How to manage email requests in Bubble

To manage email requests in Bubble, you typically store each incoming or outgoing email as a Thing in your database (for example, a datatype called "Email Request"), then process it using Backend Workflows. Bubble does not natively receive emails, so you capture incoming emails using a service like SendGrid Inbound Parse, Postmark Inbound, or Mailgun Routes, all pointing to a Bubble API Workflow endpoint. Outgoing emails can be handled with Bubble’s built‑in Send email action or an external email API. This setup lets you store, queue, filter, and monitor email requests cleanly.

Core Idea

You want two flows: incoming email → API Workflow and outgoing email → Backend Workflow. In both cases, you save each request as a Thing for logging, retries, or later processing.

How to Handle Incoming Emails

• Create a datatype, for example Email Request, with fields like from, to, subject, body, status.
• Enable the API Workflow feature in Settings → API, then create a new backend workflow like /incoming-email and expose it as a public endpoint.
• In your email provider (Mailgun, SendGrid, Postmark), set the inbound webhook to your Bubble endpoint URL.
• Inside the workflow: create a new Email Request Thing using the fields provided by the email service payload.

{
  "from": "[email protected]",
  "subject": "Hello",
  "text": "Message body"
}
// Example Mailgun payload fields you can map in your Bubble API Workflow

How to Handle Outgoing Emails

• Trigger a Backend Workflow when an event happens (signup, button click, etc.).
• First create a new Email Request Thing with status "pending".
• Use Bubble’s built‑in Send email action or an API Connector call to your email service.
• Update the Email Request Thing to "sent" or "failed".

Why This Works

Storing each email request allows retries, debugging, and tracking. Using backend workflows ensures emails run reliably even if the user closes the browser. Using real inbound email services lets Bubble correctly receive and parse emails, since Bubble cannot directly receive raw email on its own.