The workbench in the assistant

Escouade Mail opens inside the assistant. Once the workbench is open, say “audiences”, “contacts” or “campaign status”: the chat asks for the right page in the same workbench. Reads and actions no longer create a card for every result. There is no separate console.

The visual entry point

View	Tool that opens it	What it shows
Escouade Mail workbench	`open_workspace`	Today, drafts, threads, campaigns, audiences, contacts, inboxes, domains, unsubscribes and the space.

An instance belongs to the conversation that opened it and to the access that created it. Two conversations do not share a current page. Signing up stays a tool result with no view.

The assistant opens the workbench once. After that, it reuses the identifier the view published in this conversation’s context and calls navigate_workspace. It must neither invent this identifier nor reuse one from another conversation.

Request	Page	Detail argument, if any
“Today”	`jour`	None
“My drafts”	`valider`	None
“Mailbox”	`fils`	`thread_id` or `message_id`
“Campaigns”	`campagnes`	`campaign_id`
“Status of this campaign”	`performances`	`campaign_id`; without it, the list of campaigns
“Audiences”	`audiences`	`audience_id`
“Contacts”	`contacts`	`query` to search, `email` for a record
“Inboxes”, “Domains”, “Unsubscribes”, “Space”	`boites`, `domaines`, `blocages`, `espace`	Depending on the read requested

The pending response means the request has been passed on. It does not prove the page is already displayed. Unsaved input stays in place: the view offers to keep it, or to drop it and open the requested page. A more recent command replaces an older one; a navigation gesture in the view also takes priority over requests already in progress.

The view publishes the page, the selection and the state of the input. It only publishes the active identifier when it is open full size and visible. A hidden view does not consume a request it has not shown.

`open_workspace`

Opens the instance and loads its first page. Without an argument, it starts on Today. The permissions of the requested read are still required: opening grants no extra access.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`page`	text	no	A section from the table above; `jour` by default.
`arguments`	object	no	Arguments of the read, 8 KB at most. For example `{"query":"Alice"}` on the Contacts page.

The result carries _navigation: instance_id, sequence, route and result. The read result is that of the business tool, with its usual permissions. See Reference.

`navigate_workspace`

Asks for a page in the existing instance, without creating a new card and without sending any e-mail.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`page`	text	yes	The section to display.
`arguments`	object	no	Arguments of this section’s read, 8 KB at most.
`instance_id`	text	yes	Identifier provided by the context of this conversation’s workbench.

The result is a receipt: status is pending, or superseded if a more recent request has replaced it. It does not carry a new view. See Reference.

`workspace_events`

This tool is reserved for the view. The model must not keep the synchronisation going itself. A wait lasts 18 seconds at most; the instance, the permissions and the token are checked again before answering.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`instance_id`	text	yes	This view’s instance.
`after_sequence`	integer	yes	The last command received, counting from zero.
`ack_sequence`	integer	no	The last command the view has processed.
`close`	boolean	no	Releases the instance and wakes up waits when the view closes.
`local_navigation`	boolean	no	Marks a local navigation and invalidates earlier requests.

A new page arrives in _navigation. Without a new page, the response carries unchanged: true, instance_id and sequence. A closure returns closed: true. The instance expires after 30 minutes without activity; a server restart also requires reopening it. See Reference and Errors.

In the conversation, and full size

In the conversation, the card stays short, with no input fields and no full navigation. The lists of campaigns, audiences and contacts show two items at most.
Full size, the workbench has fields, a menu that collapses into icons and horizontal navigation in a narrow window. The content scrolls in its own area. Buttons stay larger on touch screens.
Every object carries its activity log: who did what, and when. See The activity log.
Display commands follow the host: the gestures to enlarge or shrink are adapted to the modes it provides.

Approving from the view

“Valider” (approve) calls approve_message with the version of the draft displayed (revision). If the draft has changed, the server refuses with draft_changed. “Refuser” (refuse) calls cancel_message. Only a message shown in full can be approved.

Without the approve permission, the approval gesture is not available. The server checks this permission again on every call. See Connector.

Display and errors

An HTML e-mail is rendered in an isolated sheet: its external images stay hidden, its links inactive, and no script runs. Its text and its code remain readable. Content received cannot add any gesture to the view. The app uses no external resource and follows the assistant’s light or dark theme.

If a read fails, the section stays identifiable and offers to try again. An interrupted synchronisation keeps the page available. An expired instance offers to reopen Escouade Mail; it does not silently create a new card.

Without view support

An assistant must support MCP Apps to display the workbench. Without that capability, the business tools remain usable through the conversation and return their text and their structured object. Changing pages in a workbench depends on the host and on an active instance.

For those building a client

open_workspace announces _meta.ui.resourceUri and _meta["openai/outputTemplate"] with ui://subagent/workspace-v12.html. It is also offered as a conversation panel entry to hosts that support it.
navigate_workspace is visible to the model and to the app. workspace_events announces _meta.ui.visibility: ["app"]; both have no visual resource.
Tools usable from the view announce the app visibility and _meta["openai/widgetAccessible"]: true.
Resources are read with resources/read and listed with resources/list. Their type is text/html;profile=mcp-app. The old addresses from v2 to v10 remain readable for cards already present; they serve the current app.
Data kept to speed up a read stays partitioned by access. A change in permissions invalidates this context; a page is not authorised because it was in a cache.

Tools without a new view

The tools below return data and text. Their results can feed the existing workbench; they no longer ask the host to display an extra card.

Sign-up: sign_up, verify, attach_human.
Navigation and preparation: navigate_workspace, workspace_events, workspace_snapshot.
Today and inboxes: inbox_status, activity_report, list_events, list_inboxes, create_inbox, update_inbox, delete_inbox, request_inbox_review, create_app_password, list_app_passwords, revoke_app_password.
Domains: add_domain, verify_domain, list_domains, domain_quality, remove_domain, inspect_domain.
Messages: send_email, list_threads, get_thread, reply_to_thread, classify_thread, close_thread, get_message, list_drafts, update_draft, approve_message, cancel_message, attach_files, remove_attachment, get_attachment.
Contacts and audiences: list_contacts, get_contact, save_contact, set_contact_audiences, list_audiences, get_audience, save_audience, import_contacts, remove_audience_contact.
Campaigns: list_campaigns, list_campaign_templates, get_campaign, preview_campaign, campaign_metrics, save_campaign, campaign_action, campaign_history, save_campaign_template.
Unsubscribes: list_suppressions, add_suppression, remove_suppression.
Space and plan: get_settings, update_settings, list_keys, create_key, revoke_key, set_webhook, remove_webhook, event_feed, close_space, billing_status, subscribe, cancel_subscription.