Messaging & Inquiries

Exlitem provides two communication tools: inquiries for initial outreach and message threads for ongoing conversations with experts.

#Inquiries

An inquiry is a structured request you send to an expert expressing interest in their services. It provides the expert with the context they need to decide whether to engage.

#Sending an Inquiry

1. Go to Dashboard → Inquiries and click New Inquiry

2. Step 1 — Choose recipients using one of two methods:

   From a shortlist (recommended for bulk):

   • Select a shortlist from the dropdown
   • All experts in the shortlist are checked by default — uncheck any you want to skip
   • The counter shows "Sending to N of M experts"

   Search an individual expert:

   • Click Search Individual and type at least 2 characters of the expert's name
   • Select the expert from the dropdown (only your unlocked experts appear)

3. Click Next to proceed to the inquiry details

4. Step 2 — Fill in the inquiry form:

Screenshot

The New Inquiry dialog Step 2 showing a recipient summary badge at the top (e.g. 'To: My Shortlist (5 experts)'), followed by the inquiry form fields: Case Type dropdown, Case Summary textarea, Expertise Needed textarea, Timeline input, Budget Range input, Preferred Engagement dropdown, and Additional Notes textarea. Back, Cancel, and Send buttons at the bottom.

1. Click Send Inquiry (or Send to N Experts for bulk). Each expert receives a notification.

Tip: When sending to multiple experts, you'll see a progress toast as each inquiry is sent. If some fail, you'll get a summary showing how many succeeded and how many failed.

#Tracking Inquiries

The Inquiries page shows all inquiries you've sent with:

• Status filter tabs — All, Pending, Viewed, Accepted, Declined, Expired
• Search input — filter by expert name, UUID, case type, or summary
• Pagination — 10 inquiries per page

Screenshot

The Inquiries page showing status filter tabs (All, Pending, Viewed, Accepted, Declined, Expired) at the top, a search input below, and a table of inquiries with columns for Expert Name, Case Type, Status badge, Created date, and an Actions menu.

#Message Threads

Once an expert responds to your inquiry (or you initiate a conversation), a message thread is created.

#Viewing Threads

Go to Dashboard → Messages to see all your conversations. The thread list shows:

• Expert name and avatar
• Last message preview
• Timestamp of the last message
• Unread badge when you have new messages

Screenshot

The Messages page showing a list of conversation threads on the left side. Each thread shows an expert avatar, name, last message preview (truncated), and timestamp. Two threads have blue unread badges. The right side shows the selected thread's full conversation.

#Thread Actions

Within a thread, you can:

• Send messages — type and send text messages to the expert
• Mark as read — clear the unread indicator
• Archive — hide the thread from your active list

Tip: The Messages link in the sidebar shows a badge with your unread message count. Check it regularly to stay responsive to expert replies.

#Following Up on Inquiries

If an expert doesn't reply quickly, the inquiry detail page surfaces two follow-up actions once they're usable. Both are gated server-side and disappear permanently once the expert has replied or the inquiry hits a terminal state (e.g., declined, expired).

#Resend original email

Re-fires the exact inquiry email you originally sent. Useful when the first attempt may have been buried, marked as promotional, or filtered into a folder the expert doesn't watch.

Becomes available when:

• The first email's delivery is confirmed by the provider, and
• At least 48 hours have passed since the most recent send attempt, and
• The expert hasn't replied yet, and
• No resend is already in flight.

#Send a nudge

A short reminder message threaded in-reply-to your original email — it lands in the same conversation in the expert's inbox, not a separate email. Use when you've already resent (or the resend window is open) and want to keep the thread visible without re-sending the full pitch.

If you've hit the nudge cap, the button hides and the inquiry's status row shows "Nudge limit reached." Likewise, the resend/nudge buttons stay hidden until the cooldown elapses — you'll see a small "Next action available in X hours" hint on the inquiry detail page.

Screenshot

The Inquiry Detail page sidebar showing the Resend banner with two buttons — 'Resend original email' (primary) and 'Send nudge' (secondary) — both enabled, with a small caption underneath reading 'Last sent 2 days ago. Up to 2 nudges remaining.'

Tip: Resend uses the same subject line and body as the original, so the expert sees a single thread in their inbox. Nudges are short by design — don't include new information; if the brief has changed, send a fresh inquiry instead.

#Inquiries from Cases

You can also send inquiries directly from a case's expert pipeline or an expert's profile page:

1. Open a case and click Send Inquiry on an expert, or click Send Inquiry from an expert's profile
2. The inquiry form opens directly to Step 2 with the expert pre-selected — no need to choose a recipient
3. Fill in the inquiry details and send

This keeps your inquiry history linked to the relevant case for easy tracking.