Skip to main content

​
Overview

Sendook can receive emails sent to any of your inboxes. Incoming emails are automatically parsed and sent to your webhook endpoints, making it easy to build email-driven workflows.

​
How It Works

  1. Set up DNS records - Configure MX records to route emails to Sendook (automatic for @sendook.com, required for custom domains)
  2. Create a webhook - Register a webhook endpoint to receive incoming emails
  3. Receive emails - When someone emails your inbox, Sendook parses it and sends the data to your webhook
  4. Process in your app - Handle the webhook payload in your application

​
Setting Up Email Reception

​
For sendook.com Addresses

Inboxes using @sendook.com addresses can receive emails immediately—no configuration needed. 
// Create an inbox
const inbox = await client.inbox.create({
  name: "support",
  email: "[email protected]"
});

// Create a webhook to receive emails
await client.webhook.create({
  url: "https://your-app.com/webhooks/email",
  events: ["message.received"]
});

// That's it! Start receiving emails at [email protected]

​
For Custom Domains

For custom domains, you need to configure MX records. See Custom Domains for detailed instructions.

​
Webhook Integration

When an email is received, Sendook sends a POST request to your webhook URL: 
{
  "event": "message.received",
  "messageId": "msg_789",
  "inboxId": "inbox_123",
  "payload": {
    "id": "msg_789",
    "organizationId": "org_456",
    "inboxId": "inbox_123",
    "threadId": "thread_012",
    "from": "[email protected]",
    "fromInboxId": "inbox_456",
    "to": ["[email protected]"],
    "toInboxId": "inbox_123",
    "subject": "Help with my account",
    "text": "I need help accessing my account...",
    "html": "I need help accessing my account...",
    "status": "received",
    "createdAt": "2024-01-01T12:00:00.000Z",
    "updatedAt": "2024-01-01T12:00:00.000Z"
  }
}

​
Parsed Email Format

Received emails include:
FieldTypeDescription
idstringUnique message ID
organizationIdstringYour organization ID
inboxIdstringInbox that received the email
threadIdstringThread this message belongs to
fromstringSender’s email address
fromInboxIdstringID of sender’s inbox (if they’re also a Sendook user)
tostring[]Recipient email addresses
toInboxIdstringID of the inbox that received the email
subjectstringEmail subject line
textstringPlain text content (parsed and cleaned)
htmlstringHTML content (parsed and cleaned)
statusstringMessage status (“received”)
createdAtstringISO 8601 timestamp
updatedAtstringISO 8601 timestamp
Sendook uses email-reply-parser to extract only the visible content from emails, removing quoted replies and signatures for cleaner processing.

​
Thread Detection

Sendook automatically detects email threads:
  • If an incoming email is a reply (based on References header), it’s added to the existing thread
  • If it’s a new conversation, a new thread is created
  • All messages in a conversation share the same threadId
Learn more in Threads.

​
Example Webhook Handler

Here’s an example webhook handler in Node.js: 
import express from "express";

const app = express();

app.post("/webhooks/email", express.json(), async (req, res) => {
  const { event, messageId, inboxId, payload } = req.body;
  
  if (event === "message.received") {
    const message = payload;
    
    console.log(`New email from ${message.from}`);
    console.log(`Subject: ${message.subject}`);
    console.log(`Content: ${message.text}`);
    
    // Process the email in your application
    // For example: create a support ticket, trigger AI response, etc.
    
    // Always respond with 200 to acknowledge receipt
    return res.status(200).json({ success: true });
  }
  
  res.status(200).json({ success: true });
});

app.listen(3000);
Your webhook endpoint must respond with a 2xx status code to acknowledge receipt. If your endpoint fails repeatedly, Sendook may disable the webhook.

​
Retrieving Received Messages

You can also retrieve received messages via the API: 
// List all messages in an inbox
const messages = await client.inbox.message.list("inbox_123");

// Get a specific message
const message = await client.inbox.message.get(
  "inbox_123",
  "msg_789"
);

console.log(message);

​
Searching Messages

Search for messages using regex patterns: 
// Search messages by subject or content
const messages = await client.inbox.message.list(
  "inbox_123",
  "urgent" // Search query
);
The search query supports regex and searches across:
  • to addresses
  • from address
  • cc addresses
  • subject
  • Message body (text and html)

​
Auto-Replies

You can build auto-reply functionality by combining received emails with sending: 
app.post("/webhooks/email", async (req, res) => {
  const { payload } = req.body;
  
  // Auto-reply to received email
  await client.inbox.message.reply({
    inboxId: payload.inboxId,
    messageId: payload.id,
    text: "Thank you for your message. We'll get back to you soon!",
    html: "<p>Thank you for your message. We'll get back to you soon!</p>"
  });
  
  res.status(200).json({ success: true });
});

​
Common Use Cases

Receive support emails and automatically create tickets in your system. Use AI to categorize and prioritize incoming requests.
Parse incoming emails to trigger actions in your app (e.g., “deploy to production” emails from authorized users).
Build an email forwarding or filtering service by receiving emails and conditionally forwarding them.
Use AI to analyze incoming emails and generate smart replies automatically.

​
Best Practices

Always respond quickly - Your webhook endpoint should respond within 5 seconds. If you need to do heavy processing, acknowledge the webhook immediately and process asynchronously.
Validate webhook authenticity - In production, validate that webhooks are coming from Sendook’s servers to prevent spoofing.
Handle duplicates - Store processed message IDs to avoid processing the same email twice if webhooks are retried.
Use threads - Check the threadId to determine if an email is part of an ongoing conversation.

​
Next Steps

Webhooks

Learn more about webhook configuration and events

Threads

Understand how threads organize conversations

Send Emails

Reply to received emails

Custom Domains

Set up custom domains for receiving emails

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us