# A mail reply may end up in the wrong category
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-mail-reply-may-end-up-in-the-wrong-category/212163
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [December 15, 2021, 9:55am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-mail-reply-may-end-up-in-the-wrong-category/212163 "2021-12-15T09:55:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dachary](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dachary)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2021, 9:55am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-mail-reply-may-end-up-in-the-wrong-category/212163/1 "2021-12-15T09:55:15Z")
Bonjour,
Here is how to reproduce the behavior on discourse 2.7.9:
- Create category A with mail [a@example.com](mailto:a@example.com) and category B with mail [b@example.com](mailto:b@example.com)
- Post a message in category A
- Reply via email and change the **To:** so that it is **[b@example.com](mailto:b@example.com)**
- The message ends up in category A, as a reply to the original message, instead of category B
This is presumably because the mail headers have information that allow discourse to know this mail was sent as a reply from the original message. So it has to make a choice: should this message be sent to:
- category B because of the **To:** field?
- category A because of the field that identifies it as a reply to a message in category A?
There probably are advantages to both. However, one could argue that **landing the message in category B is the [least surprising](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_least_astonishment) option for the user.**
What do you think?
**Edit** Here is a use case where that could happen:
There was a meeting discussed in a topic in category A. Someone drafted the minutes of the meeting and started a reply via email as a followup to the topic in category A. But then, before sending the reply, they thought best to review the draft with only a few people to reduce the noise. So they changed the To: field to go to category B with less people involved. And they were surprised that the draft ended up in the original conversation in category A instead.
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### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2021, 10:05am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-mail-reply-may-end-up-in-the-wrong-category/212163/2 "2021-12-15T10:05:55Z")
But aren’t you replying to a topic, not a category? Or was the diverted reply meant to start a new topic in Category B? (in which case, wouldn’t a fresh email be more intuitive for that)
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### Author:  [@RGJ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/RGJ)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2021, 10:06am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-mail-reply-may-end-up-in-the-wrong-category/212163/3 "2021-12-15T10:06:36Z")
> [@dachary](#):
>
> and change the **To:**
I think it’s fair to assume any kind of unexpected behavior from here on.
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### Author:  [@dachary](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dachary)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2021, 10:09am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-mail-reply-may-end-up-in-the-wrong-category/212163/4 "2021-12-15T10:09:14Z")
> [@JammyDodger](#):
>
> was the diverted reply meant to start a new topic in Category B?
Yes.
> [@JammyDodger](#):
>
> in which case, wouldn’t a fresh email be more intuitive for that)
Absolutely, 100% with you.
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### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2021, 10:17am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-mail-reply-may-end-up-in-the-wrong-category/212163/5 "2021-12-15T10:17:42Z")
If the new topic you wanted to create had nothing to do with the reply notification you received, I’d say a fresh email makes more sense.
If you’re trying to reply-as-linked-topic via email, then I don’t know how to do that. 🙂 I’m not sure if it’s possible?
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### Author:  [@dachary](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dachary)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2021, 10:18am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-mail-reply-may-end-up-in-the-wrong-category/212163/6 "2021-12-15T10:18:41Z")
> [@RGJ](#):
>
> > [@dachary](#):
> >
> > and change the **To:**
>
> I think it’s fair to assume any kind of unexpected behavior from here on.
From my perspective (as a technical person), yes. I find it difficult to explain to a non technical person though.
- What they see is a mail composed with **To:** [b@example.com](mailto:b@example.com) which is category B.
- And what they get is a message landing in category A.
There is zero indication in their mail client that would allow them to figure that out.
Moreover, if they do exactly the same in a conversation where discourse is not involved, the result will be different, i.e. the message will only be sent to [b@example.com](mailto:b@example.com) and nobody else.
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### Author:  [@RGJ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/RGJ)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2021, 10:23am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-mail-reply-may-end-up-in-the-wrong-category/212163/7 "2021-12-15T10:23:23Z")
> [@dachary](#):
>
> I find it difficult to explain to a non technical person though.
“When you’re replying to an email, you’re not supposed to tinker with the To: field. Don’t do that.”
(Seriously, email clients shouldn’t even allow that. Maybe except for removing one of multiple email addresses in case they were previously added by mistake). EDIT which is exactly your use case 🤔
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### Author:  [@dachary](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dachary)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2021, 10:26am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-mail-reply-may-end-up-in-the-wrong-category/212163/8 "2021-12-15T10:26:48Z")
> [@JammyDodger](#):
>
> If the new topic you wanted to create had nothing to do with the reply notification you received, …
The use case that made me discover this is the following. There was a meeting discussed in a topic in category A. Someone drafted the minutes of the meeting and started a reply via email as a followup to the topic in category A. But then, before sending the reply, they thought best to review the draft with only a few people to reduce the noise. So they changed the To: field to go to category B with less people involved. And they were surprised that the draft ended up in the original conversation in category A instead.
This is not a bizarre scenario, it actually makes sense to me. And their surprise is not really something that I can discard: I understand it.