---
title: Webhooks
description: Send real-time event data from Plunk to your own application using webhooks
icon: Webhook
---

import {Tab, Tabs} from 'fumadocs-ui/components/tabs';

Plunk can send real-time HTTP requests to your application when specific events occur, such as email bounces, spam complaints, or custom events. This is done by creating a [workflow](/concepts/workflows) that uses the **Webhook** step to forward event data to your own endpoint.

## How it works

Webhooks in Plunk are powered by the workflow system. The basic flow is:

1. An event occurs in Plunk (e.g. an email bounces, a contact subscribes, or a custom event is tracked)
2. A workflow is triggered by that event
3. The workflow executes a **Webhook** step, sending an HTTP request to your URL with relevant data

This means you can receive notifications for any event Plunk tracks, including both system events and your own custom events.

## Internal events

Plunk automatically tracks a set of internal events that you can use as workflow triggers. These events cannot be manually tracked via the API — they are generated by the system.

### Email events

| Event             | Description                                                                                              |
| ----------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `email.sent`      | An email was successfully sent                                                                           |
| `email.delivery`  | An email was delivered to the recipient                                                                  |
| `email.open`      | A contact opened an email for the first time                                                             |
| `email.click`     | A contact clicked a link in an email for the first time                                                  |
| `email.bounce`    | An email bounced (hard or soft bounce)                                                                   |
| `email.complaint` | A contact marked an email as spam                                                                        |
| `email.received`  | An email was received at your verified domain (requires [inbound email setup](/guides/receiving-emails)) |

### Contact events

| Event                  | Description                                             |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| `contact.subscribed`   | A contact's subscription status changed to subscribed   |
| `contact.unsubscribed` | A contact's subscription status changed to unsubscribed |

### Segment events

| Event                  | Description                 |
| ---------------------- | --------------------------- |
| `segment.<name>.entry` | A contact entered a segment |
| `segment.<name>.exit`  | A contact exited a segment  |

<Callout title="Segment event names" variant="idea">
  Segment events use a slugified version of the segment name. For example, a segment called "VIP Users" would produce
  the events `segment.vip-users.entry` and `segment.vip-users.exit`.
</Callout>

## Setting up a webhook

<div className='fd-steps [&_h3]:fd-step'>

### Create the workflow

Navigate to the **Workflows** section in the dashboard and create a new workflow. Choose the event you want to listen for as the trigger. For example, to receive notifications when an email bounces, use `email.bounce` as the trigger event.

### Add a Webhook step

After the trigger, add a **Webhook** step and configure it:

- **URL**: The endpoint on your server that will receive the webhook (e.g. `https://api.example.com/webhooks/plunk`)
- **Method**: The HTTP method to use. Defaults to `POST`, which is recommended for most use cases.
- **Headers** (optional): Custom headers to include in the request, provided as JSON. This is useful for authentication.

```json
{
  "Authorization": "Bearer your-secret-token"
}
```

### Enable the workflow

Once configured, enable the workflow. It will start sending webhook requests whenever the trigger event occurs.

</div>

## Webhook payload

When using the default payload (no custom body configured), Plunk sends a JSON request with the following structure:

```json
{
  "contact": {
    "email": "user@example.com",
    "subscribed": true,
    "data": {
      "name": "John",
      "plan": "pro"
    }
  },
  "workflow": {
    "id": "wf_abc123",
    "name": "Bounce Notifications"
  },
  "execution": {
    "id": "exec_xyz789",
    "startedAt": "2025-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
  },
  "event": {
    "subject": "Welcome to Plunk",
    "from": "hello@example.com",
    "fromName": "Plunk Team",
    "messageId": "ses-message-id",
    "emailId": "ac32f08e-c6b9-45d3-9824-a73dff1e3bbf",
    "templateId": null,
    "campaignId": "camp_abc123",
    "sourceType": "CAMPAIGN",
    "bounceType": "Permanent",
    "bouncedAt": "2025-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
  }
}
```

The `event` field contains the data associated with the event that triggered the workflow. The exact contents depend on the event type.

### Event data by type

#### Email events

Most email events share a common set of base fields:

| Field        | Description                                                                                            |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `subject`    | The email subject line                                                                                 |
| `from`       | The sender email address                                                                               |
| `fromName`   | The sender display name                                                                                |
| `messageId`  | The AWS SES message ID (for correlating with SES events)                                               |
| `emailId`    | The Plunk email record ID (returned from `POST /v1/send`, for correlating webhooks with API responses) |
| `templateId` | The template ID, if the email was sent using a template (otherwise `null`)                             |
| `campaignId` | The campaign ID, if the email was part of a campaign (otherwise `null`)                                |
| `sourceType` | How the email was triggered: `TRANSACTIONAL`, `CAMPAIGN`, `WORKFLOW`, or `INBOUND`                     |

In addition to these base fields, each event includes the following event-specific fields:

<Tabs items={['email.sent', 'email.delivery', 'email.open', 'email.click', 'email.bounce', 'email.complaint', 'email.received']}>

<Tab value="email.sent">

```json
{
  "subject": "Welcome to Plunk",
  "from": "hello@example.com",
  "fromName": "Plunk Team",
  "messageId": "ses-message-id",
  "emailId": "ac32f08e-c6b9-45d3-9824-a73dff1e3bbf",
  "templateId": null,
  "campaignId": null,
  "sourceType": "TRANSACTIONAL",
  "sentAt": "2025-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
}
```

| Field    | Description             |
| -------- | ----------------------- |
| `sentAt` | When the email was sent |

</Tab>

<Tab value="email.delivery">

```json
{
  "subject": "Welcome to Plunk",
  "from": "hello@example.com",
  "fromName": "Plunk Team",
  "messageId": "ses-message-id",
  "emailId": "ac32f08e-c6b9-45d3-9824-a73dff1e3bbf",
  "templateId": null,
  "campaignId": "camp_abc123",
  "sourceType": "CAMPAIGN",
  "deliveredAt": "2025-01-15T10:30:05.000Z"
}
```

| Field         | Description                  |
| ------------- | ---------------------------- |
| `deliveredAt` | When the email was delivered |

</Tab>

<Tab value="email.open">

```json
{
  "subject": "Welcome to Plunk",
  "from": "hello@example.com",
  "fromName": "Plunk Team",
  "messageId": "ses-message-id",
  "emailId": "ac32f08e-c6b9-45d3-9824-a73dff1e3bbf",
  "templateId": null,
  "campaignId": null,
  "sourceType": "TRANSACTIONAL",
  "openedAt": "2025-01-15T11:00:00.000Z",
  "opens": 1,
  "isFirstOpen": true
}
```

| Field         | Description                                                   |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `openedAt`    | When the email was first opened                               |
| `opens`       | Total number of times this email has been opened              |
| `isFirstOpen` | `true` if this is the first time the contact opened the email |

</Tab>

<Tab value="email.click">

```json
{
  "subject": "Welcome to Plunk",
  "from": "hello@example.com",
  "fromName": "Plunk Team",
  "messageId": "ses-message-id",
  "emailId": "ac32f08e-c6b9-45d3-9824-a73dff1e3bbf",
  "templateId": null,
  "campaignId": null,
  "sourceType": "TRANSACTIONAL",
  "link": "https://example.com/pricing",
  "clickedAt": "2025-01-15T11:05:00.000Z",
  "clicks": 1,
  "isFirstClick": true
}
```

| Field          | Description                                                       |
| -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `link`         | The URL that was clicked                                          |
| `clickedAt`    | When the first click occurred                                     |
| `clicks`       | Total number of times links in this email have been clicked       |
| `isFirstClick` | `true` if this is the first click from this contact on this email |

</Tab>

<Tab value="email.bounce">

Permanent bounce:

```json
{
  "subject": "Welcome to Plunk",
  "from": "hello@example.com",
  "fromName": "Plunk Team",
  "messageId": "ses-message-id",
  "emailId": "ac32f08e-c6b9-45d3-9824-a73dff1e3bbf",
  "templateId": null,
  "campaignId": null,
  "sourceType": "TRANSACTIONAL",
  "bounceType": "Permanent",
  "bouncedAt": "2025-01-15T10:31:00.000Z"
}
```

Transient (soft) bounce:

```json
{
  "subject": "Welcome to Plunk",
  "from": "hello@example.com",
  "fromName": "Plunk Team",
  "messageId": "ses-message-id",
  "emailId": "ac32f08e-c6b9-45d3-9824-a73dff1e3bbf",
  "templateId": null,
  "campaignId": null,
  "sourceType": "TRANSACTIONAL",
  "bounceType": "Transient",
  "transientBounce": true
}
```

| Field             | Description                                                                                      |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `bounceType`      | `Permanent` (hard bounce) or `Transient` (soft bounce, e.g. mailbox full or out-of-office)       |
| `bouncedAt`       | When the bounce occurred (permanent bounces only)                                                |
| `transientBounce` | `true` for soft bounces — these do not count toward bounce rate and the contact stays subscribed |

<Callout title="Bounce rate impact" variant="warn">
  Only `Permanent` bounces count toward your project's bounce rate and trigger automatic contact unsubscription.
  `Transient` bounces are tracked for visibility only.
</Callout>

</Tab>

<Tab value="email.complaint">

```json
{
  "subject": "Welcome to Plunk",
  "from": "hello@example.com",
  "fromName": "Plunk Team",
  "messageId": "ses-message-id",
  "emailId": "ac32f08e-c6b9-45d3-9824-a73dff1e3bbf",
  "templateId": null,
  "campaignId": null,
  "sourceType": "TRANSACTIONAL",
  "complainedAt": "2025-01-15T10:35:00.000Z"
}
```

| Field          | Description                          |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| `complainedAt` | When the spam complaint was received |

</Tab>

<Tab value="email.received">

This event fires when an email is received at your verified domain. See [Receiving Emails](/guides/receiving-emails) for setup instructions.

```json
{
  "messageId": "ses-message-id",
  "from": "sender@example.com",
  "fromHeader": "Jane Smith <sender@example.com>",
  "to": "support@yourdomain.com",
  "subject": "Re: Your question",
  "timestamp": "2025-01-15T10:30:00.000Z",
  "recipients": ["support@yourdomain.com"],
  "hasContent": true,
  "body": "<html><body>This is the email body content...</body></html>",
  "spamVerdict": "PASS",
  "virusVerdict": "PASS",
  "spfVerdict": "PASS",
  "dkimVerdict": "PASS",
  "dmarcVerdict": "PASS",
  "processingTimeMillis": 142
}
```

| Field                  | Description                                                           |
| ---------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `messageId`            | The AWS SES message ID                                                |
| `from`                 | The sender's email address                                            |
| `fromHeader`           | The full `From` header, including display name if present             |
| `to`                   | The recipient address at your verified domain                         |
| `subject`              | The email subject line                                                |
| `timestamp`            | When SES received the email                                           |
| `recipients`           | All recipient addresses in the envelope                               |
| `hasContent`           | Whether the email body content is available                           |
| `body`                 | HTML body of the email (or plain text if no HTML available)           |
| `spamVerdict`          | SES spam check result: `PASS`, `FAIL`, `GRAY`, or `PROCESSING_FAILED` |
| `virusVerdict`         | SES virus check result                                                |
| `spfVerdict`           | SPF authentication result                                             |
| `dkimVerdict`          | DKIM authentication result                                            |
| `dmarcVerdict`         | DMARC authentication result                                           |
| `processingTimeMillis` | Time SES took to process the inbound email                            |

</Tab>

</Tabs>

#### Contact events

`contact.subscribed` and `contact.unsubscribed` carry no event data by default. The `event` field will be an empty object `{}`.

The exception is when an unsubscription is triggered automatically by an email bounce or complaint — in that case `event` includes a `reason` field:

```json
{
  "reason": "bounce"
}
```

| Field    | Value                                               |
| -------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| `reason` | `"bounce"` or `"complaint"` (when system-triggered) |

#### Segment events

Both `segment.<name>.entry` and `segment.<name>.exit` include:

```json
{
  "segmentId": "seg_abc123",
  "segmentName": "VIP Users"
}
```

| Field         | Description                     |
| ------------- | ------------------------------- |
| `segmentId`   | The ID of the segment           |
| `segmentName` | The display name of the segment |

#### Custom events

Custom events tracked via the API include whatever data you passed in the `data` field when calling `track`.

#### No event data

For events that carry no data, the `event` field will be an empty object `{}`.

## Correlating webhooks with send requests

All email events include an `emailId` field that matches the Plunk email record ID returned when you send an email via `POST /v1/send`. This allows you to directly correlate webhook events with your API requests.

**Example workflow:**

1. Send email via API:

```json
POST /v1/send
{
  "to": "user@example.com",
  "subject": "Welcome",
  "body": "Hello!"
}

Response:
{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "emails": [
      {
        "contact": {"id": "cnt_abc", "email": "user@example.com"},
        "email": "ac32f08e-c6b9-45d3-9824-a73dff1e3bbf"
      }
    ]
  }
}
```

2. Store the `email` ID (`ac32f08e-c6b9-45d3-9824-a73dff1e3bbf`) in your database

3. When webhook events fire (e.g., `email.open`, `email.bounce`), match them using `event.emailId`:

```json
{
  "event": {
    "emailId": "ac32f08e-c6b9-45d3-9824-a73dff1e3bbf",
    "messageId": "ses-message-id",
    "openedAt": "2025-01-15T11:00:00.000Z"
  }
}
```

This eliminates the need to match by contact email + timestamp or to listen for `email.sent` webhooks just to get the SES `messageId`.

## Common use cases

### Bounce and complaint monitoring

Create a workflow triggered by `email.bounce` or `email.complaint` to forward these events to your application. This allows you to keep your own database in sync with Plunk's contact statuses.

You can use additional workflow steps before the webhook to add logic:

- **Condition**: Only send the webhook for hard bounces by checking the `bounceType` field
- **Delay**: Add a short delay to batch-process related events
- **Update Contact**: Mark the contact with metadata before sending the webhook

### Syncing unsubscribes

Trigger a workflow on `contact.unsubscribed` to notify your application when a contact opts out. This is useful for keeping subscription status synchronized across multiple systems.

### Custom event forwarding

If you track custom events in Plunk (e.g. `user.signup`, `order.completed`), you can forward those same events to other services via webhooks. This turns Plunk into an event router — track once, distribute to multiple endpoints.

## Adding conditions and delays

Since webhooks are part of the workflow system, you can combine them with other step types for more advanced setups:

- Use a **Condition** step to only fire the webhook when certain criteria are met (e.g. only notify for contacts on a specific plan)
- Use a **Wait for Event** step to wait for a follow-up event before sending the webhook (e.g. wait to see if a bounced contact re-subscribes)
- Use a **Delay** step to add a time buffer before the webhook fires
