email is moved, deleting it with the old variable fails.

Exchange workflow – Exchange Scope with Get Exchange Mail Messages and For Each with Move Message To Another Folder

Example workflow: inside Exchange Scope, read the emails into exchangeMails, then move each item to Processed. The activities inside the scope leave Connection and Logon empty.