AWS SES feedback setup for Sally Marketing

Sally can send through AWS SES API or through SES SMTP. For delivery feedback, configure SES event publishing and point it at Sally's webhook.

Webhook endpoint:

POST https://YOUR-SALLY-API/marketing/webhooks/aws-ses

Optional shared secret:

MARKETING_AWS_SES_WEBHOOK_SECRET=long-random-secret

If configured, call the webhook as:

https://YOUR-SALLY-API/marketing/webhooks/aws-ses?secret=long-random-secret

What Sally handles

Sally ingests SES/SNS events and updates the delivery ledger:

Delivery  -> SENT + email.delivered event
Bounce    -> BOUNCED + email.bounced event
Complaint -> COMPLAINED + email.complained event + withdraw newsletter consent
Reject    -> FAILED + email.reject event
Open      -> OPENED + email.opened event
Click     -> CLICKED + email.clicked event

Sally matches events by SES mail.messageId against MarketingDelivery.providerMessageId.

AWS SES steps

Use the same AWS region as your sender, for Ireland:

eu-west-1

1. Verify identity

In AWS SES → Verified identities:

• verify your domain, or
• verify the exact From email address, e.g. marketing@example.com

If your SES account is still in sandbox mode, verify recipient addresses too or request production access.

2. Create SNS topic

In AWS SNS → Topics:

• create a Standard topic, e.g. sally-marketing-ses-events
• create an HTTPS subscription
• endpoint:

https://YOUR-SALLY-API/marketing/webhooks/aws-ses?secret=long-random-secret

AWS will send a SubscriptionConfirmation message. Sally returns the subscribeUrl; open that URL or confirm the subscription from AWS SNS.

3. Create SES configuration set

In AWS SES → Configuration sets:

• create configuration set, e.g. sally-marketing
• add Event destination
• choose SNS
• select the SNS topic above
• enable events:
  • Sends
  • Deliveries
  • Bounces
  • Complaints
  • Rejects
  • Opens
  • Clicks

4. Use configuration set when sending

Current Sally sends can receive feedback for API sends when SES event publishing emits mail.messageId matching the provider message id. If you need strict per-sender configuration-set selection, add the configuration set name to the sender config and extend the SES sender to include it in the API payload.

For SES SMTP, event publishing support depends on SES headers/configuration. Prefer the AWS SES API sender for reliable feedback.

Notes

• Complaints automatically withdraw newsletter consent for the contact.
• Bounces mark the specific delivery as BOUNCED; a future suppression-list feature should prevent future sends to repeated hard bounces.
• The webhook stores raw provider payloads in MarketingEvent.payload for audit/debugging.