Back to VerifyCatch Dashboard →

Webhook Setup Guide

Connect your Email Service Provider to VerifyCatch for automatic engagement tracking

How Engagement Tracking Works

Understand the flow before you set up

1

You send emails through your ESP or outreach tool (SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Amazon SES, Smartlead, or Instantly) as you normally do.

2

Your ESP sends events (opens, clicks, bounces, complaints) to VerifyCatch via webhooks automatically.

3

We score each email based on open rates, click rates, recency, and volume — producing a 0–100 engagement score.

4

You see results in the Engagement dashboard — Active, At Risk, Inactive, or Dead for every recipient.

Before You Start

What you need

A VerifyCatch API key — get one from the Dashboard → API Keys
An account with SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Amazon SES, Smartlead, or Instantly
Admin access to your ESP’s webhook settings

Your Webhook URL

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual VerifyCatch API key

SendGrid
https://verifycatch.com/api/v1/webhooks/sendgrid?key=YOUR_API_KEY
Mailgun
https://verifycatch.com/api/v1/webhooks/mailgun?key=YOUR_API_KEY
Postmark
https://verifycatch.com/api/v1/webhooks/postmark?key=YOUR_API_KEY
Amazon SES
https://verifycatch.com/api/v1/webhooks/ses?key=YOUR_API_KEY
Smartlead
https://verifycatch.com/api/v1/webhooks/smartlead?key=YOUR_API_KEY
Instantly
https://verifycatch.com/api/v1/webhooks/instantly?key=YOUR_API_KEY

SendGrid

Event Webhook

  1. Log in to app.sendgrid.com
  2. Go to Settings → Mail Settings
  3. Find Event Webhook and click the edit icon
  4. Set HTTP Post URL to your SendGrid webhook URL
  5. Under Actions to be posted, check all events:
    Processed, Dropped, Delivered, Deferred, Bounced, Opened, Clicked, Unsubscribed, Spam Report
  6. Toggle Event Webhook Status to Enabled
  7. Click Save

Mailgun

Webhooks

  1. Log in to app.mailgun.com
  2. Go to Sending → Webhooks
  3. Select your domain from the dropdown
  4. Click Add webhook for each event type
  5. Set the URL to your Mailgun webhook URL
  6. Add webhooks for these events:
    Delivered, Opened, Clicked, Bounced (Permanent & Temporary), Complained, Unsubscribed
  7. Click Create Webhook for each

Postmark

Webhooks

  1. Log in to account.postmarkapp.com
  2. Select your Server
  3. Go to Settings → Webhooks
  4. Click Add webhook
  5. Set Webhook URL to your Postmark webhook URL
  6. Check all event types:
    Delivery, Bounce, Spam Complaint, Open, Click, Subscription Change
  7. Click Save webhook

Amazon SES

via SNS Notifications

  1. Go to AWS Console → SNS
  2. Click Create topic (Standard type), name it verifycatch-ses-events
  3. Click Create subscription:
    • Protocol: HTTPS
    • Endpoint: your SES webhook URL
  4. VerifyCatch will auto-confirm the SNS subscription
  5. Go to AWS Console → SES
  6. Select your Configuration Set (or create one)
  7. Add Event Destination:
    • Destination type: Amazon SNS
    • Select your verifycatch-ses-events topic
    • Check: Sends, Deliveries, Opens, Clicks, Bounces, Complaints
  8. When sending emails, include the header:
    X-SES-CONFIGURATION-SET: your-config-set-name

Cold Outreach Tools

Connect your cold email campaigns to automatically learn which emails are real

Smartlead

Campaign Webhooks

  1. Go to Smartlead → Settings → Webhooks
  2. Click Add Webhook
  3. Paste your Smartlead webhook URL
  4. Set Association Type to User (applies to all campaigns)
  5. Enable these events:
    • EMAIL_SENT
    • EMAIL_OPEN
    • EMAIL_LINK_CLICK
    • EMAIL_REPLY
    • EMAIL_BOUNCE
    • LEAD_UNSUBSCRIBED
  6. Click Save
Replies are treated as strong engagement signals (counted as opens). Bounces directly feed into domain reputation scoring.

Instantly

Campaign Webhooks

  1. Go to Instantly → Settings → Integrations
  2. Find Webhooks and click Configure
  3. Add a new webhook with your Instantly webhook URL
  4. Select events to track:
    • email_sent
    • email_opened
    • email_clicked
    • reply_received
    • email_bounced
  5. Click Save Changes
Works with all Instantly campaign types. Reply data provides the strongest engagement signal for email verification.

Pixel & Click Tracking (Optional)

Track opens and clicks directly without relying on ESP webhooks

Open Tracking Pixel

Generate a 1x1 invisible image to embed in your HTML emails. When the recipient opens the email, the pixel fires and records an open event.

API Request
POST /api/v1/engagement/pixel/generate 
{ "email": "recipient@example.com", "campaignId": "welcome-series" }
Response includes a pixelTag — paste it into your email HTML template before the closing </body> tag.

Click Tracking Links

Wrap any URL in your email with a tracking link. When clicked, the recipient is redirected to the original URL and a click event is recorded.

API Request
POST /api/v1/engagement/click/generate 
{ "email": "recipient@example.com", "url": "https://yoursite.com/offer", "campaignId": "welcome-series" }
Response includes a trackingUrl — use it in your email instead of the original link.

How Scores Work

Understanding engagement scores and statuses

Active (70–100)
Regular opens and clicks in the last 30 days. Safe to keep sending.
At Risk (40–69)
Declining engagement. Consider a re-engagement campaign.
Inactive (15–39)
No opens/clicks for 60+ days. Move to a separate list or suppress.
Dead (0–14)
Bounced or complained. Remove from all lists immediately.
Score Calculation
The score is a weighted combination of: Open Rate × 40 + Click Rate × 20 + Recency Bonus (up to 30) + Volume Bonus (up to 10). Scores decay over time if no new engagement events arrive. The system recalculates automatically every hour.

All set? Head to the dashboard to see your engagement data.

Go to Dashboard →