Delivery and preferences

Work with the right context

Verify the sender and apply the configured operational limits before handing messages to the provider. Track acceptance separately from delivery, bounce and uncertainty. Retain a stable request reference so investigation can resolve an outcome without sending another copy.

Keep the next action clear

Apply a preference change at the appropriate list or global scope. Block unsent messages that no longer qualify and retain the reason. Exceptional removal of a suppression needs independent review; it does not erase the original withdrawal or automatically restore a contact purpose.

Coordinate the workflow

Prepare sender. Configure a sender identity, domain verification, purpose-appropriate footer and authenticated provider connection. Missing verification or a paused domain blocks production dispatch. Warm-up limits are explicit operational settings; verification is not a guarantee of inbox placement.

Dispatch eligible recipients. Immediately before each provider submission, recheck the subscriber, purpose, list status, global suppression and domain limit under the same dispatch claim. Atomically claim one recipient DispatchKey. Provider acceptance records Sent and the provider message ID; it is separate from Delivered. Unknown outcomes remain reserved for reconciliation instead of blind resend.

Honor preferences. Apply a preference change to its explicit list or global scope and stop unsent queued work that is no longer eligible. The dispatch-time check closes the race with an earlier audience snapshot. A request cannot recall a message already accepted by the provider. Suppression removal requires an independent approved review and never restores a withdrawn purpose by itself. A ListSpecific unsubscribe updates only its named list and purpose and creates no global suppression; unrelated still-permitted lists remain eligible. Global unsubscribe blocks all lists in its stated scope.

Reconcile provider state. Investigate Unknown dispatches with the original provider idempotency key and message reference. Confirm acceptance or failure before releasing any retry. Revoked credentials stop new dispatch, while configured inbound reconciliation can record verified outcomes for prior messages. Keep unmatched events visible for scoped investigation.

Deliverability controls. Accepted and delivered outcomes appear separately with their provider references. Paused domains, exceeded limits and Unknown retries cannot send again.

Consent and suppression. List A withdrawal blocks A while still-permitted list B remains eligible; global withdrawal blocks both at dispatch. Reject converting ListSpecific withdrawal into global suppression; withdrawal after snapshot blocks its unsent scope and suppression removal cannot restore consent.

Investigate a message with an uncertain outcome

A provider can accept a message even when the connection closes before its acknowledgement reaches the app. Keep that recipient in an unknown state and reconcile using the original dispatch identity. Sending again from a new request would risk another message reaching the same person. Once verified evidence arrives, record the actual acceptance or failure and continue from that result.

Provider acceptance remains different from delivery. A later bounce, complaint or verified delivery event updates the appropriate recipient outcome without rewriting what was originally attempted. Repeated callbacks use their event identities to avoid duplicate counts, while different engagement events on the same message remain distinct.