How to verify if a user is already subscribed in Mailgun?

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1

Hey everyone! I’m working on an app that uses Mailgun for sending emails, and I ran into an issue when users try to subscribe more than once. Mailgun throws an error about invalid parameters and even shows my root directory, which isn’t ideal.

I want to make my app smarter by checking if a user is already subscribed before attempting to add them to the list. This should help me avoid unnecessary errors and provide a friendlier experience to the user.

Does anyone have experience with Mailgun’s API on how to perform this check? I’m using PHP for my project. Here’s a simple example of my current approach:

function verifySubscription($email) {
  // Mailgun check for subscription
  return $isSubscribed;
}

if (!verifySubscription($userEmail)) {
  addSubscription($userEmail);
} else {
  echo 'You are already subscribed!';
}

I appreciate any advice or suggestions. Thanks!

2

hey there! i’ve dealt with this before. instead of checking subscriptions, try using mailgun’s ‘upsert’ feature. it adds new members or updates existing ones without errors. here’s a quick example:

function upsertMember($email) {
    $mg = Mailgun::create('your-api-key');
    $list = '[email protected]';
    return $mg->mailingList()->member()->createOrUpdate($list, $email, ['subscribed' => 'yes']);
}

this approach is way smoother and avoids those nasty errors. Hope it helps!

3

I’ve tackled this issue before with Mailgun, and I can share what worked for me. Instead of trying to verify if a user is already subscribed, I found it more reliable to use Mailgun’s ‘upsert’ feature. This approach automatically updates existing members or adds new ones without throwing errors.

Here’s a snippet that demonstrates this:

function upsertSubscription($email) {
    $mg = Mailgun::create('your-api-key');
    $list = '[email protected]';
    
    $result = $mg->mailingList()->member()->createOrUpdate($list, $email, [
        'subscribed' => 'yes',
        'name' => 'Optional Name'
    ]);

    return $result;
}

This method is more efficient and eliminates the need for a separate verification step. It’s been a game-changer for my projects, significantly reducing errors and improving the user experience. Just remember to handle any potential API errors gracefully on your end.

4

I’ve worked extensively with Mailgun’s API, and there’s a straightforward solution to your problem. You can use Mailgun’s ‘members’ endpoint to check if a user is already subscribed. Here’s a PHP function that does just that:

function isSubscribed($email, $list) {
    $mg = Mailgun::create('your-api-key');
    $domain = 'your-domain.com';
    
    try {
        $result = $mg->mailingList()->member()->show($list . '@' . $domain, $email);
        return $result->getSubscribed() === 'yes';
    } catch (Exception $e) {
        return false;
    }
}

This function returns true if the user is subscribed, false otherwise. It’s efficient and doesn’t expose any sensitive information. Remember to handle potential API errors and rate limits in your production code.