I’m trying to set up Mailgun for handling emails through their API, but I also need some regular email accounts that work with standard email clients like Outlook or Apple Mail.
These should work normally with email clients so my team can check them regularly.
All other incoming emails should go through the Mailgun API for automated processing.
The tricky part is that I can’t just redirect emails to Gmail or another service because when we reply, it needs to show the original address (like [email protected]) as the sender.
Is there a way to set this up so some addresses work as normal mailboxes while others go through the API? Any suggestions would be helpful.
totally! just create Mailgun routes for each of those emails to direct to your usual inboxes. then set a wildcard route to handle the rest via the API. super easy and efficient!
I hit this same issue six months ago. Here’s what worked for me: skip forwarding those addresses externally and use Mailgun’s store action instead for help@, contact@, and info@. This dumps the emails into Mailgun’s system where you can grab them through their Messages API or set up webhook notifications. I built a basic interface that pulls these stored messages and shows them like a normal inbox. The big win? When your team replies, you can use Mailgun’s send API with the original address as the from field - no auth issues. Your catch-all route still handles API processing for everything else. Takes more setup than just forwarding, but you get full control over sender reputation and dodge all the reply-address problems that come with external forwarding.
Yes, Mailgun’s routing system can handle this perfectly. Point your MX records to Mailgun, then use route priorities to manage different addresses. For your regular mailboxes (help@, contact@, info@), create high-priority routes that forward to store/notify endpoints or external email services. If you’re forwarding externally, configure SMTP settings so replies use your original domain addresses. For API processing, set up a low-priority catch-all route that sends everything else to your webhook. Your specified addresses get normal handling while unknown ones trigger automated processing. One heads up - if you’re forwarding to external services, test reply functionality thoroughly. Some providers strip custom sender addresses to prevent spam.