diff --git a/backend/src/adminSettings.ts b/backend/src/adminSettings.ts
index 4dc1879..660d406 100644
--- a/backend/src/adminSettings.ts
+++ b/backend/src/adminSettings.ts
@@ -34,7 +34,13 @@ const DEFINITIONS = [
     name: 'draftingModel',
     type: 'choice',
     fallback: DEFAULT_DRAFTING_MODEL
-  }
+  },
+  // Where the intake notification goes (#224). A setting rather than an
+  // environment variable, for the same reason drafting_model is one: it is
+  // changed by whoever runs the shop, not by whoever deploys it, and a redeploy
+  // to change an address would be absurd. Empty means do not notify, which is
+  // the default and a working configuration.
+  { key: 'intake_notify_email', name: 'intakeNotifyEmail', type: 'text', fallback: '' }
 ] as const;
 
 type Definition = (typeof DEFINITIONS)[number];
diff --git a/backend/src/emailTemplates.ts b/backend/src/emailTemplates.ts
index 010c674..9d86e4c 100644
--- a/backend/src/emailTemplates.ts
+++ b/backend/src/emailTemplates.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@ export type TemplateKey =
   | 'favoriteSold'
   | 'favoriteWithdrawn'
   | 'cartReminder'
-  | 'emailChanged';
+  | 'emailChanged'
+  | 'intakeDraft';
 
 export interface TemplateDefinition {
   /** Shown in the admin so a card is identifiable without reading its body. */
@@ -122,6 +123,36 @@ export const TEMPLATES: Record<TemplateKey, TemplateDefinition> = {
       '{{itemList}}\n\n' +
       'Items are held for {{holdDuration}} from when they were added.\n\n' +
       '[View your cart]({{cartUrl}}) before your reservation expires.'
+  },
+
+  intakeDraft: {
+    label: 'Item submitted for review',
+    // Only the review link. The signed shortcuts are absent whenever
+    // INTAKE_ACTION_SECRET is unset, and requiring them would make an
+    // unconfigured environment unable to send this at all.
+    required: ['reviewUrl'],
+    available: [
+      'itemName',
+      'draftName',
+      'draftDescription',
+      'price',
+      'submitterNote',
+      'linkLabel',
+      'reviewUrl',
+      'regenerateUrl',
+      'discardUrl'
+    ],
+    defaultSubject: 'An item was submitted: {{draftName}}',
+    defaultBody:
+      'Someone sent in an item through {{linkLabel}}.\n\n' +
+      '**{{draftName}}**\n\n' +
+      '{{draftDescription}}\n\n' +
+      'Suggested price: {{price}}\n\n' +
+      "The sender's note: {{submitterNote}}\n\n" +
+      '[Review and publish it]({{reviewUrl}})\n\n' +
+      'Nothing is listed until you publish it from that screen, and the price ' +
+      'above is a suggestion rather than a decision.\n\n' +
+      '[Ask for another draft]({{regenerateUrl}}) - [Discard it]({{discardUrl}})'
   }
 };
 
@@ -225,6 +256,14 @@ export const SAMPLE_VALUES: Record<string, string> = {
   // Fallbacks only. The admin preview overrides both from the live settings,
   // so the pane shows the duration that would actually be sent rather than a
   // plausible-looking number that disagrees with it.
+  draftName: 'Blue stoneware vase',
+  draftDescription: 'A hand-thrown vase with a chipped base.',
+  price: '$80.00',
+  submitterNote: 'Found in a loft clearance.',
+  linkLabel: 'Autumn drop-off',
+  reviewUrl: 'https://example.com/admin',
+  regenerateUrl: 'https://example.com/api/intake-actions/1/regenerate?expires=0&sig=sample',
+  discardUrl: 'https://example.com/api/intake-actions/1/discard?expires=0&sig=sample',
   expiresIn: 'one hour',
   holdDuration: '24 hours'
 };
diff --git a/backend/src/envValidation.ts b/backend/src/envValidation.ts
index 4ba3d98..345321e 100644
--- a/backend/src/envValidation.ts
+++ b/backend/src/envValidation.ts
@@ -170,6 +170,19 @@ function checkAdminGate(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv): string[] {
 // without its description written. Silence would be the wrong answer too: an
 // operator who believes drafting is on and finds every item undrafted has
 // nothing to tell them why.
+// Optional, like the drafting key below. Absent, the notification still sends
+// with its review link and simply carries no shortcuts — being told an item
+// arrived matters far more than being able to discard it in one click.
+function checkIntakeActionSecret(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv): string[] {
+  if (isPresent(env, 'INTAKE_ACTION_SECRET')) {
+    return [];
+  }
+  return [
+    'INTAKE_ACTION_SECRET is not set — intake notifications will link to the review queue ' +
+      'but carry no regenerate or discard shortcuts.'
+  ];
+}
+
 function checkDraftingKey(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv): string[] {
   if (isPresent(env, 'ANTHROPIC_API_KEY')) {
     return [];
@@ -223,6 +236,6 @@ export function validateEnv(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv): EnvValidation {
       ...mail.errors,
       ...uploads.errors
     ],
-    warnings: [...mail.warnings, ...checkAdminGate(env), ...uploads.warnings, ...checkDraftingKey(env)]
+    warnings: [...mail.warnings, ...checkAdminGate(env), ...uploads.warnings, ...checkDraftingKey(env), ...checkIntakeActionSecret(env)]
   };
 }
diff --git a/backend/tests/unit/emailTemplates.test.ts b/backend/tests/unit/emailTemplates.test.ts
index 8311525..302c533 100644
--- a/backend/tests/unit/emailTemplates.test.ts
+++ b/backend/tests/unit/emailTemplates.test.ts
@@ -274,3 +274,37 @@ describe('every template can address the customer', () => {
     );
   });
 });
+
+describe('the intake notification template', () => {
+  // Without the review link the email is a notification you cannot act on.
+  it('requires the review url', () => {
+    expect(missingPlaceholders('intakeDraft', 'An item arrived.')).toContain('reviewUrl');
+  });
+
+  it('accepts a body carrying the review url', () => {
+    expect(missingPlaceholders('intakeDraft', 'Review it: {{reviewUrl}}')).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  // The signed links are deliberately optional. They are absent whenever
+  // INTAKE_ACTION_SECRET is unset, and a template demanding them would leave an
+  // unconfigured environment unable to send this at all.
+  it('does not require the signed action links', () => {
+    const missing = missingPlaceholders('intakeDraft', '{{reviewUrl}}');
+    expect(missing).not.toContain('discardUrl');
+    expect(missing).not.toContain('regenerateUrl');
+  });
+
+  it('offers the drafted copy to the template author', () => {
+    for (const name of ['itemName', 'draftName', 'draftDescription', 'price', 'submitterNote']) {
+      expect(TEMPLATES.intakeDraft.available).toContain(name);
+    }
+  });
+
+  // The email must never be able to publish. That is what bounds the risk taken
+  // by pricing items on arrival, and it is a property of the copy as much as of
+  // the routes — a publish link here would be one nobody reviewed.
+  it('offers no way to publish', () => {
+    expect(TEMPLATES.intakeDraft.available).not.toContain('publishUrl');
+    expect(TEMPLATES.intakeDraft.defaultBody).not.toMatch(/publishUrl/);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/backend/tests/unit/envValidation.test.ts b/backend/tests/unit/envValidation.test.ts
index 154c13d..b87df83 100644
--- a/backend/tests/unit/envValidation.test.ts
+++ b/backend/tests/unit/envValidation.test.ts
@@ -236,4 +236,19 @@ describe('UPLOADS_BASE_URL', () => {
       expect(warnings.join(' ')).not.toMatch(/ANTHROPIC_API_KEY/);
     });
   });
+  // #224. MINIMAL has no INTAKE_ACTION_SECRET, so it is already the absent case.
+  describe('the intake action secret', () => {
+    it('is not required', () => {
+      expect(validateEnv(MINIMAL).errors).toEqual([]);
+    });
+
+    it('warns when it is absent', () => {
+      expect(validateEnv(MINIMAL).warnings.join(' ')).toMatch(/INTAKE_ACTION_SECRET/);
+    });
+
+    it('says nothing when it is set', () => {
+      const { warnings } = validateEnv(withEnv({ INTAKE_ACTION_SECRET: 'a-secret' }));
+      expect(warnings.join(' ')).not.toMatch(/INTAKE_ACTION_SECRET/);
+    });
+  });
 });