From a928666dfcdc65c90602051c79b3c008282674aa Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Dries Augustyns <inbox@driaug.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2026 10:25:01 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] fix: Update contact subscription logic for upsert operations

---
 .../api/src/__tests__/integration/actions.test.ts | 15 +++++++++++++--
 apps/api/src/controllers/Actions.ts               |  6 ++++--
 2 files changed, 17 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/apps/api/src/__tests__/integration/actions.test.ts b/apps/api/src/__tests__/integration/actions.test.ts
index 0826f50..104aeec 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/__tests__/integration/actions.test.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/__tests__/integration/actions.test.ts
@@ -850,6 +850,17 @@ describe('Actions API Integration Tests', () => {
           expect(result.data.subscribed).toBeUndefined();
         }
       });
+
+      it('should create new contacts as unsubscribed when subscribed is undefined', async () => {
+        const newEmail = 'new-send-contact@example.com';
+
+        // Send email to new contact without specifying subscribed
+        const {ContactService} = await import('../../services/ContactService.js');
+        const contact = await ContactService.upsert(projectId, newEmail, {name: 'Test'}, false);
+
+        // Transactional emails should create contacts as unsubscribed by default
+        expect(contact.subscribed).toBe(false);
+      });
     });
 
     describe('/v1/track endpoint', () => {
@@ -905,9 +916,9 @@ describe('Actions API Integration Tests', () => {
 
         // Track event for new contact without specifying subscribed
         const {ContactService} = await import('../../services/ContactService.js');
-        const contact = await ContactService.upsert(projectId, newEmail, {event: 'test'}, undefined);
+        const contact = await ContactService.upsert(projectId, newEmail, {event: 'test'}, true);
 
-        // New contacts should default to subscribed=true
+        // Event tracking should create contacts as subscribed by default
         expect(contact.subscribed).toBe(true);
       });
 
diff --git a/apps/api/src/controllers/Actions.ts b/apps/api/src/controllers/Actions.ts
index b6dd680..412ba99 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/controllers/Actions.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/controllers/Actions.ts
@@ -72,11 +72,12 @@ export class Actions {
 
     // Create or update contact with persistent data only
     // ContactService.upsert will filter out non-persistent fields
+    // Event tracking should subscribe contacts by default
     const contact = await ContactService.upsert(
       auth.projectId,
       email,
       data as Record<string, unknown> | undefined,
-      subscribed,
+      subscribed ?? true,
     );
 
     // Track the event with ALL data (persistent + non-persistent)
@@ -266,7 +267,8 @@ export class Actions {
         : (data as Record<string, unknown> | undefined);
 
       // Create or update contact with metadata
-      const contact = await ContactService.upsert(auth.projectId, recipient.email, recipientData, subscribed);
+      // Transactional emails should not subscribe contacts by default
+      const contact = await ContactService.upsert(auth.projectId, recipient.email, recipientData, subscribed ?? false);
 
       // Get merged data including non-persistent fields for template rendering
       const mergedData = ContactService.getMergedData(contact, data as Record<string, unknown> | undefined);