Twilio Sendgrid Suppressions

Overview

Suppressions prevent SendGrid from sending to addresses that have bounced, reported spam, or unsubscribed. They protect your sender reputation but can also block legitimate re-sends if not managed correctly.

Suppression Types

Hard vs Soft bounces: Hard bounces (permanent) immediately suppress the address. Soft bounces (temporary) trigger retries — SendGrid will retry delivery before eventually suppressing if the issue persists.

Managing Suppressions

List bounces (Python)

import os, requests

headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['SENDGRID_API_KEY']}"}
response = requests.get("https://api.sendgrid.com/v3/suppression/bounces", headers=headers)
for bounce in response.json():
    print(f"{bounce['email']}: {bounce.get('reason', 'unknown')}")

Remove a bounce (Python)

requests.delete(f"https://api.sendgrid.com/v3/suppression/bounces/{email}", headers=headers)

Caution: Deleting suppression records (especially spam reports) allows re-sending to addresses that previously complained. Always confirm with the user before removal and document the business reason.

ASM Suppression Groups

Use suppression groups for category-based unsubscribes (e.g., "Marketing", "Transactional", "Product Updates"). Recipients can unsubscribe from one category without being suppressed from all email.

Create a group:

requests.post("https://api.sendgrid.com/v3/asm/groups",
    headers={**headers, "Content-Type": "application/json"},
    json={"name": "Marketing Emails", "description": "Promotional offers and updates"})

Send with a suppression group: Include asm.group_id in your Mail Send request. Recipients see a "manage preferences" link instead of a global unsubscribe.

Auto-Purge (Bounce & Block Cleanup)

Configure automatic purge schedules in Console > Settings > Mail Settings > Purge Bounces & Blocks:

• Soft Bounces: Auto-purge after N days (1–3,650 days)
• Hard Bounces: Auto-purge after N days (1–3,650 days)

Caution: Enabling auto-purge without a business reason allows re-sending to previously bounced addresses, which damages sender reputation. Do not use as a workaround to force delivery.

Address Allow List

Console > Settings > Mail Settings > Address Allow List allows specific email addresses or domains to bypass all suppressions. Useful for internal testing addresses.

Use with extreme caution — never allowlist domains you don't control (e.g., gmail.com), and never use to bypass spam report suppressions.

CANNOT

• Suppressions are global by default — A bounce or spam report on ANY email suppresses the address from ALL future sends. Use ASM groups to scope unsubscribes.
• Removing a suppression does not fix the underlying issue — Deleting a bounce record lets you retry, but the mailbox is likely still invalid. Re-sending to hard bounces damages sender reputation.
• Cannot prevent spam report suppressions — When a recipient marks you as spam, the suppression is automatic and cannot be overridden.
• Cannot bulk-remove suppressions by domain — Must remove individually by email address via API.

Next Steps

• Send email: twilio-sendgrid-email-send
• Delivery tracking: twilio-sendgrid-webhooks
• Account setup: twilio-sendgrid-account-setup