Symptoms#
- Messages landing in spam despite previously good placement
- Bounces mentioning policy, authentication, or reputation
- Provider dashboards showing a drop in reputation or authentication pass rate
Diagnosis steps#
- Confirm the configuration is live: query DNS from an external resolver and check the sending platform's settings page.
- Send to a seed mailbox and read the full headers, especially Authentication-Results.
- Compare the domains in From, Return-Path, and DKIM d= for alignment.
- Check provider dashboards (Google Postmaster Tools, Microsoft SNDS) for reputation and error rates.
- Review recent changes: new vendors, DNS edits, list imports, volume spikes.
Likely causes#
- Filters that hide important mail from unknown senders (new clients).
- No review loop for misclassified messages.
Fix and re-verify#
- Classify by action needed: reply, read, schedule, approve, ignore.
- Route newsletters and notifications out of the primary view.
- Flag messages from key contacts and threads you started.
- Generate a summary for long threads so triage is possible without opening them.
Frequently asked questions#
How does AI triage decide what is important?
Signals include sender relationship, whether you are in To or CC, question marks and deadlines in the body, and thread history.