Bento Node.js Guide

This guide covers installing the Bento Node.js SDK, configuring the client, and the main operations: tracking events, managing subscribers, and sending transactional emails from your Node.js application.

Getting Started

Installation Basic Setup

Beginner Guide

Tracking Your First Event Managing Subscribers Common Use Cases

Intermediate Guide

Custom Fields and Tags Tracking Purchase Events Namespaced Tags

Advanced Guide

Batch Operations Transactional Emails Subscriber Updates Broadcasts Sequences & Workflows Email Templates Statistics & Reporting Utility Features

Reference

# API Reference

# Troubleshooting

# FAQ

Getting Started

Package Installation

Installation

Install the Bento Node SDK in your project:

Client Configuration

Basic Setup

To initialize the Bento client, you'll need your Site UUID, Publishable Key, and Secret Key from your Bento account. You can find your keys in your Bento Team. To see your keys, click Your Private API Keys. If you do not see a Publishable key and Secret Key, click Generate Key to create a set.

You can also configure a custom request timeout via clientOptions:

Requests default to a 30-second timeout. You can customize this via clientOptions.timeout (in milliseconds).

Beginner Guide

Tracking Your First Event

Events record actions users take in your application, like signing up or making a purchase.

Adding subscribers via events

Events are the preferred way to add subscribers. One call records the event and kicks off any workflows and automations tied to it.

Enriching events with data

Events can carry contextual data alongside the action itself. This can be used in emails via liquid tags or in segmentation. For instance, when recording a purchase event, you can include detailed transaction information such as:

Detail	Liquid tag
Product details
Purchase amount
Transaction ID
Payment method

Practical Example

When a customer completes a purchase, you can track this as an event while including all relevant purchase details. This approach enables you to:

Trigger specific post-purchase workflows
Launch targeted follow-up automations
Track lifetime value (LTV) metrics
Create personalized communications based on purchase history

Managing Subscribers

If you need to manage subscribers directly there are a set of convenience methods available to you. Add, update, and unsubscribe subscribers with these simple methods. Currently, you cannot remove subscribers via the API, but you can remove them from the dashboard People > All Users.

Adding Individual Subscribers

Please note, while these methods make it easy to manage a subscriber, the Bento recommended way to add a subscriber is via an event. This allows you to kick off sequences and automations, while also recording the "event" at the same time (1 API call).

Adding Multiple Subscribers

Importing or modifying multiple subscribers should be handled via the bulk methods, instead of looping over these calls multiple times.

Common Use Cases

Here are some common scenarios with ready-to-use code:

Intermediate Guide

Custom Fields and Tags

Bento allows you to store custom data about your users through fields and segment them with tags:

Using Custom Fields & Tags

While custom fields and tags can be used to segment subscribers, most Bento users find that namespaced tags provide a more effective and easier-to-maintain solution for most segmentation use cases.

Namespaced Tags

Namespaced tags follow this format: namespace:detail For example, if you offer three subscription plans, you could create these tags:

subscription:basic
subscription:pro
subscription:enterprise

We recommend applying these tags either through an automated flow or via bulk updates.

Tags do not need to be namespaced, but for many customers the organization pays off by using namespaced tags when it makes sense.

Fields

Fields store information about your subscribers, like their language or timezone. Use them to segment subscribers and personalize your messaging.

Unlike namespaced tags, fields are not limited to a single detail and do not need to be predefined. You can store strings, numbers, or objects in a field.

Best Practices

Use tags for segmentation and fields for more detailed subscriber data. Most setups combine both.

Tracking Purchase Events

When recording purchase events, you must include a unique: key as part of the tracking data. This requirement prevents duplicate transactions from being recorded in your analytics.

Most users find it beneficial to use their internal cart or order number as the unique: key. This approach simplifies future lookups and maintains consistency across your systems. The unique: key value you provide is accessible through liquid tags when creating custom email templates, allowing for personalized transactional messaging based on specific purchase details.

Tracking purchases is a great way to monitor customer lifetime value (LTV) and identify recurring customers. Bento reports on the LTV of each subscriber, allowing you to identify high-value customers and tailor your marketing efforts accordingly.

Advanced Guide

Batch Operations

For efficiency, we suggest using batch operations when integrating with Bento. These methods allow for single or bulk operations on subscribers and events, improving the performance and scalability of your integration. They also cover more than 80% of the API use cases for most customers.

Transactional Emails

Bento allows you to send personalized transactional emails for time-sensitive, direct communications. These emails serve specific functional purposes rather than marketing objectives.

Ideal Transactional Email Use Cases

User onboarding (confirmation etc)
Password reset notifications
Sign-in verification links
Order confirmations and details
Account notifications

NOT Ideal Transactional Email Use Cases

CC / BCC recipients
Emails that require an attachment (we suggest always using links for emails for best deliverability)
Marketing of any kind
Promotional content
Newsletters

From Address Requirements

The sender address used in your transactional emails must be configured as an Author email within your Bento settings. Please note that generic addresses such as "~~no-reply@domain.com~~" or similar non-personal addresses are not currently supported.

Important Distinction

Transactional emails are designed for essential communications that facilitate specific user actions or provide critical information.

Transactional emails should not be used as substitutes for marketing campaigns or promotional content.

Subscriber Updates

Many organizations joining Bento already have an established subscriber base that requires bulk updates over time. These updates commonly include setting field data and managing tags across multiple subscribers. We recommend these methods for all subscriber updates, single or bulk.

These methods cover more than 80% of the API use cases for most customers.

Choosing the Right Update Method:

The SDK offers multiple approaches for creating subscribers in Bento, each suited to different scenarios.

Preferred Method: Events

The recommended way to create subscribers is via events in response to user activity. This approach activates automations, workflows, and can contain data enrichment.

Alternative Methods

For scenarios where you need to create subscribers independently of user actions:

Single Subscriber Creation

Use this method when you need to quickly create a single subscriber with minimal data:

This endpoint is rate-limited and not suitable for loops or bulk creation. Use only for individual subscriber creation.

Multiple Or Enriched Subscriber Creation

For creating multiple subscribers or including additional fields:

Best Practices for Batch Imports:

Though the API supports up to 1,000 subscribers per call, we recommend batches of 200-300 for optimal performance when dealing with extensive data.
Include all relevant custom fields in the initial import to minimize follow-up updates.
For very large imports (10,000+ subscribers), consider implementing a queue system with delay between batches.

Updating Subscribers

Depending on your requirements, several approaches are available for updating subscriber information.

Event-Based Updates (Preferred)

When updates occur in response to user actions, tracking events is the recommended approach:

Because you can apply as many changes via automations / workflows as you want this is the most flexible method. It doesn't require code or deployment changes, and can be completely handled in Bento.

Alternative Update Methods

For updates outside of user-triggered actions:

Single Attribute Updates

For quickly updating a specific attribute on a single subscriber:

The Command API is not recommended for multiple updates or bulk operations. Given its heavy rate limit, use the Batch API instead.

Batch Updates

For updating multiple subscribers or multiple fields at once, use the batch import method:

Recommendations:

Even for single-subscriber updates, consider using the batch import method when multiple fields need updating.
The batch import performs an "upsert" operation. It creates subscribers that don't exist and updates those that do.
This approach provides the most flexibility as your use cases evolve, whether you need to add more changes or modify multiple users simultaneously.

Specialized Update Operations

For specific update scenarios, the SDK offers dedicated methods:

Broadcasts

Bento's Broadcasts module allows you to create and manage email broadcast campaigns programmatically. Use it to send newsletters, announcements, and other one-to-many communications.

Sequences and Workflows

Sequences power drip campaigns and time-based email journeys. Workflows are Bento's automation engine for event-driven campaigns like welcome journeys, abandoned-cart nudges, and re-engagement loops. Both modules support pagination via an optional page parameter.

Sequences

Workflows

Workflows have a status field that indicates whether they are 'live' or 'draft'.

Email Templates

Email templates are used within sequences and workflows. You can retrieve and update templates to manage your email content programmatically.

Statistics and Reporting

The Stats module gives you access to key metrics for your site, segments, and individual reports. Use these to build dashboards or monitor campaign performance.

Utility Features

These utilities handle common secondary use cases like email validation and blacklist checks.

API Reference

Core API

Analytics - Main class for initializing the SDK
new Analytics(options) - Create a new instance
V1 - Access to the V1 API

Convenience Methods

Use Case	Convenience Method
Add a new subscriber
Unsubscribe a subscriber
Merge or update data for an existing subscriber
Add a tag to a subscriber
Update subscriber fields
Track a custom event
Track a purchase event

Modules

Batch

Use Case	Method	API Reference
Import multiple subscribers		Import Subscribers
Import multiple events		Import Events
Send multiple emails		Send Emails

Commands

Use Case	Method	API Reference
Add a tag		Subscriber Upsert
Remove a tag		Subscriber Upsert
Add a field		Subscriber Upsert
Remove a field		Subscriber Upsert
Subscribe a user		Subscriber Command
Unsubscribe a user		Subscriber Command
Change email address		Subscriber Command

Experimental

Use Case	Method	API Reference
Validate email address		Validate Email
Predict in-domain placement		Gender Guess
Get IP geolocation		IP Geolocation
Check domain/IP blacklist		Blacklist Check
Check blacklist status (new)		Blacklist Status
Content moderation		--
Geolocate IP (simplified)		IP Geolocation

Fields

Use Case	Method	API Reference
Get all fields		Fields
Create a field		Fields

Forms

Use Case	Method	API Reference
Get form responses		--

Subscribers

Use Case	Method	API Reference
Get subscriber		Find Subscriber
Create a subscriber		Create Subscriber
Run command		Subscriber Commands

Use Case	Method	API Reference
Get all tags		List Tags
Create a tag		Create Tag

Broadcasts

Use Case	Method	API Reference
Get all broadcasts		Get Broadcasts
Create broadcast campaigns		Create Broadcasts
Create transactional emails in batch		Create Emails

Email Templates

Use Case	Method	API Reference
Get email template		Get Template
Update email template		Update Template

Sequences

Use Case	Method	API Reference
Get all sequences		Get Sequences
Add email to sequence		Create Sequence Email

Stats

Use Case	Method	API Reference
Get site statistics		Site Stats
Get segment statistics		Segment Stats
Get report statistics		Report Stats

Workflows

Use Case	Method	API Reference
Get all workflows		Get Workflows

Troubleshooting

Common Errors


Not Authorized	Check your API keys and ensure they have appropriate permissions
Rate Limited	Implement backoff/retry logic for batch operations
Network Errors	Check internet connectivity and API endpoint availability
Exceptions	Double check you are using a valid `Author` & the payload format.

Debugging Tips


1.	Enable `logErrors: true` in your configuration for detailed error logging
2.	Use try/catch blocks around API calls to handle errors gracefully
3.	For batch operations, start with smaller batches to isolate issues

FAQ

Q: Can I use this SDK in a browser environment? A: No, this SDK is designed for server-side Node.js environments as it requires secret API keys.

Q: How do I handle rate limiting? A: Implement exponential backoff when you encounter RateLimitedError exceptions.

Q: What's the maximum batch size for importing subscribers or events? A: Up to 1,000 subscribers or events can be imported in a single batch operation.

Q: How do I track anonymous users? A: Currently, the SDK requires an email for all tracking. Anonymous tracking support is planned for future releases.

Q: Is this SDK compatible with TypeScript? A: Yes, the SDK is written in TypeScript and provides full type definitions for improved developer experience.

Q: How do I configure the request timeout? A: Pass clientOptions: { timeout: 60000 } when initializing the Analytics client. The default is 30,000ms (30 seconds).

Q: How can I contribute to the SDK? A: Check the GitHub repository at github.com/bentonow/bento-node-sdk for contribution guidelines, or contact us on Discord.