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Connect SendGrid

Twilio SendGrid. Signed Event Webhook for delivery events and Inbound Parse for replies.

Where this lives in Dextel

Agency: Agency → Integrations → Email Service (outbound only). Sub-account: Settings → Integrations → Email Integration (outbound + inbound). The modal shows the exact webhook URLs to paste into SendGrid; this page explains what to do with them.

Prerequisites

  • A SendGrid account and a domain you control (you'll add DNS records).
  • Owner or admin access to the Dextel agency or sub-account.
  • Credentials you'll enter in Dextel: API key (SG.…).

1. Create the API credentials

  1. Open Settings → API Keys → Create API Key.
  2. Choose Restricted Access and grant Mail Send, Event Webhook and Inbound Parse (Full Access).
  3. Copy the key (shown once) into Dextel.

SendGrid docs: API keys

2. Verify your sending domain

  1. Open Settings → Sender Authentication → Authenticate Your Domain.
  2. Add the CNAME records SendGrid shows (em####, s1._domainkey, s2._domainkey) plus the DMARC TXT.
  3. Click Verify. DNS can take up to 48 hours.
  4. Turn on Settings → Tracking → Open Tracking and Click Tracking.

Then in Dextel enter a From email on that domain (for example hello@yourdomain.com) and a From name, and click Validate & Connect. Dextel checks the credentials against SendGrid before saving.

SendGrid docs: domains

3. Delivery events

Delivered, opened, clicked, bounced and spam events feed the Email Event workflow trigger and automatically unsubscribe contacts after a hard bounce or complaint. Copy the Webhook URL from the Delivery events tab in Dextel, then:

  1. Open Settings → Mail Settings → Event Webhooks → Create new webhook.
  2. Set the HTTP POST URL to <your delivery-events webhook URL>.
  3. Tick Delivered, Deferred, Bounced, Dropped, Spam Reports, Opened and Clicked, set the status to Enabled and Save.
  4. Open the webhook → Security features → Enable Signed Event Webhook. Copy the Verification Key into Dextel.
This provider signs its webhooks. Paste the signing secret / verification key into the Delivery events tab — Dextel rejects unsigned posts.

Use Send a test email in the same tab to confirm outbound works; the events pill turns green once the first event arrives.

SendGrid docs: webhooks

4. Inbound email (sub-accounts only)

Inbound turns contact replies into Inbox conversations and fires the Contact Replied — Email trigger. Mail is received at your saved From address, so when a contact hits Reply the message comes back through SendGrid to Dextel. The MX record routes all mail for that domain to SendGrid: if you already receive mail on the domain, send from an address on a subdomain (for example hello@mail.yourdomain.com).

DNS records

TypeHostValuePriority
MXyourdomain.commx.sendgrid.net10

Steps

  1. Add an MX record for yourdomain.com pointing to mx.sendgrid.net (priority 10).
  2. Open Settings → Inbound Parse → Add Host & URL.
  3. Pick your authenticated domain, leave the subdomain empty and paste <your inbound webhook URL> as the Destination URL. Leave "POST the raw, full MIME message" off.
  4. Click Add and send a test email to your From address.

Limits

  • Inbound Parse accepts messages up to 30 MB.

SendGrid docs: inbound

Troubleshooting

  • 401 on events — the verification key is the public key from the webhook's Security features panel, not your API key.
  • Inbound never arrives — check the MX record with `dig MX yourdomain.com` and confirm the Inbound Parse host matches exactly.
  • Still stuck? Compare with another provider on the Email Providers overview.