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Auto-reply

An auto-reply is a second template that Frontmail sends automatically after the first one – for example “Thanks, we received your message” to the visitor who filled in your contact form.

Set it up

Section titled “Set it up”
  1. Create the auto-reply template (the gallery has Auto-reply: thanks for your message). Set To to the visitor’s address param, e.g. {{email}}.
  2. Open the triggering template → Settings → Delivery → Auto-reply template and select the auto-reply template.

That’s it. When a message with the triggering template is sent successfully, Frontmail queues the auto-reply with the same params.

How it behaves

Section titled “How it behaves”
  • The auto-reply is a separate message with its own entry in History, linked to the original (autoReplyOf). It uses one credit like any other message.
  • It is only sent after the original was sent. If the original fails, is held or discarded, no auto-reply goes out.
  • If you are out of credits, the auto-reply goes to the hold queue like any other message. In reject mode no auto-reply is created.
  • It is sent through the auto-reply template’s own service (or the original message’s service if none is set), with that template’s fallback service and attachments.
  • If the auto-reply template is frozen after a downgrade, no auto-reply is sent.
  • The original message’s timeline shows an Auto-reply created event, and History lists the auto-reply with the source Auto-reply.
  • Test sends from the editor do not trigger auto-replies.

Dynamic recipient

Section titled “Dynamic recipient”

An auto-reply needs a param in To. Templates selected as an auto-reply are allowed to use a dynamic recipient, because they are triggered by another template. Called directly with a public key, such a template is still protected – unless you enable Allow dynamic recipient on it, a direct send returns dynamic_recipient_not_allowed. The recipient is therefore always someone who just submitted your protected form.

Keep the auto-reply short and neutral. Don’t echo long user input back – spammers sometimes use contact forms with auto-replies to deliver their text to a victim’s address. Turnstile on the triggering template prevents this.

Because the recipient comes from the form, auto-replies are always content-locked: the From address, From name and Reply-To of the auto-reply template must be fixed, links may only point to allowed domains, and each address gets at most Security → Emails per recipient per day auto-replies (default 5). An auto-reply that breaks a rule is marked failed (link_not_allowed / dynamic_field_not_allowed), its credit is refunded and nothing is sent.