---
sourceDocument: Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration
sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/platform-administration

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    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration

ft:clusterId :

    - platadm

bundleId :

    - platadm

workflow :

    - Platform


---

# Accessing email object variables

# Accessing email object variables {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated March 12, 2026  
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## Summary of Accessing Email Object Variables

This guide details how to access various email object variables in an inbound email action script within ServiceNow.
Utilizing the global variablesysemail, you can interact with specific components of received emails efficiently, enabling automation and processing based on email content and metadata.
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## Key Features

* **email.to**: Comma-separated list of email addresses from the To: and Cc: fields.
* **email.direct**: Comma-separated list of email addresses from the To: field.
* **email.bodytext**: Plain text version of the email's body.
* **email.bodyhtml**: HTML version of the email's body.
* **email.from**: Address of the sender, determined by whether it matches an existing user.
* **email.subject**: Plain text version of the email's subject.
* **email.recipients** and **email.recipientsarray**: Lists of recipient addresses for processing purposes.
* **email.importance**: Indicates the sender's priority level, such as High or Low.
* **sysemail**: Accesses the email record that triggered the action, allowing reference to various fields.

## Key Outcomes

By leveraging these email object variables, ServiceNow customers can automate email processing tasks based on specific criteria, streamline workflows, and enhance the handling of inbound communications. Proper use of these variables ensures compliance with email formatting standards, facilitating efficient data extraction and manipulation.  
An inbound email action script contains the email object to access various pieces of an
inbound email through variables. You can use the global variable <var class="keyword varname">sys_email</var>
with inbound email actions.
{#r_AccessingEmailObjsWithVars__table_sbj_31q_n4__entry__2}

| Variable | Contents |
|-|-|
| <var class="keyword varname">email.to</var> | Contains a comma-separated list of email addresses in the To: and Cc: boxes. |
| <var class="keyword varname">email.direct</var> | Contains a comma-separated list of email addresses in the To: box. |
| <var class="keyword varname">email.copied</var> | Contains a comma-separated list of email addresses in the Cc: box. |
| <var class="keyword varname">email.body_text</var> | Contains the body of the email as a plain text string. |
| <var class="keyword varname">email.body_html</var> | Contains the body of the email as an HTML string. |
| <var class="keyword varname">email.from</var> | Contains an email address that depends on the following conditions: * If the address listed in the email Headers field matches an existing user's Email address, this variable contains the user's email address. * If the address listed in the email Headers field does not match an existing user's Email address, this variable contains the address listed in the email Headers field. {#r_AccessingEmailObjsWithVars__ul_erp_ywk_br} |
| <var class="keyword varname">email.from_sys_id</var> | Contains the Sys ID of the user who sent the email to the instance. |
| <var class="keyword varname">email.fromAddress</var> | If system property glide.email.inbound_action.extract_from_header property is set to true, origemail is computed from the headers. The default value is false if the property does not exist. |
| <var class="keyword varname">email.origemail</var> | Contains the address of the email sender as listed in the email Headers field. |
| <var class="keyword varname">email.subject</var> | Contains the subject of the email as a plain text string. |
| <var class="keyword varname">email.recipients</var> | Contains a comma-separated list of recipient addresses as a plain text string, in the To: box. |
| <var class="keyword varname">email.recipients_array</var> | Contains the recipient addresses as an array. |
| <var class="keyword varname">email.content_type</var> | Contains the MIME content type of the email (for example,<var class="keyword varname">text/plain; charset="us-ascii"</var> or <var class="keyword varname">text/html; charset="us-ascii"</var>). |
| <var class="keyword varname">email.headers</var> | Contains details about the sender, route, and receiver as a plain text string in the format of the sending email client. |
| <var class="keyword varname">email.importance</var> | Contains an indication from the sender about how important a message is. The value can be High, Low, or empty. |
[Table 1. Accessing email objects with variables]

{#r_AccessingEmailObjsWithVars__table_sbj_31q_n4}  
Note:  
The instance follows [RFC 2822](http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2822) (Internet Message Format), which requires multiple email addresses in a group to be separated by commas, not semicolons. The instance can set the values of the <var class="keyword varname">email.to</var>, <var class="keyword varname">email.direct</var>, and <var class="keyword varname">email.copied</var> variables only if emails addressed to groups follow the expected RFC format.

## Inbound email.recipient variables {#r_AccessingEmailObjsWithVars__section_m3y_2c3_2db}

The recipients variables (<var class="keyword varname">email.recipients</var>, <var class="keyword varname">email.recipients-array</var>) allow processing of inbound email based on the email recipients. For example, you can create a script to process email based on the array values:

    var rarray  = email.recipients_array ; for ( var i  = 0 ; i  < rarray.length ; i ++ ) { var recipient  = rarray [i ] ; // do something with it } 

## The sys_email variable {#r_AccessingEmailObjsWithVars__section_xxr_3f3_2db}

This variable lets you access the received sys_email record that triggered the inbound
email action. It can be used to reference fields on the email record, such as
uid, sys_id,
content_type, and so on.