Demo
Demo

Knowledge base

PMTA knowledge base›Block <inline-seeding>›Directive§ 11.2.2.2.1

api-key

<inline-seeding>

Access key to the seeding service
in the configuration this is a lineapi-keyinside the block <inline-seeding>
The same name 2:<inline-seeding><signals><transmissions-api>— some of them are other settings, some are the same one
The block’s only mandatory line

The key opens access to the vendor’s automatic seeding service. The line is mandatory: without it the mechanism is not enabled.

The format is strict — exactly forty hexadecimal characters. The key is created in the vendor’s account and requires two permissions: “Inline Seeds: On Prem” and “Account: Read”.

The same key works for the event export too — <signals> uses the same kind. If subaccounts are set up, take the main account’s key.

🔴 The key lies in the configuration in plain text and gets into its backups. File permissions matter here as much as the key itself.

The main trap is creating a key without the needed permissions. The format is checked, permissions are not: forty characters will pass the check, and the service will refuse. It will look like seeding not working, with no explanation.
What the Hub does. It does not write it: we do not use the vendor’s seeding — it requires a paid subscription to its tool and an account with the feature enabled.

🔎 The task is close to ours. Seed mailboxes — what we were going to use to measure inbox placement — are solved here by the vendor: addresses are inserted into the mailing automatically, and the results are viewed in its own tool. Our analysis showed that doing it ourselves runs into proxies: polling mailboxes from a single address ends with them being blocked.

Recommended values

Key requirements:

What Requirement
length exactly 40 characters
character set hexadecimal digits
permissions Inline Seeds: On Prem and Account: Read
with subaccounts the main account’s key
The format, both required permissions, sharing the key with the event export and the rule about the main account come from the manual (§ 11.2.2.2.1).
Example configuration
<inline-seeding>
    api-key 0123456789abcdef012345678901234567890123</inline-seeding>
The key is in the configuration in plain text: the file’s permissions are kept as for a secret.
yellow — — directive names, blue — blocks. They are highlighted the same way in the text of the card.
▲

Common mistakes and problems

what people get wrong and how it ends2 mistakes▶

Creating a key without the “Inline Seeds: On Prem” permission

our experience

What it costsThe format is checked, permissions are not. The line will pass negotiation, and the service will refuse.
How to spot itSeeding is configured, seeds do not appear in mailings.
How to do it rightAdd both permissions to the key in the vendor’s account.

Expecting seeding without a subscription to the vendor's tool

§ 11.2

What it costsThe mechanism requires an account with the feature enabled and paid access to the deliverability tool. Without that, a key cannot be created, and so seeding cannot be enabled.
How to spot itThe block is configured, but seeds do not appear in mailings.
How to do it rightCheck the subscription and the key’s rights in the vendor’s account.
Compatibility
PowerMTA 6.0
described in the manual of this version · platform: any
The vendor does not state the first version for every directive — there is no note here. The name also appears in the 5.0 edition of the manual.
Reference data
Syntax
api-key <key>
Values
forty hexadecimal characters
Applying
reload, no restart needed
Queue
will not touch what is already queued
Where to write it
<inline-seeding>
How many times
once in the block
Everything here comes from the manual, with the section.
Inheritance
No inheritance: the line lives inside <inline-seeding>, and there is only one such block on a node. Enabling seeding per stream is configured not here but with the enable-inline-seeding line with three levels.
⇄

Related directives

1 relation

Does not work without

Seeding campaigns with control addressesThe mechanism whose operation this line configures. § 11.2.2.2.1

How to check on the node
Whether the key works is visible in the engine log — the service answers requests:
grep -i "seed\|inline" /var/log/pmta/log | tail -20
Service refusals mean either a wrong key or missing permissions on it.
◇

What else to read

2 articles

◇Seeding campaigns with control addressesThe engine mixes the vendor’s addresses into a mailing, and the result is viewed in the vendor’s deliverability tool; independent of event export.◇Job headerThe x-job header tags a message with a job; the node reads it only if the source is allowed process-x-job, and then the job is visible in accounting, the monitor and pause commands.

In the Hub
Cost of a mistake
reversible: harms only while it is set
Scenarios
Seeding and seed mailboxes
Neighboring settings of the block <inline-seeding>:retain-x-sp-subaccount-idprocess-x-sp-subaccount-idbatch-frequencyeligibility-ttlpersist-thresholdAll 6 directives of the block →