Tracking

eSMS Mail automatically tracks email opens and link clicks for all emails sent through the platform.

Open tracking

A transparent 1x1 pixel image is embedded in every HTML email. When the recipient opens the email and their client loads images, the open is recorded.

• Event type: open
• Counter: opened_count on the email object increments with each open
• First-open and repeat-opens are both tracked

Click tracking

All links in HTML emails are automatically rewritten to pass through the eSMS Mail click tracker. When a recipient clicks a link:

1. The click is recorded with the original URL
2. The user is immediately redirected to the destination

• Event type: click
• Counter: clicked_count on the email object
• Each unique link click is tracked separately

Event types

Viewing events

Via dashboard

Open any email in the Email Logs section to see a timeline of all events.

Via API

curl https://send.esmsafrica.io/v1/emails/{email_id}/events \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer esms_k_your_api_key"

[
  {
    "id": "evt_1",
    "event_type": "delivered",
    "metadata": {},
    "created_at": "2025-01-15T10:30:00Z"
  },
  {
    "id": "evt_2",
    "event_type": "open",
    "metadata": {},
    "created_at": "2025-01-15T10:32:15Z"
  }
]

Webhooks

You can receive real-time notifications for all events via webhooks.

Analytics

Aggregate tracking data is available via the analytics API — total opens, clicks, delivery rates, and time-series charts.

Notes

• Open tracking requires HTML emails. Plain-text-only emails cannot be tracked.
• Some email clients block tracking pixels by default (e.g. Apple Mail Privacy Protection). Opens from these clients may not be recorded.
• Click tracking only applies to links in HTML emails.