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---
stage: Monitor
group: Platform Insights
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
---
# Reply by email
DETAILS:
**Tier:** Free, Premium, Ultimate
**Offering:** Self-managed
GitLab can be set up to allow users to comment on issues and merge requests by
replying to notification emails.
## Prerequisite
Make sure [incoming email](incoming_email.md) is set up.
## How it works
Replying by email happens in three steps:
1. GitLab sends a notification email.
1. You reply to the notification email.
1. GitLab receives your reply to the notification email.
### GitLab sends a notification email
When GitLab sends a notification email:
- The `Reply-To` header is set to your configured email address.
- If the address contains a `%{key}` placeholder, it's replaced with a specific reply key.
- The reply key is added to the `References` header.
### You reply to the notification email
When you reply to the notification email, your email client:
- Sends the email to the `Reply-To` address it got from the notification email.
- Sets the `In-Reply-To` header to the value of the `Message-ID` header from the
notification email.
- Sets the `References` header to the value of the `Message-ID` plus the value of
the notification email's `References` header.
### GitLab receives your reply to the notification email
When GitLab receives your reply, it looks for the reply key in the
[list of accepted headers](incoming_email.md#accepted-headers).
If a reply key is found, your response appears as a comment on the relevant issue,
merge request, commit, or other item that triggered the notification.
For more information about the `Message-ID`, `In-Reply-To`, and `References` headers,
see [RFC 5322](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5322#section-3.6.4).
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