How do I add webhooks for delivery events and bounce tracking?

To add webhooks for delivery events and bounce tracking, the exact steps depend on the email/sending platform you’re using, but the general setup is usually:

1) Create an endpoint on your app

Set up an HTTPS route that can receive incoming POST requests, for example:

• POST /webhooks/email-events

Your endpoint should:

• accept JSON payloads
• return a fast 2xx response
• verify the sender signature if your provider supports it
• log or store the event data

2) Subscribe to the right events

In your provider’s dashboard or API, enable webhook event types such as:

• delivery
• bounce
• deferred
• complaint
• open/click if needed

For your case, at minimum enable:

• delivered
• bounced

3) Register the webhook URL

Add your endpoint URL in the provider settings, for example:

• https://yourdomain.com/webhooks/email-events

Some providers let you do this in the UI; others via API.

4) Verify webhook signatures

If your provider signs webhook requests, validate them using:

• a shared secret
• HMAC signature headers
• timestamp checks to prevent replay attacks

This is important so you only process legitimate events.

5) Parse and handle events

Typical logic:

• delivery event → mark message as delivered
• bounce event → mark recipient as undeliverable and classify as hard/soft bounce
• complaint → suppress future sends

Example event handling

• delivered: update status to delivered
• bounce: inspect bounce type/reason, then mark address accordingly

6) Test it

Send test events from your provider if available, or use a tool like:

• ngrok
• webhook.site
• requestbin

to inspect payloads during development.

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Example webhook handler (generic Node.js/Express)

import express from "express";

const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

app.post("/webhooks/email-events", (req, res) => {
  const event = req.body;

  switch (event.type) {
    case "delivered":
      console.log("Delivered:", event.messageId);
      break;

    case "bounce":
      console.log("Bounced:", event.messageId, event.bounceType);
      break;

    default:
      console.log("Unhandled event:", event.type);
  }

  res.sendStatus(200);
});

app.listen(3000, () => console.log("Server running on port 3000"));

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If you tell me which service you’re using (e.g. SendGrid, Mailgun, AWS SES, Postmark, Brevo, SparkPost), I can give you the exact steps and payload format for that platform.