From “I need three things” to a complete file.
The whole mechanism, in order, including the parts that are still manual and the part most tools skip.
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1. You describe the chase
In the words you'd use briefing someone in your office: “Get certified photo ID and three months of bank statements from Sarah Whitfield.”
Obtainr asks questions back, because that sentence isn't yet checkable. Certified by whom? Which three months? Which email address? What if the statements are a PDF export rather than a scan? The back-and-forth takes a minute or two and produces the thing that makes everything after it work: a requirements list.
That list is the standard. Every reply gets measured against it, item by item.
2. You choose how much it does alone
Fully automatic
Sends the first chase and every follow-up on its own, whenever a reply falls short. For routine collection you'd never want to read.
Approval mode
Writes everything, sends nothing until you say yes. You can edit any message first. Many people start here and stay here permanently.
Draft-only
Writes messages and never sends. For firms where a human presses send on principle.
Set per chase, changeable at any time, with a hard turn limit either way so nothing can run away with itself.
3. It sends from your mailbox
Gmail or Outlook, connected once with OAuth — Obtainr never sees your password. The email leaves your address, carries your signature, and sits on the existing thread if there is one. Replies come back to your inbox exactly as they always have.
There is no relay domain, no “sent via” header and no branding from us anywhere in the message. To the recipient it is an email from you, because it is.
4. The recipient gets a link and a QR code
Both open the same page, which asks for exactly the items on your requirements list — files to upload, or details to type. No account, no password, no app, no portal registration.
Most people use the QR code: they point a phone camera at the email on their screen and photograph the document. That's the whole journey, and it's the only one that works reliably on people who don't want to be dealing with you at all.
The link stops working when the chase completes or after 30 days, whichever comes first.
5. The reply gets read — this is the part that matters
When a reply lands, Obtainr reads it against the requirements from step one and marks each item satisfied or not. Two statements out of three is not three out of three, and Obtainr says which one is missing.
If items are outstanding, it composes the next chase naming those specific items, on the same thread, in the same register — and either sends it or holds it for you, depending on the mode you picked.
The job completes when the requirements are met. Not when an email arrives.
What's still manual, and what it doesn't do
Where it stops, plainly. Obtainr is reply-driven. When a reply arrives it reads it and, if your requirements aren't met, sends the next chase. It does not yet follow up on a timer against total silence — if someone never responds at all, the chase waits and you make the call. That's a real limitation and it's on the roadmap. Everything else it doesn't do.
Two other things worth knowing before you start: you bring your own LLM API key (Anthropic, OpenAI, Groq or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint), and chasing is email-only — WhatsApp can be connected but isn't used for sending.
Questions about the mechanism
Do I need to install anything?
No. Obtainr is a web application you sign into. The only setup is connecting a mailbox with OAuth and adding an LLM API key, both from the settings page, and both take about five minutes in total. Recipients install nothing either — they get an email with a link and a QR code.
Which mailboxes work?
Gmail (including Google Workspace) and Outlook or Microsoft 365, both connected over OAuth. You never give Obtainr your email password, and disconnecting a mailbox in settings immediately stops every chase running through it.
What does the recipient actually see?
An ordinary email from your address, on your usual thread, naming the documents you need. Inside is a secure link and a QR code that open the same upload page, which asks for exactly the items you specified. They can also just reply with attachments if they'd rather — Obtainr reads those too.
How many follow-ups will it send?
Up to a turn limit you set, which defaults to ten. A turn is one round: Obtainr sends, the recipient replies, Obtainr checks the reply and decides whether to ask again. It only follows up when a reply arrives that doesn't meet the requirements, so a cooperative recipient usually takes one or two turns.
See it on your own files
14 days free, no card. Or have us walk you through it on a call first — connecting a mailbox is the only fiddly bit and we're happy to do it with you.
14 days free · no card · cancel any time