Why don't I receive webhooks for every change made to an email object?

Answer:

When multiple changes are made to an email object in quick succession, particularly with Microsoft email providers, you may not receive individual webhooks for each change. This is expected behavior due to how Nylas interacts with email providers' APIs. Here's a detailed explanation of the process:

 

How Webhook Updates Work

  1. When a user makes a change to an email (like moving it to a different folder), the email provider notifies Nylas.
  2. Since the provider's initial notification doesn't include complete message details, Nylas needs to fetch the full message data from the provider's API.

  3. If another change occurs while Nylas is fetching the message data, the API will return the most recent state of the message.

  4. Nylas then sends a webhook notification with the latest state, which may skip intermediate states if changes happened rapidly.

 

Example Scenario

Let's say a user quickly moves an email through multiple folders:

  1. User moves email from Inbox to "Folder A"
  2. Before Nylas completes fetching the message data, user moves the email to "Folder B"
  3. Nylas retrieves the message data, which shows the email in "Folder B"
  4. Nylas sends a webhook showing the message in "Folder B", skipping the intermediate state in "Folder A"

 

Best Practices

To ensure you receive distinct webhooks for each change:

  • Add a slight delay between operations in your application
  • Expect that rapid sequential changes may result in a single webhook with the final state
  • Design your application to handle consolidated updates rather than requiring individual state changes

 

Important Note

This behavior is most noticeable with Microsoft email providers and is a result of how their APIs provide message data. The final state of the message will always be accurate, ensuring your application stays in sync with the actual email state.

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