Using API Triggers for Custom Automation Workflows

Beyond Built-In Triggers

Senddera's built-in automation triggers — subscribes, date fields, tag additions, link clicks — cover most standard workflows. But complex products have events that exist only in your application: a user completes onboarding step 3, a free trial expires, a support ticket is resolved, a project milestone is reached.

API-driven automation lets you trigger email sequences from any event in any system, giving you full control over the exact conditions and timing of your email workflows.

The Architecture

Your Application Event
    → HTTP POST to Senddera API (subscriber update / tag add)
        → Senddera Automation triggers on tag or field change
            → Email sequence begins

You don't push emails directly via API. Instead, you update subscriber state (tags, custom fields), and automations react to those state changes.

Setting Up API Access

In Senddera, generate your API key:

1. Go to Settings → API
2. Click Create API Key
3. Note your API endpoint (typically https://your-acelle-domain.com/api/v1/)

Install the Senddera API client or use raw HTTP:

// Using Guzzle HTTP client
$client = new \GuzzleHttp\Client([
    'base_uri' => 'https://mail.yourdomain.com/api/v1/',
    'headers'  => [
        'Authorization' => 'Bearer ' . config('services.acelle.api_key'),
        'Accept'        => 'application/json',
    ],
]);

Example 1: Trigger a Trial Expiry Sequence

Scenario: User's free trial expires. Trigger a 3-email upgrade sequence.

In your application (cron job or event listener):

// app/Console/Commands/ProcessTrialExpiries.php
public function handle(): void
{
    $expiredTrials = User::where('trial_ends_at', '<=', now())
        ->where('converted', false)
        ->get();

    foreach ($expiredTrials as $user) {
        // Add tag to trigger automation
        $this->acelleApi->addTagToSubscriber(
            listUid: config('services.acelle.list_uid'),
            email: $user->email,
            tag: 'trial-expired'
        );

        // Update custom field with expiry date
        $this->acelleApi->updateSubscriber(
            listUid: config('services.acelle.list_uid'),
            email: $user->email,
            fields: [
                'TRIAL_EXPIRED_DATE' => $user->trial_ends_at->format('Y-m-d'),
                'PLAN_NAME'          => $user->trial_plan,
            ]
        );
    }
}

In Senddera:

Trigger: Tag added = "trial-expired"
  → Send Email: "Your trial has ended — here's what you're missing"

Wait 2 days
  → Condition: Tag does NOT include "converted"
  → Send Email: "Still thinking it over? We can help."

Wait 3 days
  → Condition: Tag does NOT include "converted"
  → Send Email: "Final offer: 40% off your first month"

Example 2: Webhook Receiver for Senddera Events

Senddera can also push events to your application via webhooks — subscriber opens, clicks, unsubscribes. This creates a two-way integration.

Register a webhook in Senddera:

1. Go to Settings → Webhooks → Add Webhook
2. URL: https://yourapp.com/webhooks/acelle
3. Events: subscribe, unsubscribe, open, click

Your Laravel webhook receiver:

// routes/api.php
Route::post('/webhooks/acelle', [SendderaWebhookController::class, 'handle']);

// app/Http/Controllers/SendderaWebhookController.php
public function handle(Request $request): JsonResponse
{
    $event = $request->input('event');
    $email = $request->input('subscriber.email');

    match ($event) {
        'click' => $this->handleClick($email, $request->input('link_url')),
        'unsubscribe' => $this->handleUnsubscribe($email),
        default => null,
    };

    return response()->json(['status' => 'ok']);
}

private function handleClick(string $email, string $url): void
{
    if (str_contains($url, '/pricing')) {
        // Trigger lead score increment
        LeadScoreJob::dispatch($email, 'clicked_pricing');
    }
}

Example 3: Subscriber Upsert on Application Events

Use Laravel's event system to keep Senddera in sync automatically:

// app/Listeners/SyncUserToSenddera.php
public function handle(UserRegistered $event): void
{
    $user = $event->user;

    Http::withToken(config('services.acelle.api_key'))
        ->post(config('services.acelle.endpoint') . 'subscribers', [
            'list_uid'   => config('services.acelle.list_uid'),
            'email'      => $user->email,
            'first_name' => $user->first_name,
            'last_name'  => $user->last_name,
            'fields'     => [
                'PLAN'         => $user->plan,
                'SIGNUP_DATE'  => now()->format('Y-m-d'),
                'ACCOUNT_TYPE' => $user->account_type,
            ],
            'tag'        => 'new-user',  // triggers welcome automation
        ]);
}

Rate Limits and Error Handling

Senddera's API has configurable rate limits. For bulk operations:

// Process in chunks to avoid rate limiting
$subscribers->chunk(100, function ($chunk) {
    foreach ($chunk as $subscriber) {
        try {
            $this->syncToSenddera($subscriber);
            usleep(100000); // 100ms delay between requests
        } catch (\Exception $e) {
            Log::error('Senddera sync failed', [
                'email' => $subscriber->email,
                'error' => $e->getMessage(),
            ]);
        }
    }
});

Debugging API-Triggered Automations

When an automation doesn't fire as expected:

1. Check subscriber state in Senddera: Is the tag actually present? Is the field populated?
2. Check automation logs: Go to Automation → Your Automation → Logs to see trigger events
3. Verify API response: Log the full response from Senddera's API — a 422 or 404 means the subscriber or list wasn't found
4. Check timing: Senddera processes automation triggers asynchronously — allow up to 60 seconds after the API call

API-driven automations are the most powerful tool in your Senddera arsenal. Once mastered, you can build marketing workflows as sophisticated as any dedicated marketing automation platform.