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Getting StartedHome → API Manual → Email Parser API → Email Parser: Advanced Tags
5.2. Email Parser: Advanced Tags
Beyond the basic customer parser tags, HelpSpot also supports passing in categories and custom field data via the email parser. In order to use these more advanced tags you'll need to know the category ID's and custom field ID's in your installation. You can find these in each ID's respective area of the admin.
Commands:
| Tag | Description |
| ##forward:true## | Treat the email as a forward. HelpSpot will attempt to determine the original senders email address (not the person forwarding the email) and use that as the HelpSpot customer information instead of the forwarding users information as would normally be the case. (Note: this tag may also be used in the email subject line) |
Request ID
| Tag | Description |
| ##hs_request_id:XXXX## | Tell HelpSpot what request this message should be appended to. This will only work if there is no request ID found in the subject line of the email. This is useful for automated systems which may strip out request ID's, such as automated responses from eBay customer support. Note, this tag will work on existing requests while others will not. |
Category Tag:
Category ID's are displayed in the left most column on the category management page:
Admin->Categories
| Tag | Description |
| ##hs_category:XX## | The category ID should be passed in this tag. It must be numeric and it must be a valid active category. |
Assignment Tag:
Staff ID's are displayed in the left most column on the staff management page:
Admin->Staff
| Tag | Description |
| ##hs_assigned_to:XX## | The staff member ID should be passed in this tag. It must be numeric and it must be a valid active staff member. |
Custom Field Tags:
Custom field ID's are displayed in the left most column on the custom field page:
Admin->Tools->Custom Request Fields
| Tag | Description |
| ##hs_customX:XXXXXX## | In the left part of the tag you must place the custom field ID for the information you're passing. In the right part of the tag after the colon pass the data. Data must be appropriate for the field type as specified below. |
Table of appropriate values for each type of custom field. Note that improperly passed data or data of the wrong type will default the custom field to empty.
| Custom Field Type | Value Accepted |
| Predefined List | Any one of the values in the list. The value must be exactly as it appears on the drop down including spacing. |
| Text Field | Up to 255 characters of data. Should not include line breaks. |
| Large Text Field | Large blocks of text data. This may include line breaks. |
| Checkbox | The number 1 if the checkbox should be checked, a 0 if not checked. |
| Numeric Field | An integer value. |
Complete Example:
Here's an example of an email generated with customer tags as well as category and custom field tags. This type of email could be generated from a remote service, desktop application, or intranet.
Hello, I'm having trouble logging into the time reporting system. Yesterday I was able to enter the system via the link on the intranet, but today when I click that link all I see is the login screen. Tim //Note: You would programatically append the tags below// ##hs_category:6## ##hs_assigned_to:4## ##hs_custom1:Time Reporting## ##hs_custom2:Accounting Department## ##hs_custom3:1## ##hs_customer_id:589GK42## ##hs_customer_firstname:Timothy## ##hs_customer_lastname:Ryan## ##hs_customer_phone:(845) 765-4321## ##hs_customer_email:t.ryan@mycompany.com##