AI Email Import

Borderbolt’s AI Email Import feature uses Claude AI to extract customs data from PDF documents sent via email, automatically creating draft declarations for review and submission. This streamlines data entry for customers who provide declaration information as invoices, packing lists, or other documents.

How It Works

Workflow Overview


Customer Email → MailerSend → AI Extraction → Draft Declaration → Review → Submit

Customer sends email with declaration documents (PDF attachments) to your unique email address
MailerSend receives the email and parses attachments
Borderbolt webhook is triggered with email data
Claude AI extracts customs data from PDFs (invoices, packing lists, bills of lading)
Draft declaration is created with extracted data
AI Workbench shows the extraction for review
User reviews data, makes corrections if needed
User approves and creates final declaration for submission

Setting Up Email Import

Prerequisites

Before enabling AI Email Import:

Active Borderbolt subscription with AI features enabled
MailerSend account configured (automatic for hosted customers)
Anthropic Claude API access (configured by Borderbolt admin)

Enabling Email Import

Navigate to Settings → AI Import
Toggle Enable Email Import
A unique email address is generated for your organization:
- Format: {random-uuid}@aideclarations.borderbolt.com
- Example: a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890@aideclarations.borderbolt.com
Copy this email address
Share it with customers who will send declaration documents

Unique Email Address: Each organization gets a unique email address to ensure proper routing. Never share your email address with other companies.

Email Settings

Configure how emails are processed:

Auto-Processing

Auto-Process Emails: Automatically extract data and create drafts (recommended)
Manual Review Only: Store emails for manual processing (slower but more control)

Confidence Threshold

Minimum Confidence: AI confidence score required to auto-create drafts (0-100%)
- High (80%+): Only very confident extractions auto-create drafts
- Medium (60%+): Most extractions auto-create drafts (recommended)
- Low (40%+): All extractions auto-create drafts (may have errors)
If confidence is below threshold, email is flagged for manual review

Default Values

Set defaults for AI-created declarations:

Default Customer: Pre-fill customer (if all emails are from one customer)
Default Declarant: Your declarant to use for AI declarations
Default Declaration Type: H1 (import), B1 (export), or Auto-detect
Default Office: Customs office code (e.g., NL000396)

Notification Settings

Notify on Receipt: Email notification when customer email received
Notify on Draft Created: Email when draft declaration created by AI
Recipients: Email addresses to notify (comma-separated)

Click Save Settings to apply.

Supported File Types

PDF Documents

AI Email Import currently supports PDF files:

Invoices (commercial invoices, proforma invoices)
Packing Lists (detailed item lists)
Bills of Lading (B/L)
Airway Bills (AWB)
CMR (international consignment notes)
Certificates of Origin
Other declaration documents

File Size Limit: 50MB per attachment

Multiple Files: Attach multiple PDFs in one email - AI combines data from all files

Future Support

Coming soon:

Excel spreadsheets (.xlsx)
Word documents (.docx)
Images (JPEG, PNG)

Customer Email Instructions

What to Tell Customers

Provide these instructions to customers:

Email Subject: Include reference number or shipment ID (e.g., “Import Declaration - Order #12345”)

Email Body: Brief description of the shipment (optional but helpful)

Attachments: Attach one or more of the following:

Commercial invoice (required)
Packing list (recommended)
Bill of Lading or Airway Bill (recommended)
Certificate of Origin (if applicable)
Other supporting documents

Send to: {your-unique-email}@aideclarations.borderbolt.com

Note: You will receive a confirmation email when we receive your documents. We’ll notify you when your declaration is ready for review.

Example Customer Email


To: a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890@aideclarations.borderbolt.com
Subject: Import Declaration - PO #2024-5678

Hi,

Please prepare import declaration for our shipment arriving tomorrow:
- Purchase Order: 2024-5678
- Supplier: ABC Trading Co., China
- Expected arrival: Rotterdam port

Attached:
- Commercial invoice
- Packing list
- Bill of Lading

Thanks,
John Doe
Logistics Manager

Claude AI Extraction

What Data is Extracted?

Claude AI analyzes PDF documents and extracts:

Declaration Header

Declaration Type: Auto-detect import or export
Parties:
- Importer/Exporter EORI and name
- Buyer/Seller name and address
- Consignor/Consignee details
Transport:
- Mode of transport (sea, air, road, rail)
- Transport document number (B/L, AWB, CMR)
- Container numbers
- Seal numbers
Commercial:
- Total invoice amount and currency
- Incoterms (FOB, CIF, DDP, etc.)
- Payment terms
References:
- Invoice number and date
- Purchase order number
- Customer reference

Declaration Lines

For each item on the invoice/packing list:

Description: Product description
HS Code: If mentioned in documents (otherwise requires manual entry)
Quantity: Number of units
Unit Price: Price per unit
Currency: Invoice currency
Line Total: Extended value
Country of Origin: If stated
Gross Weight: Total weight
Net Weight: Item weight
Package Details: Number and type of packages

Extraction Confidence

Each extracted field has a confidence score:

High (90-100%): Field is clearly stated and unambiguous
Medium (70-89%): Field is inferred with reasonable confidence
Low (50-69%): Field is uncertain, requires review
None (<50%): Field not found or too uncertain to extract

Low-confidence fields are highlighted in the AI Workbench for manual review.

AI Limitations

AI may struggle with:

Handwritten documents: OCR quality varies
Poor scan quality: Low-resolution or blurry PDFs
Non-standard formats: Custom invoice layouts
Multiple languages: Mixed-language documents
Complex tables: Nested or merged cells
HS Codes: If not explicitly stated in documents

Always review AI extractions before finalizing declarations.

AI Workbench

Accessing the Workbench

Navigate to AI Import → Workbench
View all email imports and extractions

Email Import List

The workbench shows:

Received Date: When email was received
From: Sender email address
Subject: Email subject line
Attachments: Number of PDF files
Status:
- Pending: Awaiting processing
- Processing: AI extraction in progress
- Review: Ready for review
- Approved: Draft declaration created
- Rejected: Extraction rejected, not usable
Confidence: Overall confidence score
Actions: Review, Approve, Reject, Delete

Reviewing an Extraction

Click Review on an email import
The extraction details page opens

Extracted Data View

Left Panel: Original PDF(s)

View embedded PDFs
Zoom, navigate pages
Highlight extracted fields (shows where AI found each value)

Right Panel: Extracted declaration data

Header fields (parties, transport, commercial)
Line items (description, quantity, value)
Confidence indicators (color-coded)
Editable fields (click to modify)

Confidence Color Coding:

🟢 Green: High confidence (90%+)
🟡 Yellow: Medium confidence (70-89%)
🔴 Red: Low confidence (<70%)

Making Corrections

Click on any field to edit
Update the value
Confidence changes to “Manual Override” (100%)
Click Save Changes

Common corrections:

Add missing HS codes
Fix party EORI numbers
Correct country codes
Adjust quantities or weights
Update invoice amounts

Approve or Reject

Approve:

Review all fields (especially low-confidence ones)
Make necessary corrections
Click Approve & Create Declaration
A draft declaration is created
Navigate to Declarations to finalize and submit

Reject:

Click Reject
Provide reason for rejection:
- Documents not usable (poor quality)
- Wrong document type
- Missing critical information
- Duplicate submission
Email sender is notified (if configured)
Extraction is archived

AI Import Settings

Advanced Settings

Configure AI behavior:

AI Model Selection

Claude 3.5 Sonnet (default): Best balance of speed and accuracy
Claude 3 Opus: Highest accuracy for complex documents (slower, more expensive)
Claude 3 Haiku: Fastest processing for simple documents (lower accuracy)

Select based on document complexity and volume.

Field Extraction Priority

Prioritize which fields AI focuses on:

All Fields: Extract everything (default)
Header Only: Extract declaration header, manual line entry
Lines Only: Extract items, manual header entry

Auto-Processing Rules

Create rules for automatic approval:

High Confidence Only: Auto-create drafts only if all fields >90% confidence
Known Customers: Auto-approve emails from whitelisted sender addresses
Specific Senders: Route certain senders to specific customers or declarants

Email Filters

Filter which emails are processed:

Allowed Senders: Whitelist of email addresses or domains
Blocked Senders: Blacklist of email addresses or domains
Required Keywords: Email subject/body must contain keywords (e.g., “import”, “declaration”)
Blocked Keywords: Reject emails with spam keywords

Auto-Process Settings

Set up automated workflows:

Confidence Threshold: 70% (recommended)
Auto-Create Drafts: Enabled
Auto-Approve: Disabled (always require manual review)
Auto-Notify Customer: Enabled (email confirmation when draft ready)

This ensures:

Most extractions create drafts automatically
User always reviews before finalizing
Customer knows when declaration is ready

Email Notifications

Customer Notifications

Send automatic emails to customers:

Receipt Confirmation

When: Email received and queued for processing To: Sender Content:

Thank you for your submission
Confirmation number
Estimated processing time
What happens next

Draft Ready

When: Draft declaration created and ready for review To: Sender (optional) Content:

Declaration draft created
Extraction confidence summary
Link to view status (if customer portal enabled)
Estimated submission time

Submission Confirmation

When: Declaration submitted to customs To: Sender Content:

Declaration submitted
MRN (if received)
Expected clearance time
Next steps

Internal Notifications

Notify your team:

New Email Received

When: Customer email arrives To: Operations team Content:

Sender and subject
Number of attachments
Link to review in workbench

Review Required

When: Extraction complete but confidence below threshold To: Declarant or operations team Content:

Extraction summary
Low-confidence fields highlighted
Link to AI Workbench for review

Approval Needed

When: Draft created but auto-approve disabled To: Approver Content:

Declaration summary
Total value and duty estimate
Link to approve and submit

Best Practices

Customer Onboarding

Provide Clear Instructions: Email format, required documents, subject line format
Test with Sample: Have customer send test email before go-live
Feedback Loop: Ask customers which fields AI gets wrong most often
Training: Train customers to provide consistent document formats

Document Quality

Encourage PDFs: Ask customers to send PDFs instead of scans when possible
Resolution: If scanning, use 300 DPI minimum
Clarity: Ensure text is readable (not blurry or too small)
Complete Documents: Full invoice with all pages, not excerpts

Review Process

Daily Review: Check AI Workbench daily for pending extractions
Prioritize by Confidence: Review low-confidence extractions first
Consistent Corrections: If AI consistently misses a field, update extraction rules
Feedback to Customers: If documents are consistently problematic, request format changes

Workflow Optimization

Set Realistic Thresholds: Start with 70% confidence, adjust based on accuracy
Automate High-Confidence: Auto-approve extractions >95% confidence from known customers
Batch Processing: Review multiple extractions in one session for efficiency
Track Performance: Monitor AI accuracy over time, adjust settings as needed

Troubleshooting

Emails Not Being Received

“Customer sent email but nothing in workbench”

Verify customer sent to correct email address
Check spam/junk folder (MailerSend emails may be filtered)
Verify MailerSend inbound route is configured (Settings → Integrations → MailerSend)
Check email filters (blocked sender or missing required keywords)

“Email received but not processed”

Check if email has PDF attachments (other formats not yet supported)
Verify attachments are <50MB
Review processing queue (may be delayed during high volume)
Check error logs (Settings → Logs → AI Import)

Low Extraction Quality

“AI extracts wrong data or misses fields”

Check PDF quality (resolution, clarity)
Review document format (non-standard layouts may confuse AI)
Ensure text is selectable (not scanned image-only PDF)
Try higher AI model (Claude Opus for complex documents)
Provide feedback to improve AI (Settings → AI Import → Training)

“HS codes always wrong or missing”

HS codes are rarely in customer documents
Configure Item Master with customer SKUs mapped to HS codes
Enable SKU matching (AI extracts SKU, system looks up HS code)
Expect manual HS code entry for new items

Confidence Issues

“All extractions show low confidence”

Check document quality (blurry, low-resolution, handwritten)
Review AI model selection (try Claude Opus)
Verify documents are in supported language (English, Dutch, German, French)
Consider manual entry for very complex documents

“AI is too conservative (high confidence threshold)”

Lower confidence threshold to 60-70%
Review manually to verify accuracy
Gradually increase threshold as AI learns

Integration Issues

“MailerSend webhook not working”

Verify webhook URL is correct (Settings → Integrations → MailerSend)
Check webhook secret is configured
Test webhook manually (MailerSend dashboard → Webhooks → Test)
If uploads fail with size errors, contact your Borderbolt administrator

“Anthropic API errors”

Check API key is valid (Settings → Integrations → Anthropic)
Verify API quota is not exceeded (check Anthropic dashboard)
Review API error logs for specific error messages
Contact support if persistent

Declarations - Finalize and submit AI-created declarations
Item Master - Map customer SKUs to HS codes for better extraction
Customers - Configure customer defaults for AI import
Settings - Configure MailerSend and Anthropic integrations