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

# Melvin

> Melvin is Mercor's email-based AI support assistant for account, payments, contracts, referrals, and other inbox-driven questions. Learn how to email Melvin effectively, what it can help with, and when to expect a human follow-up.

<Note>
  When you need help with account-level matters at Mercor (payments, contracts, referrals, background checks, application status, legal documents), please send an email to **[support@mercor.com](mailto:support@mercor.com)**. Your message is answered first by **Melvin**, Mercor's email-based AI support assistant. Melvin handles most incoming requests directly, usually within a few hours, and routes the rest to the human Mercor Support team for a personal follow-up.
</Note>

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card icon="envelope" title="Available in your inbox">
    Melvin replies directly to your email. Simply send a message to [support@mercor.com](mailto:support@mercor.com) from any address you use with Mercor. No account, app, or login is required.
  </Card>

  <Card icon="clock" title="Quick replies">
    Most replies arrive within a few hours. Complex requests that are routed to a human typically receive a follow-up within one to two business days.
  </Card>

  <Card icon="circle-check" title="More than answers">
    Melvin can also take a few safe actions on your behalf, such as looking up your application or payment status, generating reset links for interviews and tax forms, and routing your message to the correct team.
  </Card>

  <Card icon="headset" title="Human handoff when needed">
    When a request requires human judgment, or a write action Melvin does not have access to, your conversation is routed to the Mercor Support team. The follow-up arrives in the same email thread.
  </Card>
</Columns>

***

## How to Email Melvin

<Steps>
  <Step title="Send an email to support@mercor.com">
    Open your email client and compose a new message to `support@mercor.com`. You may also receive replies from `team@mercor.com` for certain categories of requests; both addresses are handled by Melvin.

    <Note>
      Please email from an address Mercor recognizes for your account, ideally the personal email you used to sign up at work.mercor.com. Using an unrecognized email may slow down Melvin's ability to identify your account.
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Use a clear, specific subject line">
    A focused subject helps Melvin classify your request correctly. Useful examples: "Payment for April 2026 missing", "Contract status for Project Imperium", "Stripe setup blocked, error message attached".
  </Step>

  <Step title="Provide complete context in the body">
    The quality of Melvin's reply depends on the context you share. In the body, please include:

    * What you are trying to accomplish or resolve
    * Any relevant identifiers (job ID, project name, contract date, payment amount)
    * Where you are stuck, and what you have already tried
    * Screenshots of errors or unexpected behavior, when applicable
  </Step>

  <Step title="Wait for the reply in the same email thread">
    Melvin will respond directly to your email. Most account-level requests are answered within a few hours. If Melvin routes your message to a human, you will see a brief note explaining that, and the Mercor Support team will reply in the same thread.

    <Tip>
      When you have a follow-up, please reply within the same email thread instead of starting a new email. Melvin keeps the full conversation history of a thread, so following up in place gives faster and more accurate answers.
    </Tip>
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

## What Melvin Can Help With

Melvin handles the most common account and project requests received by email.

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card icon="briefcase" title="Application & listing status">
    Where your application stands, what the next step is, and information about job listings you have applied to.
  </Card>

  <Card icon="credit-card" title="Payments">
    Payment status, payout schedules, payment history, and follow-ups on missing or partial payments.
  </Card>

  <Card icon="file-signature" title="Contracts">
    Contract status updates, questions about onboarding tasks (Okta, identity verification, Stripe), and offer letter details.
  </Card>

  <Card icon="book" title="Project instructions">
    For projects that have shared their instruction document with Melvin, it can answer questions grounded in your specific project's workflow, rubric, and guidelines.
  </Card>

  <Card icon="user-shield" title="Background checks & legal docs">
    Background check status, next steps when something is pending, tax forms (W-9, W-8BEN), and legal documents tied to your contract (ToW, CIIAA, offer letters).
  </Card>

  <Card icon="user-plus" title="Referrals">
    Referral status, referral payouts, and dispute follow-ups.
  </Card>
</Columns>

***

## What Melvin Cannot Help With

Some requests fall outside Melvin's scope or require human judgment. In these cases, Melvin will route your message to the appropriate team.

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Day-to-day project questions in Slack">
    If your question is about your active project's tasks, tooling, or guidelines, please use Maven in your project's Slack workspace instead. Maven has the project-specific context and answers in seconds. See the [Use Maven](/support/maven) page.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Restoring deleted accounts or making destructive changes">
    Melvin operates in a read-mostly mode for safety. Actions such as restoring a deleted Stripe account, reactivating a deactivated identity verification, or reversing an offboarding cannot be triggered through email and must be handled by a human reviewer.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Case-by-case exceptions or policy waivers">
    Personalized exceptions, for example an individual hour adjustment, a deadline extension, or a payment expedite, must be reviewed by the Mercor Support team and, where relevant, approved by the project lead.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Disputes that require evidence review">
    Referral disputes, payment disputes, and contract disputes that require evidence verification are routed to the appropriate team for human review. Please include any supporting screenshots, emails, or documents in your message.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Real-time platform outages or bug diagnosis">
    If Mercor's platform (work.mercor.com, RL Studio, Insightful, Okta) is down or behaving unexpectedly, please mention this clearly in your email. Melvin can route the report to the engineering team, but it cannot diagnose live service issues.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Info>
  When Melvin cannot resolve a request on its own, your conversation is routed to the Mercor Support team, and you receive a follow-up in the same email thread. No separate action is needed on your side.
</Info>

***

## Tips for Better Replies

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card icon="bullseye" title="One topic per email">
    Please keep each email focused on a single request. If you have multiple unrelated questions, sending them as separate emails helps Melvin classify and resolve each one accurately.
  </Card>

  <Card icon="id-card" title="Include identifiers">
    Paste the relevant job ID, project name, contract date, or payment amount whenever you can. Even one of these can save several back-and-forth messages.
  </Card>

  <Card icon="image" title="Attach screenshots">
    Visual context, especially for error messages or platform issues, helps Melvin and the Mercor Support team understand your situation faster.
  </Card>

  <Card icon="comments" title="Reply in the same thread">
    For follow-up questions on the same topic, please reply to Melvin's last email instead of starting a new thread. Melvin keeps the full conversation history and uses it to refine the next answer.
  </Card>
</Columns>

***

## What Happens When Melvin Escalates

When a request requires human review, Melvin posts a short note in the email thread explaining that your message has been routed to the Mercor Support team for follow-up. You do not need to take any further action.

<Tip>
  The team typically responds within one to two business days for escalated requests. If your issue is genuinely urgent and you have not received a follow-up, please reply in the same thread highlighting the urgency.
</Tip>

***

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Availability & contact

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What email address should I write to?">
    The main address is **[support@mercor.com](mailto:support@mercor.com)**. Some categories of replies may come from **[team@mercor.com](mailto:team@mercor.com)**; both addresses are handled by Melvin. Project-specific support emails are also handled by Melvin when configured.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do I need to be logged in to email Melvin?">
    No. Just send an email from any address. For the fastest and most accurate reply, please email from the address associated with your Mercor account.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is Melvin available 24/7?">
    Yes. Melvin processes incoming emails at any time of day, including weekends. Human follow-ups for escalated requests happen during Mercor Support team business hours, typically within one to two business days.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What languages can I use with Melvin?">
    Melvin primarily operates in English. For the most accurate replies, please write your email in English. Melvin can read other languages, but the supporting documentation it draws from is predominantly in English, which may affect quality.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

### Asking effective questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How long does Melvin take to reply?">
    Most replies arrive within a few hours. If Melvin needs to route your message to a human, the follow-up typically arrives within one to two business days.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Should I send multiple emails if my request has several topics?">
    Yes. Please send a separate email for each unrelated topic. Combining multiple unrelated questions in one message tends to dilute Melvin's reply and may cause parts of your request to be missed.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I share attachments with Melvin?">
    Yes. Screenshots, PDFs, and document attachments are supported and often help Melvin understand the issue. Please do not share full payment card details or government identification documents over email. For those, the Mercor Support team will guide you through the appropriate secure flow.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why did Melvin reply with what feels like the same answer as before?">
    Melvin uses the full email thread for context. If a reply repeats prior information, it usually means the new message did not contain enough new context to change the answer. Please reply with concrete additional details, screenshots, or identifiers so Melvin can re-evaluate.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

### When to use email vs Slack

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="When should I email Melvin instead of asking Maven in Slack?">
    Use **Maven in Slack** for day-to-day project questions: tasks, tooling, project guidelines, and project announcements. Maven knows your project's documentation and replies in seconds.

    Use **Melvin via email** for account-level matters that are not specific to one project: payments, contracts, referrals, background checks, application status, legal documents, and platform-wide issues.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What if my project does not have Maven yet?">
    If your project's Slack workspace does not have Maven deployed, you can email Melvin at [support@mercor.com](mailto:support@mercor.com) for both account-level and project-level questions. Melvin will help where possible and route project-specific questions to the appropriate project team.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

### Melvin's limits

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can Melvin take actions on my account?">
    Melvin can take a limited set of safe, reversible actions. It can look up your application or payment status, link conversations to tickets, generate reset links for interviews and tax forms, and route your message to the right team. It cannot make policy decisions, restore deleted accounts, or trigger payments on its own.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Are Melvin's answers always correct?">
    Melvin grounds its replies in Mercor's published policies, your project's instructions (when shared with Melvin), and the talent documentation. Each reply may include citations to the source it referenced.

    That said, Melvin can occasionally make mistakes, particularly on nuanced or case-by-case questions. Please treat Melvin's answers as guidance, not as official approval. Decisions that affect your contract, hours, payments, eligibility for specific project stages, or any policy exception always require a human reviewer, even when Melvin's reply sounds authoritative.

    If a reply does not match your situation, please reply in the same thread with additional context, or explicitly ask for the message to be reviewed by a human.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can Melvin help with task-specific or project guideline questions?">
    When your project's instruction document has been shared with Melvin, it can answer questions grounded in your project's specific workflow and guidelines. Otherwise, Melvin will route project-specific questions to the appropriate team.

    For day-to-day project questions, Maven in your project's Slack workspace is the recommended option when available. Maven sees your project's latest announcements and full Slack context, and replies in seconds. See the [Use Maven](/support/maven) page.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

### When Melvin's answer does not help

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Why does Melvin keep replying with the same answer?">
    Melvin uses the full email thread for context. If a reply repeats prior information, it usually means the new message did not contain enough new detail to change the response. Please reply with:

    * Specific identifiers (job ID, project name, contract date, payment amount)
    * Screenshots of the exact error or behavior you are seeing
    * The steps you have already tried and where they failed

    If a few rounds of additional context do not produce a useful answer, please explicitly request a human reviewer in your reply (see below).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The troubleshooting steps Melvin gave me did not work. What should I do?">
    Some account-level issues (for example, Okta password resets that fail to persist, or contracts stuck in review) require manual intervention from the Mercor Support team or engineering. In these cases, please reply in the same thread with:

    * A short note that the suggested steps did not resolve the issue
    * Screenshots or a screen recording of the actual behavior
    * A request for human review

    Your project lead can also escalate on your behalf through their internal channels.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I explicitly request that a human handle my case?">
    Yes. If you would like a human to review your case from the start, or after a round of replies with Melvin, simply reply in the same thread with a clear note such as *"Please have a human review this case."* Your conversation will be routed to the Mercor Support team, who will follow up directly in the same thread.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

### Privacy & behavior

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Is my email conversation with Melvin private?">
    Yes. Email conversations with Melvin are confidential to you, Melvin, and the Mercor Support team. Please avoid sharing full payment card numbers, government identification documents, or other highly sensitive data in your email. If needed, the team will guide you through a secure flow.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Will Melvin ever email me proactively?">
    Melvin only replies to emails you send to [support@mercor.com](mailto:support@mercor.com) (or other Mercor support addresses), and to ongoing email threads. It does not initiate cold outreach, ask for personal credentials, or request payment information unsolicited. Please treat any such message as suspicious and report it to [support@mercor.com](mailto:support@mercor.com).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Related Resources

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Ask Maven for Project Support" icon="robot" href="/support/maven">
    Maven is Mercor's Slack-based AI assistant for day-to-day project questions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Get in Touch" icon="life-ring" href="/support/get-in-touch">
    More ways to reach Mercor Support, including escalation paths.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Setup Payments" icon="credit-card" href="/how-to/payments">
    Set up Stripe and Wise for your Mercor payouts.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Okta Access" icon="key" href="/how-to/okta-access">
    Access Slack, RL Studio, and Google Workspace through Okta.
  </Card>
</Columns>