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.

Beginner Guide

Tracking Your First Event

Events represent specific actions users take within your application. Tracking these actions provides valuable insights into user behavior patterns and engagement.

Adding Subscribers via Events

We recommend using events as the preferred way to add subscribers. One event creates the subscriber and kicks off any workflows and automations in a single operation.

Attaching Data to Events

Events can carry contextual information alongside user actions. 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 are perfect for storing information about your subscribers, such as their language, timezone, or other relevant details. By using fields, you can easily segment subscribers based on their specific needs and preferences, allowing you to tailor your marketing efforts and messaging to each group.

The primary difference between fields and namespaced tags is that fields are not limited to a specific detail and do not need to be predefined. You can store any type of data in a field, including strings, numbers, or even objects. This flexibility makes fields a powerful tool for storing data.

Best Practices

For optimal organization, consider using tags for segmentation while storing more detailed user information in custom fields. Many successful implementations use a strategic combination of both approaches.

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. These methods are the recommended way to manage subscribers, whether you're updating one or thousands.

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:

Utility Features

The SDK includes utilities for common secondary tasks, such as email validation and blacklist checks.

API Reference

Core API

Client - Main entry point for using the SDK ($bento)
Configuration - Initialize the client with your Site UUID, Publishable Key, and Secret Key
Versioned API - Methods are grouped under $bento->V1, with modules like Batch, Commands, Events, and Experimental
HTTP Layer - Built on the Guzzle HTTP client for API communication
Error Handling - The SDK throws exceptions; wrap API calls in try-catch blocks

Convenience Methods

Core API

Use Case	PHP SDK Method
Add a new subscriber
Unsubscribe a subscriber
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 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

Events

Use Case	Method	API Reference
Create events		Create Events

Experimental

Use Case	Method	API Reference
Validate email address		Validate Email
Predict gender from name		Gender Guess
Get IP geolocation		IP Geolocation
Check domain/IP blacklist		Blacklist Check

Fields

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

Subscribers

Use Case	Method	API Reference
Get subscribers		Get Subscribers
Create a subscriber		Create Subscriber

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

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

Bento PHP Guide

Reference

Adding Subscribers via Events

Attaching Data to Events

Practical Example

Adding Individual Subscribers

Adding Multiple Subscribers

Namespaced Tags

Fields

Best Practices

Ideal Transactional Email Use Cases

NOT Ideal Transactional Email Use Cases

From Address Requirements

Important Distinction

Choosing the Right Update Method:

Preferred Method: Events

Alternative Methods

Updating Subscribers

Event-Based Updates (Preferred)

Alternative Update Methods

Specialized Update Operations

Core API

Convenience Methods

Core API

Modules

Batch

Commands

Events

Experimental

Fields

Subscribers

Tags

Common Errors

Debugging Tips

Can I use this SDK in a frontend environment?

How do I handle rate limiting?

What's the maximum batch size for importing subscribers or events?

How do I track anonymous users?

Which PHP versions are supported?

How can I contribute to the SDK?

How do I handle errors and exceptions?

Can I use the SDK with serverless PHP environments?