LeadsIn Plunk Setup Guide

Plunk mode lets users send and track outreach without running the private LeadsIn relay, SMTP, or IMAP. LeadsIn sends through Plunk's hosted API and syncs Plunk activity back into the local dashboard.

Official docs used:

• Plunk docs home: https://docs.useplunk.com/
• API reference: https://docs.useplunk.com/api-reference/overview
• Send email endpoint: https://docs.useplunk.com/api-reference/public-api/sendEmail
• Templates: https://docs.useplunk.com/concepts/templates
• Receiving emails: https://docs.useplunk.com/guides/receiving-emails
• Webhooks: https://docs.useplunk.com/guides/webhooks

What Plunk Handles

Plunk mode is best for users who do not want to manage SMTP, IMAP, server firewalls, relay tokens, or mailbox polling.

LeadsIn uses Plunk for:

• Sending emails through POST https://next-api.useplunk.com/v1/send
• Inline HTML or text email bodies
• Optional Plunk dashboard templates
• Contact creation/update at send time
• Provider event sync for sent, delivered, opened, clicked, bounced, unsubscribed, spam complaint, and inbound reply events
• Reply tracking through Plunk inbound email events when receiving email is configured in Plunk

1. Create A Plunk Project

1. Sign in to Plunk.
2. Create or open a project.
3. Go to project API keys.
4. Copy the secret key. It should start with sk_.
5. Optional: copy the public key. It starts with pk_ and is only needed for client-side tracking.

LeadsIn needs the secret key for sending and activity sync.

2. Verify Your Sending Domain

In Plunk, add and verify the domain you want to send from.

For example, if the sender is hello@example.com, verify example.com.

Plunk templates and direct sends require the from address to be on a verified sender domain. If the domain is not verified, Plunk can return a 403.

3. Configure LeadsIn

Open LeadsIn Dashboard -> Settings -> Email Delivery.

Set:

• Mode: Plunk hosted provider
• API base URL: https://next-api.useplunk.com
• Secret API key: your sk_... key
• Verified from email: the verified sender address
• From name: your brand or sender name
• Reply-to email: the mailbox or inbound address where replies should go
• Template ID: optional
• Subscribed on send: usually Yes
• Daily Plunk limit: your safe sending limit

Click Test Plunk.

4. Sending With Inline Templates

If you leave Template ID empty, LeadsIn sends:

• to
• from
• fromName
• replyTo
• subject
• body
• data
• headers

The body can be plain text converted to HTML or full HTML from the editor.

Use this when you want LeadsIn's draft editor and preview to control each email.

5. Sending With Plunk Templates

Plunk templates are created in the Plunk dashboard or by API. A template includes:

• name
• subject
• body
• from
• fromName
• replyTo
• type

Plunk supports variables using double braces, for example:

<p>Hi {{leadName}},</p>
<p>I noticed {{painPoint}} and thought {{companyName}} could help with {{serviceLine}}.</p>

When LeadsIn sends, it passes data fields like:

• leadId
• campaignId
• leadName
• companyName
• senderName
• serviceLine
• painPoint
• category
• city
• website

If you enter a Template ID in LeadsIn, Plunk uses that template and LeadsIn may still override subject/body/from fields from the current draft.

6. Default Template Editor In LeadsIn

Settings -> Default Email Template supports:

• Text mode
• HTML mode
• WYSIWYG mode
• Realtime preview

Enable Use as drafting default if you want every new generated draft to start from this template instead of the AI/fallback default.

Supported variables:

• {{leadName}}
• {{companyName}}
• {{senderName}}
• {{serviceLine}}
• {{painPoint}}
• {{category}}
• {{city}}
• {{website}}

7. Syncing Delivery, Opens, Bounces, And Replies

Open Dashboard -> Deliverability and click Sync Replies.

In Plunk mode, this syncs provider activity instead of using IMAP. LeadsIn maps Plunk events into local status:

• email.sent -> sent
• email.delivery / delivered -> delivered
• email.open / opened -> opened
• email.click / clicked -> clicked
• email.bounce / bounced -> bounced and suppressed
• complaint events -> suppressed
• unsubscribe events -> unsubscribed and suppressed
• email.received -> reply inbox and lead reply status

For inbound replies, configure Plunk receiving emails and workflows so replies produce email.received events. Then LeadsIn can sync them from Plunk activity.

8. Recommended First Test

1. Set Mode to Plunk.
2. Fill the secret API key and verified sender.
3. Create a small draft to your own email.
4. Send one email.
5. Open it, click a link if present, then wait a short while.
6. Click Deliverability -> Sync Replies.
7. Confirm Sent, Delivered, Opened, and Clicked update in LeadsIn.

Troubleshooting

401 Unauthorized: secret API key is missing or wrong.

403 Forbidden: sender domain is not verified, project is disabled, or key lacks access.

422 Unprocessable Entity: required fields are missing. Use either Template ID or subject/body, and make sure from is configured unless the template already has it.

No opens shown: open tracking can depend on image loading in the recipient client.

No replies shown: receiving email must be configured in Plunk and the activity/event feed must contain email.received events.

No bounces shown: wait for the provider bounce event, then click Sync Replies again.