Email Deliverability: Technical Requirements & Authentication

This page covers the technical requirements for email deliverability on the Skode platform — SPF/DKIM/DMARC authentication, list hygiene, bounce handling, and the technical impact of the Gmail & Yahoo bulk-sender requirements that took effect in February 2024. For the legal rules on consent, opt-in, unsubscribe, and anti-spam law, see our Email Sending Policy and Anti-Spam Policy.

Skode is operated by Skode Technologies Private Limited, Kerala, India ("Skode," "we," "us," or "our"). Skode uses Zoho Mail (ZeptoMail) for its own platform transactional emails (account notices, password resets, invoices from Skode) sent from @skode.ai. This page primarily concerns emails you send toyour recipients via Skode CRM and Skode Flow.

Deliverability disclaimer. Inbox placement is determined by recipient mailbox providers (Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo, Apple Mail, and others) using their own algorithms and sender-reputation signals. Skode maintains best-practice sending infrastructure and provides the monitoring tools described below, but we do not and cannot guarantee that any given message will land in the inbox.

1. Shared Responsibility Model

Email deliverability is a shared responsibility between Skode and our customers:

• Skode's Responsibility (Infrastructure): We maintain high-quality sending infrastructure, manage IP reputation on shared IP pools, implement proper technical standards (SPF, DKIM signing, TLS encryption), monitor platform-wide deliverability metrics, manage feedback loops with mailbox providers, maintain platform-level suppression lists, and provide deliverability monitoring tools.
• Customer's Responsibility (Content and Lists): You are responsible for maintaining clean and up-to-date contact lists, obtaining and documenting proper consent, creating relevant and engaging email content, configuring DNS authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) for your sending domain, monitoring your own bounce and complaint rates, complying with all applicable email marketing laws, and following warm-up procedures for new domains and IPs.

2. IP Reputation Management

Skode manages email sending infrastructure across shared and dedicated IP pools:

• Shared IP Pool: Used by Starter and Professional plans. All senders on the shared pool contribute to (and are affected by) the pool's reputation. Skode actively monitors shared IP reputation and takes enforcement action against senders who negatively impact deliverability for others.
• Dedicated IP: Available for Enterprise plans and high-volume senders. You have full control over the reputation of your dedicated IP. This requires proper warm-up and consistent sending volume.

We monitor IP reputation through sender score monitoring, blacklist monitoring across 100+ public blacklists, feedback loop participation with major mailbox providers, and automated reputation alerts.

3. Domain Authentication

Proper domain authentication is essential for email deliverability. All customers must configure the following DNS records for their sending domains:

3.1 SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

SPF allows receiving mail servers to verify that email sent from your domain is authorized. You must add Skode's SPF include record to your domain's DNS TXT record. Failure to configure SPF may result in emails being rejected or sent to spam.

3.2 DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)

DKIM adds a digital signature to your outgoing emails, allowing recipients to verify that the message was sent from your domain and was not altered in transit. Skode signs all outgoing emails with a 2048-bit DKIM key. You must publish the DKIM public key provided by Skode in your DNS records.

3.3 DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance)

DMARC builds on SPF and DKIM to provide domain-level authentication, reporting, and policy enforcement. A valid DMARC record on your sending domain is now mandatory for any meaningful volume of email:

• Google bulk-sender rules (effective February 2024) and Yahoo bulk-sender rules require any sender delivering more than 5,000 messages per day to a Gmail or Yahoo domain to publish a DMARC record on their From domain. Without it, mail is rejected or quarantined.
• Minimum acceptable record: v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:... (monitoring mode with aggregate reporting). We recommend moving to p=quarantine or p=reject once your domain alignment has been stable for at least two weeks.
• From-header alignment: your visible From domain must align with the domain authenticated by either SPF or DKIM. Skode configures DKIM alignment automatically when you complete the sender-domain setup.

We strongly recommend that all customers configure DMARC for their sending domains regardless of volume, since Microsoft Outlook, Apple, and other providers increasingly expect DMARC-aligned mail.

3.4 One-click unsubscribe (RFC 8058)

Google and Yahoo also require bulk senders to implement one-click unsubscribe per RFC 8058. Skode automatically appends the required headers to every marketing email sent through the platform:

• List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:unsubscribe@...>, <https://...>— providing both a mailto and HTTPS unsubscribe endpoint.
• List-Unsubscribe-Post: List-Unsubscribe=One-Click — signalling to the mailbox provider that a single POST to the HTTPS endpoint is sufficient to unsubscribe the recipient without any further page visit or login.

Unsubscribes received through one-click are processed automatically on our side and the recipient is added to your workspace suppression list immediately. You do not need to take any action, but you must not re-import unsubscribed contacts into active campaigns without fresh, documented consent.

3.5 Spam-complaint threshold

Google and Yahoo enforce a sustained spam-complaint rate below 0.3%, measured as complaints per 1,000 delivered messages. Microsoft Outlook’s SmartScreen system applies similar scrutiny. Skode monitors complaint rates via feedback loops with major providers and surfaces per-campaign and per-domain complaint metrics in your deliverability dashboard. Sending may be throttled or paused if your rate approaches or exceeds the 0.3% ceiling; see § 7 for escalation.

4. Dedicated IP Option

Enterprise plan customers and high-volume senders may request a dedicated IP address for email sending. Benefits of a dedicated IP include:

• Full control over your sending reputation, independent of other senders.
• Consistent deliverability based solely on your own sending practices.
• Ability to establish a strong sender reputation specific to your domain.
• Better visibility into deliverability metrics for your specific IP.

Dedicated IPs require a minimum consistent sending volume (typically 25,000+ emails per month) to maintain a positive reputation. Senders with low or inconsistent volume should use the shared IP pool for better deliverability.

5. Bounce Management

Proper bounce management is critical for maintaining deliverability:

• Hard Bounces: Permanently undeliverable addresses (invalid address, domain does not exist) are automatically suppressed after the first occurrence. Hard bounce rate must remain below 2% per campaign.
• Soft Bounces: Temporarily undeliverable addresses (mailbox full, server error) are retried up to 3 times over 72 hours. After 3 consecutive soft bounces across separate campaigns, the address is suppressed.
• Role-based Addresses: Emails to role-based addresses (info@, admin@, support@, sales@) typically have lower deliverability and higher complaint rates. We recommend minimizing sends to these addresses.

Skode automatically manages bounce processing and suppression. You can view bounce reports and manage your suppression list through the Email Analytics dashboard.

6. Complaint Rate Limits

Spam complaint rates are the most critical metric for email deliverability. Skode enforces the following thresholds:

• Target: Below 0.1% (1 complaint per 1,000 emails delivered). This is the industry best practice and Google Postmaster Tools recommended threshold.
• Maximum: 0.3% (3 complaints per 1,000 emails delivered). Exceeding this threshold triggers a warning and review of your sending practices.
• Critical: Above 0.5%. Exceeding this threshold results in immediate sending throttle or suspension.

We participate in feedback loops with Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and other major mailbox providers to receive real-time complaint data.

7. Suppression Lists

Skode maintains the following suppression lists to protect deliverability:

• Account-Level Suppression: Addresses that have bounced, complained, or unsubscribed from your specific account. Managed per customer account.
• Platform-Level Suppression: Addresses that have consistently bounced, are known spam traps, or are associated with abuse across the Skode platform. Managed by Skode globally.
• Manual Suppression: Addresses you manually add to your suppression list (e.g., do-not-contact requests received outside the platform).

Suppressed addresses cannot receive emails through Skode until they are removed from the suppression list (where permitted). Platform-level suppressions cannot be overridden by individual customers.

8. Warm-Up Requirements for New Senders

New sending domains, new dedicated IPs, and accounts that have not sent email in over 30 days must undergo a warm-up period:

• Week 1: Send to your most engaged contacts only (recent openers and clickers). Maximum 50 to 100 emails per day.
• Week 2: Gradually increase to 500 emails per day, continuing to prioritize engaged contacts.
• Week 3 to 4: Increase to 2,000 to 5,000 per day, expanding to broader segments.
• Week 5+: Continue gradual increases until reaching your plan limit, monitoring bounce and complaint rates throughout.

Skode provides automated warm-up scheduling tools that manage this process for you. Bypassing warm-up procedures may result in poor deliverability and enforcement action.

9. Monitoring Dashboard

Skode provides a comprehensive email deliverability monitoring dashboard within the platform, including:

• Real-time delivery, bounce, and complaint rates per campaign and overall.
• Domain authentication status (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) verification.
• IP reputation score and blacklist status.
• Suppression list management.
• Warm-up progress tracking for new domains or IPs.
• Mailbox provider placement reports (inbox vs. spam).

10. Enforcement Actions

Skode enforces deliverability standards to protect all customers on our platform. Enforcement follows a graduated process:

• Advisory: Proactive notification when metrics approach thresholds, with recommendations for improvement.
• Warning: Formal warning when thresholds are exceeded, requiring a remediation plan within 7 days.
• Throttle: Sending rate reduction for accounts with persistent poor metrics.
• Suspend: Temporary suspension of email sending for serious or repeated violations.
• Terminate: Permanent removal of email sending privileges for egregious violations or failure to remediate.

11. CAN-SPAM Joint Liability Disclosure

Under the CAN-SPAM Act, both the sender (you) and the entity whose product or service is promoted in a commercial email may be held jointly liable for violations. As a platform provider, Skode provides the infrastructure for sending emails, but you are responsible for the content, targeting, and compliance of your email campaigns.

By using Skode's email sending features, you agree to comply with all CAN-SPAM requirements and to indemnify Skode against any claims arising from your non-compliance, as described in our Terms of Service.

12. Best Practices Recommendations

To maximize your email deliverability through Skode, we recommend:

• Regularly clean your contact lists by removing inactive and unengaged contacts.
• Use double opt-in for all new email subscribers.
• Segment your lists and send relevant content to each segment.
• Maintain a consistent sending schedule and volume.
• Personalize subject lines and content to improve engagement.
• Include a plain-text version of every HTML email.
• Monitor your deliverability dashboard regularly and act on recommendations.
• Configure DMARC with reporting to gain visibility into authentication failures.
• Test emails before sending using the built-in preview and spam-check tools.

13. Contact Information

If you have questions about email deliverability or need technical assistance, please contact us:

• Deliverability Support: deliverability@skode.ai
• General Support: support@skode.ai
• Abuse Reports: abuse@skode.ai