How to incorporate custom variables in Mailgun API HTML content?

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1

I’m trying to send emails through Mailgun API with my own HTML content. I want to add custom variables to the email body but they’re not showing up. Here’s what I’ve done:

response = requests.post(
    'https://api.mailgun.net/v3/mydomain.com/messages',
    auth=('api', 'my-api-key'),
    data={
        'from': 'Sender <[email protected]>',
        'to': '[email protected]',
        'html': '<p>Hello {{user_name}}, welcome to our service!</p>',
        'subject': 'Welcome Email',
        'h:X-Mailgun-Variables': json.dumps({'user_name': 'John Doe'})
    }
)

The email sends fine, but the {{user_name}} doesn’t get replaced. Do I need to upload my HTML as a template first? Or is there another way to use custom variables with inline HTML? Any help would be great!

2

It seems you’re close, but there’s a small adjustment needed. When using inline HTML with custom variables, you should use the ‘v:’ prefix for your variables in the X-Mailgun-Variables header. Try modifying your code like this:

response = requests.post(
    'https://api.mailgun.net/v3/mydomain.com/messages',
    auth=('api', 'my-api-key'),
    data={
        'from': 'Sender <[email protected]>',
        'to': '[email protected]',
        'html': '<p>Hello %recipient.user_name%, welcome to our service!</p>',
        'subject': 'Welcome Email',
        'v:user_name': 'John Doe'
    }
)

This approach should work without needing to create a separate template. The %recipient.variable_name% syntax is used in the HTML for variable substitution. Make sure to use the ‘v:’ prefix when defining variables in your request data. This method allows for inline variable replacement without additional setup.

3

I’ve had success using Mailgun’s templating system for custom variables. In my experience, the key is to set up your template in the Mailgun dashboard with placeholders like {{user_name}} and then refer to that template when sending your message. Instead of using inline HTML, I switched to using the ‘template’ parameter and provided the custom variables via the ‘t:variables’ field. For example, I wrote my Python code like this:

response = requests.post(
    'https://api.mailgun.net/v3/mydomain.com/messages',
    auth=('api', 'my-api-key'),
    data={
        'from': 'Sender <[email protected]>',
        'to': '[email protected]',
        'template': 'your_template_name',
        'subject': 'Welcome Email',
        't:variables': json.dumps({'user_name': 'John Doe'})
    }
)

This approach not only simplifies managing dynamic content but also ensures that variable substitution works reliably.

4

hey man, have u tried using mailgun templates? they’re super easy to set up n use. just create a template with ur variables like {{user_name}} in the mailgun dashboard, then in ur code use the ‘template’ parameter instead of ‘html’. pass ur variables with ‘t:variables’. should work like a charm!