Which Emails Shelf Sends, and When

Shelf sends emails on its own at fixed moments: before a booking starts, when it runs late, when a reminder date arrives, when stock runs low. This page lists every one of them, with the exact timing and who receives it, so you can tell your team what to expect and set up the right people as recipients.

Two rules apply to everything below:

Workspace notifications only reach people with a Shelf login. Invitations and sign-in codes go to the address typed in, but booking, reminder, audit and stock emails need a user account. A non-registered member has no mailbox attached, so a booking or custody held by one sends nothing on their behalf. There is also no way to add an outside address such as a shared team inbox as a recipient; invite the mailbox as a user if it needs the mail.
Times are the booking's or reminder's own times. The emails show dates in each recipient's own date, time and timezone preferences.

Bookings

Who receives booking emails is configured in Settings > Bookings: the custodian always, the booking creator while that switch is on, everyone on the always-notify list, anyone added as a recipient on the booking, and, for the reservation only, all owners, administrators and managers. The full recipient matrix is in Booking Notification Settings. The timing is fixed and the same for every workspace:

Email	When it is sent
Booking reserved	The moment a booking is reserved
Checkout reminder	1 hour before the start time, only if the booking was reserved more than an hour ahead
Check-in reminder	1 hour before the end time. If the booking is checked out with less than an hour left, it is sent at checkout instead
Overdue	Once, at the end time, if the booking is still checked out. The booking's status changes to Overdue at the same moment
Booking complete	When the booking is checked in
Booking extended	When the end date is extended. The check-in reminder and overdue notice are rescheduled against the new end time
Booking updated	When dates, custodian or other details of a reserved booking are edited
Reverted to draft	When a reserved booking is sent back to Draft
Booking cancelled	When the booking is cancelled
Booking deleted	When the booking is deleted

Three things people often expect that Shelf does not do today:

There is no earlier reminder than one hour: no "one week before" or "one day before" email. If you subscribe your calendar to Shelf, the calendar feed adds a one-day-ahead reminder in your calendar app, which is the closest thing.
The overdue email is sent once. It does not repeat daily while the equipment stays out. The Overdue bookings card on the Home page and the Overdue Items report are the live view of what is still out.
Reminders go to the people on the booking, as configured above. They are not sent to a department mailbox.

The person who performs an action (cancels, extends, checks in) is left out of the email that action triggers, unless they are the custodian or the creator. Scheduled emails (the two reminders and the overdue notice) go to everyone on the list regardless.

Asset reminders

An asset reminder is a date you set on an asset by hand, with a message and a list of team members.

Email	When it is sent	Who receives it
Asset Reminder Notice	At the date and time set on the reminder	The team members chosen on that reminder. If one has since left the workspace, their copy goes to the workspace owner

Each reminder fires once. Reminders do not repeat, and they are not driven by date custom fields; to be reminded 30, 60 and 90 days before a warranty ends, set three reminders. Reminders on archived assets are skipped.

Audits

Audit emails go to the people assigned to the audit, and the overdue notice also to whoever created it. See Run Your First Audit.

Email	When it is sent	Who receives it
You've been assigned to audit	When the audit is started with assignees	Each assignee
Audit due in 24 hours	24 hours before the due date	Assignees
Audit due in 4 hours	4 hours before the due date	Assignees
Audit due in 1 hour	1 hour before the due date	Assignees
Audit overdue	At the due date, if the audit is not completed or cancelled	Creator and assignees
Audit completed	When the audit is completed	Assignees and the creator
Audit cancelled	When the audit is cancelled	Assignees and the creator

Reminders only apply to audits with a due date, and only the steps still in the future are scheduled: an audit started six hours before its due date gets the 4-hour and 1-hour reminders, not the 24-hour one.

Stock

For quantity-tracked assets with a min quantity, see Quantity-Tracked Assets and Consumables.

Email	When it is sent	Who receives it
Low stock	When a stock adjustment, custody assignment or booking check-in takes the available count to or below the minimum. Once per crossing, not once per change	The workspace owner and every administrator
Back in stock	When the available count rises back above the minimum	The same people

Team and account

Email	When it is sent	Who receives it
You have been invited to [workspace]	When someone invites a new member to the workspace	The invited address
Your role in [workspace] has been changed	When someone changes a member's role	That member
Access to [workspace] has been revoked	When a member is removed from a workspace	That member
Ownership transferred	When workspace ownership is transferred	Both the previous and the new owner
Shelf verification code	On every sign-in with a one-time code	The person signing in
Trial and subscription emails	Trial start, three days and one day before a trial ends, payment problems	The person who holds the subscription

If a sign-in code or invitation does not arrive, see Troubleshooting: Invite Not Received.

What is not sent

To save you looking for a setting that does not exist:

No daily or weekly digest.
No repeat of the overdue booking email.
No email on custody assignment or release outside a booking. The handover shows on the asset's timeline and in the custodian's own asset list.
No email to addresses that are not Shelf users.
No reminders driven by date custom fields.

Automation rules that would cover these are something we are working towards. Until then the Home page cards, the Overdue Items and Custody Snapshot reports and the Reminders page are the places to look.