Troubleshooting

Quick solutions to common problems. Can't find your issue? Contact support or ask in Discord.

API Issues

401 Unauthorized

Symptoms: API returns 401 Unauthorized or {"error": "Unauthorized"}

Common Causes & Solutions:

Debug Steps:

# Test your credentials with a simple GET request
curl -X GET 'https://app.bentonow.com/api/v1/fetch/tags?site_uuid=YOUR_SITE_UUID' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YOUR_BASE64_CREDENTIALS' \
  -H 'User-Agent: Debug/1.0'

Getting HTML Instead of JSON

Symptoms: API returns HTML content, often a Cloudflare page, instead of JSON

Cause: Missing or invalid User-Agent header

Solution: Add a User-Agent header to every request:

-H 'User-Agent: YourAppName/1.0'

429 Too Many Requests

Symptoms: API returns 429 Too Many Requests

Cause: You've exceeded the rate limit (100 requests/minute for most endpoints)

Solutions:

• Add delays between requests
• Batch multiple operations into single requests where possible
• Use webhooks instead of polling
• Contact support if you need higher limits

Request Timing Out

Symptoms: Requests hang or timeout after 30+ seconds

Common Causes:

• Large batch imports (use smaller batches of 100-500)
• Network issues on your end
• Rarely, Bento service issues (check status.bentonow.com)

Solutions:

• Break large imports into smaller batches
• Add timeout handling to your code
• Implement retry logic with exponential backoff

Deliverability Issues

Emails Going to Spam

Step 1: Check your DNS records

• Go to Deliverability → DNS Records
• Click "Validate DNS Records"
• All records should show as valid (green checkmarks)

Step 2: Check your domain reputation

• Use Google Postmaster Tools
• Check for any domain or IP reputation issues

Step 3: Review your content

• Avoid spam trigger words (FREE, URGENT, ACT NOW)
• Don't use URL shorteners
• Ensure text-to-image ratio is reasonable
• Include a clear unsubscribe link (Bento adds this automatically)

Step 4: Review your sending patterns

• Are you sending to a clean list?
• Have you warmed up your domain? See Warmup Guide
• Are you getting high bounce rates or spam complaints?

Low Open Rates

Normal: 20-40% for engaged lists
Warning: Below 15%

If open rates suddenly dropped:

1. Check DNS records haven't been deleted (we've seen this happen!)
2. Verify no changes to your sending domain
3. Check if emails are landing in spam (send test to yourself)

If open rates are consistently low:

1. Clean your list - remove subscribers who haven't opened in 6+ months
2. Re-engage inactive subscribers before removing them
3. Review subject lines - are they compelling?
4. Check send times - experiment with different times

High Bounce Rates

Normal: Under 2%
Warning: Above 5%

For imported lists:

• Clean your list before importing
• Remove addresses that bounced on previous providers
• Don't import purchased lists

For ongoing sends:

• Bento automatically removes hard bounces
• Check for typos in email collection forms
• Consider double opt-in for new signups

See Bounce Guide for detailed information.

Integration Issues

Webhooks Not Firing

Check these first:

1. URL is accessible: Your webhook URL must be publicly accessible (not localhost)
2. URL returns 200: Bento expects a 200 response within 10 seconds
3. SSL is valid: If using HTTPS, your certificate must be valid

Debug steps:

1. Check webhook logs in Bento (Settings → Webhooks)
2. Use a tool like webhook.site to test
3. Check your server logs for incoming requests

Shopify Integration Not Syncing

Common issues:

Re-sync steps:

1. Go to Apps → Shopify
2. Click "Disconnect"
3. Reconnect the integration
4. Historical data won't sync, but new events will

Zapier/Make.com Connection Failing

For Zapier:

1. Reconnect your Bento account in Zapier
2. Make sure you're using API keys, not OAuth
3. Check your Zap's error logs

For Make.com:

1. Verify API keys are correct
2. Check that site_uuid is included
3. Review scenario execution logs

DNS Issues

DNS Records Not Validating

Common causes:

Check propagation: Use dnschecker.org to verify your records are visible globally.

DKIM Validation Failing

Most common cause: The DKIM record value is too long and got truncated by your DNS provider.

Solution:

• Some providers require you to split long TXT records
• Check with your DNS provider's documentation
• See our DNS provider guides for specific instructions

Link Branding Not Working

Symptoms: Links in emails show clicks.bentonow.com instead of your domain

Causes:

1. CNAME record not set up
2. CNAME not validated in Bento
3. SSL certificate not provisioned (automatic, but can take a few minutes)

Solution:

1. Go to Deliverability → DNS Records
2. Add the link branding CNAME record
3. Click "Validate" and wait for green checkmark

Dashboard Issues

Subscriber Count Seems Wrong

Bento counts unique subscribers, not events or form submissions. The same email address is only counted once.

If counts seem off:

• Check if you're looking at the right site
• Segment filters may be excluding subscribers
• Recently imported subscribers may still be processing

Events Not Appearing on Profile

Check these:

1. Event was sent to the correct email address
2. The site_uuid matches the site you're viewing
3. Events can take up to 30 seconds to appear during high load

Test with a manual event:

curl -X POST 'https://app.bentonow.com/api/v1/batch/events?site_uuid=YOUR_SITE_UUID' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YOUR_CREDENTIALS' \
  -H 'User-Agent: Debug/1.0' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"events": [{"type": "test_event", "email": "YOUR_EMAIL"}]}'

Flow Not Triggering

Check these:

1. Flow is published (not in draft mode)
2. Trigger matches exactly - event names are case-sensitive
3. Subscriber matches segment if using segment filters
4. Subscriber isn't in cooldown from a previous flow run

Getting Help

Still stuck? Here's how to get help:

When contacting support, include:

• Your site UUID (helps us find your account)
• Steps to reproduce the issue
• Any error messages (exact text or screenshots)
• What you've already tried