Deliverability

Most email lands in spam because SPF, DKIM or DMARC are missing or misconfigured. eSMS Mail sets these up automatically when you verify a domain - and gives you tools to check any domain and generate the exact records to paste.

Deliverability audit

The Deliverability page scores any domain's SPF, DKIM, DMARC and MX and returns a grade (A–F) with a concrete fix for each issue.

curl "https://send.esmsafrica.io/v1/deliverability/audit?domain=yourcompany.com" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer esms_k_your_api_key"

{
  "domain": "yourcompany.com",
  "score": 75,
  "grade": "B",
  "summary": "Good foundation with a few things to tighten.",
  "checks": [
    { "key": "mx", "status": "pass", "title": "MX records found", "detail": "…" },
    { "key": "spf", "status": "pass", "title": "SPF present", "detail": "v=spf1 …" },
    { "key": "dmarc", "status": "warn", "title": "DMARC in monitor mode (p=none)",
      "fix": "Change p=none to p=quarantine (then p=reject)." },
    { "key": "dkim", "status": "warn", "title": "DKIM not auto-detected", "detail": "…" }
  ]
}

DKIM selectors can't be reliably discovered by probing, so a "not detected" result is best-effort - confirm with a real message's DKIM-Signature header.

Generate records

Get ready-to-paste DMARC, SPF and BIMI records for a domain:

curl "https://send.esmsafrica.io/v1/deliverability/records?domain=yourcompany.com&dmarc_policy=quarantine" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer esms_k_your_api_key"

• dmarc_policy - none (monitor), quarantine (enforce) or reject (strict).
• bimi_logo - an HTTPS URL to your SVG (Tiny PS) logo to also generate a BIMI record, so your logo shows next to your emails in Gmail/Apple Mail. BIMI requires DMARC at quarantine or reject (and a VMC for Gmail).

Each record comes back with its host, value and a note on what it does.

The playbook

1. Verify your domain - eSMS Mail generates and (once your DNS is in) signs with DKIM automatically, and adds SPF.
2. Add DMARC - start at p=none to collect reports, then move to quarantine and reject once they're clean.
3. Run the audit periodically and after any DNS change.
4. Optionally add BIMI for your brand logo in the inbox.

This is the same authentication stack the big senders use to maximise inbox placement - no provider can guarantee the inbox, but proper SPF/DKIM/DMARC is what gets you there.