AI Customer Support with Front
Front turns your team email into a collaborative inbox. Shared inboxes, internal comments, assignments, and SLA tracking let support teams manage high volumes of email, SMS, and chat without losing the personal feel of direct email. Many e-commerce brands choose Front because their customers prefer the personal touch of email over generic ticketing interfaces.
Minimal AI integrates with Front and handles incoming conversations automatically. The AI reads the full email thread, checks your connected tools for order data, shipping status, or return eligibility, and drafts a reply that sounds like it came from your team. It respects Front's collaboration model, adding internal comments when human input is needed.
Setup is a few clicks in the AI Manager. Connect your Front account, tell the agent what to handle, and it starts resolving conversations.
Connecting is effortless. The AI Manager sets everything up for you in minutes - no developers, no complex configuration.
What Front does
Front is a customer operations platform that brings email, SMS, live chat, and social media into shared team inboxes. Unlike traditional ticketing systems, Front preserves the look and feel of personal email. Teams collaborate through internal comments, assignments, and shared drafts. Front offers rules for automated routing, SLA policies, analytics, and integrations with CRMs and project management tools. Its API provides programmatic access to conversations, messages, contacts, tags, teammates, and inboxes.
Key API capabilities Minimal AI uses in Front
Minimal AI uses Front's API to read conversations and send replies while maintaining Front's collaborative workflow.
Conversations API
List, search, and manage conversations across all inboxes.
What the AI does: Reads the full conversation thread and context, then determines the right action based on the customer's request.
Messages API
Send replies, add comments, and manage message drafts.
What the AI does: Sends a reply to the customer with live data, or drafts a response for team review when the AI is not fully confident.
Comments API
Add internal comments visible only to teammates.
What the AI does: Leaves internal comments explaining what the AI found and what action it took, or why it is escalating to a human.
Contacts API
Look up contact profiles, handles, and custom fields.
What the AI does: Identifies the customer across conversations and uses their history to personalize responses.
Tags API
Apply and manage tags on conversations.
What the AI does: Tags conversations by topic and resolution type for reporting and analytics.
Assignments API
Assign conversations to specific teammates or teams.
What the AI does: Escalates conversations to the right team member with full context when human intervention is needed.
What the AI agent can read and write in Front
The AI agent works within Front's collaboration model. It reads conversations, pulls data from your tools, and takes actions while keeping your team informed through internal comments.
Get information
- •Read full conversation thread across all messages
- •Look up contact profile and custom fields
- •Check conversation status and assigned teammate
- •View conversation tags and SLA status
- •Access related conversations from the same contact
Take actions
- •Reply to the customer with a data-backed answer
- •Add an internal comment for the team
- •Assign conversation to a teammate
- •Tag the conversation
- •Archive or close the conversation
- •Create a draft for team review
How to connect Front to Minimal AI
Connecting Front to Minimal AI takes just a few clicks through the AI Manager.
Go to Integrations in your Minimal dashboard and select Front. Authorize access via OAuth.
Tell the AI Manager which inboxes and conversation types the agent should handle.
Review the configuration, test with a few conversations, and go live.
Real support scenarios the AI handles in Front
Email order status inquiry
A customer emails your shared inbox asking about their order. The AI reads the email thread, checks Shopify for the order, pulls the tracking data, and sends a personal reply from your team's email address.
Bulk inquiry handling
Your inbox receives 50 order status questions overnight. The AI processes each one individually, checking the relevant order data and sending personalized replies. Your team arrives to a cleared inbox.
VIP customer escalation
A high-value customer contacts you about a complex issue. The AI recognizes the customer, adds an internal comment with order history and previous interactions, and assigns the conversation to a senior team member.
Multi-thread email conversation
A customer replies to an existing email thread with a follow-up question about their return. The AI reads the full thread, checks the return status, and replies with the latest update.
Works with Front and your e-commerce tools
Front manages your team's conversations. Minimal AI connects to Shopify, your shipping provider, returns platform, and other tools to bring live data into every reply. Your customers get accurate, personal responses that look like they came from your team.
View the full integration details
See setup instructions, related integrations, and more.
Frequently asked questions
Does the AI send replies from my team's email?+
Yes. Replies go out from your team's shared inbox in Front, so customers see a personal email from your brand, not a generic bot response.
Can the AI add internal comments in Front?+
Yes. The AI uses Front's internal comments to communicate with your team. It explains what data it found, what action it took, and why, giving your team full visibility.
How hard is it to integrate Front with Minimal AI?+
One OAuth click to connect, then tell the AI Manager what to handle. No API keys to copy, no webhooks to configure. Most teams are live within an hour.
Does the AI work with Front's rules and SLAs?+
Yes. Front's rules and SLA tracking continue to work as usual. The AI resolves conversations within your SLA targets and respects your routing rules.