Set up monitoring

1. Connect your ESP webhook

Add a connection in Settings, copy the webhook, paste it into the ESP. Edit later on the same card (Copy, Disable/Enable, DKIM selectors). Full add and edit steps per provider:

• SendGrid — Event Webhook POST URL.
• Postmark — webhook on the sending server.
• Amazon SES — SNS HTTPS + configuration set (includes changing the URL and recreating a deleted topic).

Keep one card per ESP + domain. Extra Add clicks create extra URLs that stay empty. InboxMon does not pull ESP history. Save DKIM selectors on the card (required for Amazon SES Easy DKIM).

2. Whitelist a VIP contact

1. Settings → VIP.
2. Add an exact email (ceo@bigclient.com) or a client domain (bigclient.com).
3. Optional: set Slack (and SMS if Twilio is configured) under Settings → Alerts.

On bounce, drop, or spam-report to a match, InboxMon opens a critical alert and tries Slack, email, or SMS immediately (24-hour cooldown per recipient + type).

3. DKIM / SPF / DMARC watchdog

A broken DKIM or SPF record can kill deliverability without a bounce you will notice in the ESP UI. InboxMon looks up public DNS every 6 hours and when you click Domains → Check DNS now.

• SPF — apex TXT. Missing or two SPF records → overall Critical.
• DKIM — looks up selector._domainkey. SendGrid usually s1, s2. Postmark: paste your real selector if it is not a common guess. SES Easy DKIM: paste the CNAME selector tokens from the SES console (random strings, not s1/s2) on the ESP card, then save.
• DMARC — _dmarc TXT. Missing → warning. Policy p=none is OK with a tip, not a red overall.

ESP sending domains are added to the Domains watch list automatically. Add/remove others there. If DKIM is still blank, status stays unknown — we do not alert just because you have not entered selectors yet. Warning/critical DNS opens an alert.

4. List hygiene (disposable addresses)

Throwaway mailboxes (10-minute mail, etc.) bouncing looks like a reputation problem and is usually a list problem. On bounce or drop, InboxMon checks a built-in disposable catalog plus your lists. Toxic detection is on Pro and Growth.

1. Settings → List hygiene.
2. Add extra block domains, or allow a domain if the catalog is wrong for you.
3. Hits are stored on the suppression list. Export CSV/JSON for SendGrid, SES, or Postmark and load that into the ESP so you stop sending to them.

A warning alert fires with a 24-hour cooldown per domain. This is not a replacement for your ESP's own suppression list — export and apply it there.

5. Dedicated monitoring inbox

Marketers already file competitor newsletters and nurture sequences in a spare Gmail. InboxMon automates that with a separate alias (in the app: Secret Shopper) so research mail is not mixed with your personal inbox.

1. Open Secret Shopper → add a target (name, optional website).
2. Copy the monitoring alias (looks like acme.ab12@shop.inboxmon.com).
3. Subscribe that address wherever you want a copy of the sequence. Messages show on the target timeline with cadence and header checks. Previews do not load tracking pixels. You can export JSON for a competitor-sequence workflow (CompetitorMon) when that connection is set.

Beta workspaces are limited to a few monitoring inboxes. If nothing arrives, the catch-all for shop must Send to Worker (a Forward-only rule never shows up here).

6. What the health score means

Score starts at 100 and subtracts penalties, then clamps 0–100.

• 90–100 Healthy — no serious pressure on temporary errors, hard bounces, bounce rate, latency, or complaints.
• 70–89 Warning — something is elevated; check Overview charts and the domain table.
• 0–69 Critical — intervene (list, DNS, or sending volume) before mailbox providers throttle you harder.

Penalties come from temporary (4xx) error rate, hard bounce rate, overall bounce rate, latency p95 above 2s, and spam complaint rate. Labels in the product are Temporary / Hard — not raw SMTP codes.

7. FAQ