Approve
AI outreach that waits for your approval
Most AI SDR tools ask you to trust them with your domain on day one. FoxKnock works the other way round: every sequence starts with you approving each email, a quality gate blocks drafts that make claims without a source, and automatic sending only unlocks after a clean track record.
Illustration with fictional companies.
What it does
Four approval levels
Draft only, review each, batch approve, or auto within limits. Each sequence has its own level, and the default is review each.
Autonomy you earn
Auto-send unlocks only after 50 approved emails with under 10% edited and under 5% rejected. Until then, a person approves every send.
No timers, ever
A draft that nobody looked at never sends because a countdown ran out. Silence is not approval.
A quality gate before you see it
Claims without a source block the email. The gate also flags AI tells, spam words, long copy, stray links and fake compliments.
One switch to stop everything
A global kill switch pauses every sequence in the workspace at once, for the day you need it.
Your edits count
Edits and rejections are tracked per sequence, so you can see whether the drafts are getting better, and they feed the autonomy numbers.
How it works
- 1
FoxKnock drafts
Each email is written from the research on that account. Every specific claim points to an evidence card with its source URL.
- 2
The gate checks it
Unsupported claims, unresolved variables, spam words and AI tells are flagged. Anything that would embarrass you is blocked, not just scored.
- 3
You approve, edit or reject
Approve one at a time or in a batch. Edits are saved and counted. Rejected drafts never send.
- 4
It sends inside your limits
Approved emails go out from your own mailbox, inside daily caps and the recipient's working hours, with one-click unsubscribe.
Why approval matters more than speed
An AI SDR that sends without asking can do a lot of damage before anyone notices: an invented compliment, a wrong job title, a "congrats on the funding" two years late. Each of those lands in a real inbox, under your name, from your domain. The cost is not one lost reply. It is the reputation of the mailbox you use for everything else.
FoxKnock is built on the opposite assumption: the AI should prove itself before it gets more freedom. That is why approval is a setting on every sequence, why the default is to review each email, and why the system never treats silence as a yes.
The four approval levels
| Level | What happens | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Draft only | FoxKnock writes drafts; nothing is queued to send | Testing a new segment or offer |
| Review each | Every email waits in your approval queue | The default for every new sequence |
| Batch approve | You review a batch and approve it in one action | Steady sequences you check daily |
| Auto within limits | Emails send without review, inside caps | Only after the sequence has earned it |
Auto within limits unlocks only after 50 approved emails, with under 10% edited and under 5% rejected. If quality slips, you can drop a sequence back to review each at any time, and the global kill switch pauses all sending in one click.
What the quality gate catches
Every draft is checked before it reaches you, so your review time goes on judgement, not proofreading:
- Unsupported claims. A specific statement about the prospect has to point to an evidence card with a source URL. If it does not, the email cannot be approved until you fix or remove the line.
- Placeholders and variables. An unresolved {first_name} or a bracketed note can never go out.
- AI tells and fake compliments. Lines like "I love what you're building" are flagged, because prospects recognize them instantly.
- Spam signals. Spam-trigger words, long copy and stray links are scored, since they hurt deliverability as much as reply rates.
How this compares with autonomous AI SDRs
Fully autonomous tools optimize for volume, and some approve drafts automatically when a review window expires. That is a reasonable trade for a team that wants maximum output and accepts the risk. FoxKnock is for teams that would rather send fewer, better emails and keep control of their domain. See how the approaches differ in FoxKnock vs Explee and the shortlist of AI SDR alternatives.
What it costs
Approving, editing and rejecting are free. An AI-personalized draft costs credits, shown before you generate it, and templates you write yourself cost nothing. See the full table on the pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
Can FoxKnock send emails automatically?
Yes, but only after a sequence earns it. Auto within limits unlocks after 50 approved emails with under 10% edited and under 5% rejected. Until then, every email waits for a person to approve it, and nothing is ever approved by a timer.
What happens to a draft nobody reviews?
Nothing. It stays in the approval queue until someone approves, edits or rejects it. FoxKnock never sends an email because a review window ran out.
Does the quality gate guarantee an email is accurate?
No tool can guarantee that. The gate checks that every specific claim points to a source, and blocks the email when one does not. You still judge whether the source supports the claim, which is why the source link is one click away in the review screen.
Can I stop all sending at once?
Yes. A global kill switch pauses every sequence in the workspace immediately. You can also pause a single sequence or a single mailbox.
Related guides and comparisons
- FeatureAI prospect research with a cited source on every cardAI prospect research that turns each company into cited evidence cards with a source link, date and expiry. See what quick, standard and deep cover and cost.Read
- FeatureCold email from your own domain, with sending limits built inSend cold email from your own domain via Google Workspace or any SMTP and IMAP server. See every daily cap, ramp step and auto-pause rule before you connect.Read
- ComparisonAI SDR alternatives for small teams: 7 tools, prices and approval controlsCompare 7 AI SDR alternatives for small teams, from AiSDR to FoxKnock: dated prices and what each tool sends without your approval, checked Oct 17, 2026.Read
- GuideAI SDR guardrails: 12 questions to ask a vendor before you buyAI SDR guardrails as 12 vendor questions on approval, spend caps, unsubscribes, data and exit, with dated vendor documentation so you can check each answer.Read
See what FoxKnock finds for you
Start with 500 free credits. No card, no call, and every email waits for your approval by default.