Header Usage: All AhaSend special headers are removed before email delivery and are never visible to recipients. They’re used only to control AhaSend’s processing behavior.
Available Special Headers
Tracking Control
Override open and click tracking settings for individual emails
Sandbox Testing
Control sandbox mode behavior and simulated outcomes
Data Retention
Customize data retention policies per email
Message Tagging
Add custom tags for organization and filtering
Tracking Headers
Control email tracking behavior on a per-message basis, overriding your account-wide settings.Privacy Considerations: Email tracking has privacy implications. Many email clients block remote content loading, and some providers prefetch content, which can lead to inaccurate tracking results.
Open Tracking Header
Header:ahasend-track-opens
Values:
true
| false
Purpose: Enable or disable open tracking for individual emails
SMTP Example
Click Tracking Header
Header:ahasend-track-clicks
Values:
true
| false
Purpose: Enable or disable click tracking for individual emails
Click Tracking Requirements: Your account must be manually verified to use click tracking. Only HTML emails with
http://
and https://
links are supported.SMTP Example
Excluding Individual Links
To exclude specific links from click tracking while keeping it enabled for the email, add thedata-as-no-track
attribute:
Sandbox Headers
Control sandbox mode behavior for testing without affecting real email delivery.Sandbox Mode Header
Header:AhaSend-Sandbox
Values:
true
| 1
Purpose: Enable sandbox mode for individual emails, even with production credentials
SMTP Example
Sandbox Result Header
Header:AhaSend-Sandbox-Result
Values:
deliver
| bounce
| defer
| fail
| suppress
Purpose: Control the simulated outcome for sandbox emails
Available Outcomes
Available Outcomes
deliver
- Simulates successful delivery (default)bounce
- Simulates a hard bouncedefer
- Simulates temporary delivery deferralfail
- Simulates permanent delivery failuresuppress
- Simulates suppression list blocking
SMTP Example
Retention Headers
Customize data retention policies for individual emails, overriding your account defaults.Message Retention Headers
AhaSend provides two types of retention control for different aspects of your email data:Message Metadata & Delivery Log Retention
Message Metadata & Delivery Log Retention
Header:
Values: 1-30 days
Purpose: Control how long metadata and delivery logs are retainedIncludes delivery status, timestamps, recipient information, and tracking data.
ahasend-metadata-retention
Values: 1-30 days
Purpose: Control how long metadata and delivery logs are retainedIncludes delivery status, timestamps, recipient information, and tracking data.
Message Data Retention
Message Data Retention
Header:
Values: 0-30 days
Purpose: Control how long the actual email content is retainedIncludes email body, attachments, and complete message content. Set to 0 for immediate deletion after processing.
ahasend-data-retention
Values: 0-30 days
Purpose: Control how long the actual email content is retainedIncludes email body, attachments, and complete message content. Set to 0 for immediate deletion after processing.
Retention Examples
SMTP Example
Retention Use Cases
High Security
For emails containing sensitive data you can disable data retention to prevent it from being stored in our database:
ahasend-metadata-retention
: 1-3 daysahasend-data-retention
: 0 days
Message Tags Header
Add custom tags to emails for organization, filtering, and analytics. Header:ahasend-tags
Format: Comma-separated list of tags
Limits:
- Maximum 10 tags per email
- Each tag maximum 64 characters
- Tags are case-sensitive
Pro Tip: Use tags consistently across your emails to build powerful filtering and analytics. Start with basic categories like email type and campaign, then expand based on your tracking needs.
Tag Usage Examples
SMTP Example
Tag Best Practices
Naming Conventions
Naming Conventions
- Use lowercase with hyphens:
welcome-series
,product-update
- Be descriptive:
password-reset
vsreset
- Use consistent naming across campaigns
- Consider hierarchical tags:
email-type:welcome
,campaign:q1-2024
Organization Strategies
Organization Strategies
- Campaign tracking:
campaign:black-friday
,campaign:welcome-series
- Email types:
transactional
,marketing
,notification
- User segments:
premium-users
,trial-users
,enterprise
- Content categories:
product-updates
,security-alerts
,newsletters
Combining Headers
You can use multiple special headers together for comprehensive email customization:SMTP Example
Header Reference Summary
Tracking Headers
Tracking Headers
ahasend-track-opens
:true
|false
- Control open trackingahasend-track-clicks
:true
|false
- Control click tracking- Use
data-as-no-track
attribute to exclude individual links from click tracking
Sandbox Headers
Sandbox Headers
AhaSend-Sandbox
:true
|1
- Enable sandbox modeAhaSend-Sandbox-Result
:deliver
|bounce
|defer
|fail
|suppress
- Control simulated outcome
Data Management Headers
Data Management Headers
ahasend-metadata-retention
: Number (1-30) - Metadata & delivery log retention in daysahasend-data-retention
: Number (0-30) - Email content retention in daysahasend-tags
: Comma-separated list - Message tags (max 10 tags, 64 chars each)
Important Notes
Header Processing
🗸 All AhaSend headers are removed before delivery
🗸 Recipients never see these special headers
🗸 Headers only affect AhaSend’s processing behavior
🗸 Recipients never see these special headers
🗸 Headers only affect AhaSend’s processing behavior
Priority & Overrides
🗸 Per-email headers override account settings
🗸 Headers take effect immediately
🗸 Sandbox headers work with any credential type
🗸 Headers take effect immediately
🗸 Sandbox headers work with any credential type