> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.liftai.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Draft and send a dispute email

> How the AI-drafted dispute email works and how to edit, attach files to, and send it to the vendor.

After you [open a dispute](/disputes/dispute-an-invoice-charge), LiftAI drafts the vendor email for you. You review and edit it, then send — and the dispute starts waiting on the vendor. This is the second step in the dispute funnel; the next is [tracking the vendor's response](/disputes/track-vendor-response).

## The AI draft

When you open a dispute (or ask for a follow-up or a data request), the agent generates an email draft pre-filled with:

* **To** and **CC** recipients
* **Subject**
* **Body**
* **Contract citations** drawn from the [AI invoice review](/invoices/ai-invoice-review) findings — the contract sections and quotes that back up the disputed charge, listed under **Contract Citations** as "Referenced in this email."

There are three kinds of draft: a **dispute** email, a **data request**, and a **follow-up**. An agent-generated draft is marked with an **AI Draft** badge so you can tell it apart from anything you've edited.

<Note>
  The **From** address is read-only. Dispute emails are always sent from LiftAI's shared sender address, so it isn't something you set on the draft.
</Note>

## Edit, attach, or discard

<Steps>
  <Step title="Edit any field">
    You can change the To, CC, Subject, and Body directly in the draft editor before sending.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check the attachments">
    The invoice's own attachments are **included by default** so the vendor sees the document in question. Both the draft attachments and the invoice attachments are listed in the **Attachments** section.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Discard if you don't want to send">
    Use **Discard** to throw away the draft. Discarding clears the draft from the panel and returns the dispute to its prior state.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Send the email

When the draft looks right, send it.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Send">
    Sending delivers the email to the vendor and moves the dispute to **Awaiting Vendor**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The panel enters a monitoring state">
    Once the dispute is awaiting the vendor, the panel polls for a reply and shows a **Monitoring** indicator with "Waiting for vendor response." You'll get a success confirmation when the send goes through.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  Replies route back to LiftAI **automatically**. Each dispute has an encoded reply-to address, so when the vendor replies the message is matched to this dispute and appears in the timeline without any forwarding on your part.
</Note>

<Warning>
  If a send fails, the panel surfaces the error (for example, in a notification) instead of silently dropping the message. Fix the issue — often an invalid or missing recipient address — and send again.
</Warning>

## Next steps

* [Track and categorize a vendor's response](/disputes/track-vendor-response) — what happens after you send.
* [Dispute an invoice charge](/disputes/dispute-an-invoice-charge) — the previous step, if you haven't opened the dispute yet.