What is Bounce Handling?
Processing delivery failures by classifying hard bounces (dead addresses) separately from soft ones (full inbox, throttling). The project inbox worker records outcomes so dead addresses stop receiving retries automatically.
Example
The project inbox worker logs each send outcome; hard bounces land on the suppression list immediately while soft bounces retry a few times before the same fate. Dead addresses therefore stop consuming budget automatically.
What people get wrong
Retrying hard bounces indefinitely. Dead addresses never recover, and repeated attempts signal poor hygiene that drags down the whole domain.
Related terms
Suppression List
A persistent do-not-send registry of bounced addresses, spam complainants, and unsubscribes consulted before every send. BYOB’s email broker checks suppression first, so one bad address never poisons a whole campaign.
Sender Reputation
The trust score mailbox providers assign to a sending domain or IP from engagement, complaints, and authentication history. High reputation lands in the inbox; low reputation diverts identical content to spam.
Project Inbox Worker
A mail-receiving Worker that turns inbound email into database rows. Apps get email-triggered workflows without running a mail server.
Return-Path Alignment
Matching the envelope sender domain used for SPF with the visible From domain that recipients see. Aligned domains let inbox providers credit authentication to the brand instead of the sending platform.
Sender Identity
The verified domain or address a provider is permitted to send from, proven through DNS records. BYOB projects verify sending domains before campaigns so transactional mail leaves from a trusted name.
DNS Verification (TXT)
Proving domain ownership by publishing a provider-issued token as a DNS TXT record. BYOB custom-domain and sender setup both use this challenge before activating routing or sending.