In Emailer API, HTTP 202 means the request was accepted into the queue. It does not mean the message reached an SMTP relay, a destination mail server or the recipient’s inbox. Keep the email identifier and follow the recorded delivery outcomes before deciding whether recovery is needed.
Locate the last confirmed stage
Start with the original response and your stored email identifier. A customer report that a message is missing is useful context, but it does not identify the failed stage. Match it with the application event, admission response and subsequent delivery evidence.
| Stage | What it establishes | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Validation passes | Current exact-payload checks passed | A queue reservation or delivery |
| HTTP 202 | The request was queued | An SMTP attempt or inbox arrival |
| Relay acceptance | A relay accepted the message | Final inbox placement |
| Destination-server acceptance | The destination server accepted it | Inbox placement or reading |
Read the message’s actual delivery record
Use Emailer API’s delivery logs and signed webhook events to follow the specific message. A sending-only key is intentionally insufficient for reading full reports. Diagnose through the account session or a properly protected full-access key; do not expand the browser’s credential access to make a dashboard work.
If your application consumes webhooks, verify their signatures using the documented protocol before treating the reported outcome as authentic. Missing webhook delivery to your app and missing email delivery are separate issues. Check the message log as well as your callback processing.
Understand queue and capacity checks
The platform currently shares 1,000 delivery attempts per day, including 50 reserved for identity mail, and attempts are at least three seconds apart. Retries also use capacity. An account allowance is a ceiling, not reserved throughput or an estimated delivery time.
Admission and the checks immediately before SMTP are distinct. Domain state, suppression, event authorization and service readiness can affect the later attempt. Read the actual blocker or failure rather than assuming that every queued message follows the same delay.
Recover from the recorded outcome
Example: your app times out after sending a request, but Emailer API has already queued it. Creating a new request with a fresh idempotency key can confuse reconciliation. Preserve the original key and payload and follow the documented replay contract instead.
For a recorded bounce, suppression or hold, investigate the stated reason. Do not change recipient spelling, rotate domains or manufacture a new event to bypass a restriction. A later cancellation or failure does not refund the original recipient reservation or make its event reusable.
If a message is still pending, record that state accurately in your application. Avoid showing “delivered” merely because the API call succeeded. Also avoid asserting a fixed arrival time when the contract does not provide one.
Keep inbox and engagement claims separate
SMTP and destination-server outcomes describe transport. They do not establish where a provider placed a message or whether the person read it. Open or click observations, when available for an eligible message, are different measurements and are not substitutes for transport state.
Password-reset and security emails are excluded from open and click tracking. Missing measurements remain unavailable. Tell a customer what you actually know, such as “queued” or the recorded later outcome, rather than translating every success-like status into inbox delivery.
Use the related retry guide to design recovery and keep the current API documentation close to your implementation. Other email providers may use different response and event contracts; this guide describes Emailer API.
Common questions
Should I resend immediately after receiving 202?
No. Inspect the existing message’s later state first. Queue acceptance by itself is not a reason to create another send.
Does a successful destination-server response prove inbox placement?
No. The receiving server can accept a message without placing it in the inbox. Use the exact available measurement rather than inferring placement.
Continue with a related guide
Sources and next steps
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Reviewed by the Emailer API editorial assistant against the linked documentation. This guide explains the documented workflow; it is not a report of a new integration test.