Canned responses

Canned responses (or templates) are pre-written replies to common questions. Instead of typing the same answer repeatedly, you write it once and insert it with a few keystrokes.

In Missive, you can create a collection of canned responses and share them with a team or your entire company. You can also keep responses personal for your own use.

Canned responses can also be combined with AI to generate replies based on your existing response library.

Creating a response

1

Open the responses panel

Press ⌘/Ctrl + Shift + O. You can also click your avatar at the top of the left sidebar and select Responses, or use the command bar (⌘/Ctrl + K) and search for "responses".

2

Create a new response

Click Create new response at the bottom of the panel (second column).

3

Choose who can access this response

• Personal: Only you can see and use it

• Organization: Everyone in the organization can use it

• Team: Only members of a specific team can use it

4

Add content

Add a title, optional subject line, and body content. You can also add:

• To, Cc, Bcc fields: Pre-fill recipient addresses when the response is inserted

• Attachments: Drag files into the body (inline) or at the bottom (as attachments)

• Labels: Categorize responses using organization labels

Inserting a response

There are three ways to insert a canned response into a draft:

Using the # shortcut

Type # followed by your search term anywhere in the draft composer. A dropdown appears with matching responses. Select one to insert it.

You can disable the # shortcut in Settings > Composer > Suggest responses while typing.

Using the composer toolbar

Click the responses icon in the composer toolbar to open the responses panel.

Using the keyboard shortcut

Press ⌘/Ctrl + Shift + O to open the responses panel, then search or browse for a response and press Return to insert it.

Searching responses

The search matches title, subject, and body content. You don't need to type every character of a word for results to appear:

Search term	Matches
"ho bet pers"	"How to be a better person?"
"pers better"	"How to be a better person?"
"person?"	"How to be a better person?"

To narrow down results:

• Scope by team: Prepend the team name (e.g., sales refund policy)

• Scope by organization: Prepend the organization name

• Personal only: Prepend personal to your search

Variables

You can customize responses with dynamic content like your recipient's name using the variables templating engine:

Hi {{ recipient.first_name | default: 'there' }},

If recipient.first_name is available, this renders as:

Hi Philippe,

If not, it falls back to:

Hi there,

Read the Using variables guide for the full list of available variables and syntax.

Attachments

You can attach files to responses:

• Inline: Drag and drop an image into the body to embed it

• Attachment: Drag and drop a file at the bottom to attach it

When you insert a response, its attachments are added to the draft.

Edit on the fly

Sometimes response content gets outdated. You often notice this when composing a reply and searching for the right response.

No problem! You can edit the response directly from the panel and insert the updated version. Maintaining your responses becomes less of a burden when you can fix them as you go.

Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
⌘/Ctrl + Shift + O	Open the responses panel
Return	Insert the response
⌘/Ctrl + Return	Insert when in edit mode
⌘/Ctrl + F	Focus the search input
⌘/Ctrl + N	Create a new response

Categorization

You can categorize canned responses using organization labels. Labels follow the same hierarchical structure as defined in Settings > Labels.