Platform Features and Policies

Synkra Technologies

Version 1.0 Effective 3 October 2026 Last updated 3 October 2026

This document answers common questions about how Synkra Chat works. Every answer reflects the current implemented state of the platform.

If you have a question that this document does not answer, contact hello@synkra.co.za.

1. AI Agent: Suggestions Only

AI Agent does not reply automatically. All AI output is a suggestion that a team member reviews, edits, and sends. Nothing is sent to a customer without human action.

Suggested Replies. Agents can click the sparkle icon in any conversation and choose Suggest Reply. The AI reads the conversation and drafts a suggestion. The agent reviews, edits, and sends it. Each Suggest Reply action consumes one AI operation from the plan monthly allowance.

Plan availability.

• Free: no included AI operations. Can top up AI credits at any time. Once credits are available, Suggest Reply can be used.
• Starter: 1,000 AI operations per month.
• Business: 1,750 AI operations per month.
• Pro: 1,750 AI operations per month.

Automatic AI replies are not available on any plan.

2. Email Channel: Live Status

The email channel is live and verified end to end. A business can connect their existing email address via forwarding, and customer emails arrive as conversations in Synkra.

What works.

• Forward from existing email, including Gmail, Microsoft 365, and other providers: live.
• Inbound emails become conversations: live.
• Threading using Message ID, In Reply To, and References headers: live.
• Outbound replies reach customers as threaded emails: live.
• Verification email detection with inbox banner: live.
• Super admin review view for stuck customers: live.
• Inbound emails consume a credit from the shared email pool: live.

Plan allowances for email.

• Free: 300 notification emails per month, shared pool.
• Starter: 2,000 notification emails per month, shared pool.
• Business: 2,750 notification emails per month, shared pool.
• Pro: 5,000 notification emails per month, shared pool.

The pool is shared across inbound customer emails, outbound agent replies, and notification emails such as transcripts. Every email in or out costs one credit.

System emails and usage warnings do not consume credits.

Setting it up. Full instructions for Gmail, Microsoft 365, and other providers are in the onboarding wizard at Settings, then Inboxes, then Add Inbox, then Email, then Forward from my existing email.

3. Storage Overage and Upload Blocking

Uploads are blocked when storage is over the plan allowance.

How it works.

1. Storage usage is recomputed daily by a background job that runs at 03:00 UTC.
2. The system compares cached usage against the effective allowance, which is the plan allowance plus any purchased extra storage.
3. Both the attachment validator and the document validator check whether storage is blocked.
4. If blocked, new uploads are rejected with a clear message.

What still works when blocked.

• Existing files remain accessible and downloadable.
• Conversations continue.
• Inbound messages still arrive.
• Only new uploads are paused.

Plan storage allowances.

• Free: 1 GB.
• Starter: 3 GB.
• Business: 10 GB.
• Pro: 15 GB.

Adding storage. Extra storage is available at R30 per GB per month from Settings, then Billing. Grant is immediate. Charge is deferred to the next renewal. Removing extra storage takes effect immediately, with no refund for the current period.

Staleness note. The cached usage is up to 24 hours stale. An account at 95 percent could upload past quota for one day before the next recalculation blocks them. This is a documented tradeoff in the code and is acceptable at current scale.

4. Two Factor Authentication

Two factor authentication is available and optional. It is not mandatory. We encourage administrators and anyone with billing access to enable it.

What is supported.

• App based one time password through Google Authenticator, Authy, 1Password, or any compatible application.
• SMS one time password if a phone number is verified.

Who can enable it. Any user can enable two factor authentication on their own account. Administrators cannot force two factor authentication on other users at this time. Enterprise grade enforcement is possible via SAML single sign on, but SAML is currently a Pro tier feature and is deferred until a customer asks for it.

5. Free Tools: Server Side Processing

All meaningful processing for the free tools on synkra.co.za happens on the server. The frontend is a thin client that displays data and sends requests.

What runs server side.

• AI operations such as Suggest Reply, Summarize, and Rewrite.
• Storage calculations.
• Email parsing and threading.
• All conversation, contact, and message handling.
• Webhook deliveries.
• Background jobs.
• Billing calculations.
• Free tool file processing, including the background remover, compressor, converter, PDF, DOCX and CSV tools, and the email signature and QR code generators.

What runs client side.

• Rendering the user interface.
• Local caching for performance.
• QR code generation for the website widget, which is done in the browser with no server call.

Free tier and processing. Free tier accounts use the same server side infrastructure as paid accounts. The only differences are feature availability and volume limits, not processing location.

Free tool retention. Files uploaded to free tools are processed server side and deleted after processing or within 30 days, whichever is sooner. No account is required.

6. Cookies and Analytics

Cookies. Synkra Chat uses cookies for session management and authentication.

• Session cookie: keeps you logged in. Required and essential.
• CSRF token: security against cross site request forgery. Required and essential.
• Preference cookies: remembers UI settings such as theme and sidebar state. Functional, not required.

Analytics. Synkra Chat does not use third party tracking analytics like Google Analytics on the agent dashboard. The platform does not track agent browsing behaviour or personal data beyond what is needed to run the service.

What we do not do.

• No third party advertising cookies.
• No cross site tracking.
• No fingerprinting.
• No selling of user data to third parties.

Cookies on the marketing site. The marketing site at synkra.co.za may use analytics cookies to understand traffic patterns. These are separate from the application cookies and are disclosed in the site own cookie banner.

7. API Rate Limits and Permitted Use

Current API rate limits.

• API requests, global: 300 per minute per account. Default.
• API requests, per user: 60 per minute. Added to prevent one user consuming the whole account quota.
• Search queries: 60 per minute per user.
• Import operations: 5 per day per account. Any tier.
• Export operations: 10 per day per account.
• Outbound messages: 60 per minute per inbox.
• Webhook deliveries, outbound: 100 per minute per webhook URL.
• AI operations: 30 per minute per account. Independent from credit consumption.
• Email sends, notifications: 100 per minute per account.

Rate limit response. When a limit is exceeded, the API returns an HTTP 429 response with a message telling you to wait and a value indicating how many seconds to wait before retrying.

What is never rate limited.

• Inbound customer messages. Never block a customer from reaching support.
• Webhook deliveries from Synkra to customer endpoints. Retries handle failures.
• Billing API calls. Rare and critical.
• Login for legitimate users. Brute force protection is handled separately.

Permitted use. The API is provided to allow integrations, automations, and custom workflows that extend Synkra Chat. Permitted uses include connecting Synkra to other business tools such as CRM, helpdesk, or analytics platforms, building custom dashboards, automating repetitive tasks, and data export for reporting.

Prohibited uses include reselling the API or building a competing product on top of it, scraping data you do not have permission to access, attempting to circumvent rate limits, using the API for spam or abusive purposes, and any use that violates the Terms of Service. Violations can result in account suspension.

8. Fair Usage Policy

This policy exists to ensure the platform remains fast and reliable for all customers.

What fair use means. Plans include generous allowances for messages, emails, AI operations, and storage. Fair use means using the platform for its intended purpose, not using automated systems to consume resources far beyond what a human would, not reselling or redistributing access, and not abusing free tiers by creating multiple accounts.

What we monitor.

• Accounts consistently hitting 100 percent of monthly allowances.
• Unusual patterns suggesting automation or abuse.
• Accounts with no legitimate business activity.
• Duplicate accounts from the same organisation.

What happens if we detect abuse.

1. First instance: we contact you to understand the situation.
2. Second instance: we may limit access until the issue is resolved.
3. Third instance: account suspension, no refund.

We are fair. A growing business exceeding its allowance is not abuse. A script hammering the API twenty four hours a day is.

What is never restricted.

• Inbound customer messages. A customer can always reach a business, regardless of plan or status.
• Access to your own data. You can always export your data, even if an account is being investigated.

9. Acceptable Use Policy

You may.

• Use Synkra Chat for legitimate business communication.
• Connect your own email and other channels.
• Use the API to build integrations for your own business.
• Export your data at any time.
• Allow your team members to use the platform.

You may not.

• Use Synkra Chat to send spam or unsolicited messages.
• Use the platform to harass, threaten, or abuse anyone.
• Upload illegal content.
• Violate anyone privacy or data protection rights.
• Attempt to reverse engineer, decompile, or access the source code beyond what is licensed.
• Resell or white label Synkra Chat without a written agreement.
• Use the platform to break any law, including POPIA.
• Interfere with the operation of the platform or other users.
• Impersonate another business or individual.

Consequences of violation.

• First minor violation: warning and request to correct.
• Repeat or moderate violation: account restriction pending resolution.
• Severe violation, such as illegal content, fraud, or harassment: immediate termination, no refund.
• Criminal activity: reported to authorities.

Reporting violations. If you see someone using Synkra Chat in violation of this policy, email hello@synkra.co.za. We investigate every report.

10. Summary

• AI Agent: suggestions only. No automatic replies.
• Email channel: fully live and verified.
• Storage overage: new uploads paused. Existing files remain accessible.
• Two factor authentication: available, optional, encouraged.
• Free tools: server side processing.
• Cookies and analytics: essential cookies only. No third party tracking on the dashboard.
• API rate limits: 300 per minute per account, plus per user and per feature limits.
• Fair Usage and Acceptable Use: defined and enforced, as documented above.

11. Contact

For questions about any of the above:

• Email: hello@synkra.co.za
• Response time: we respond within 2 business days.
• Business hours: Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 17:00 South African Standard Time.