Channel

Channels represent the medium on which a user receives notifications (email, mobile & web push), simplifying delivery management and allowing you to:

  • Decouple Delivery Logic: Configure and update delivery mechanisms with ease.
  • Support Multiple Medium: Ensure consistent delivery across various methods.
  • Adapt to Preferences: Respect user choices via notification preferences.
  • Control Delivery: Use the Delivery Planner to decide which channels a notification is delivered on and in what order.

By allows notification to be manged agonstic of the delivery channel, MagicBell ensures your notifications can reach users on their preferred medium.

Channel Token

Tokens are unique identifiers used to deliver notifications to specific users through certain channels. They ensure notification routing and act as a bridge between MagicBell and external platforms.
They can be strings or data structures, and are linked to a user. They enable MagicBell to deliver notifications to specific accounts and devices, or different devices with multiple tokens per channel.

Tokens are managed via the API or SDKs and you can use the dashboard to see tokens for a user.

For example, to register a token, send a POST request. For example, to save an APNs token:

curl --request POST \
  --url 'https://api.magicbell.com/v2/channels/mobile_push/apns/tokens' \
  --header 'authorization: Bearer {token}' \
  --data '{"device_token":"eH0fLhuiRj2Np7UQ-opXAm:APA91bGtC-wH4sgW1jWkMKIZf7FYkm_RTQb7Jid7DfSJnCgivGYoRzhLrGxpcIF6yPjmbzAr6CKF-6phZkBasFUUfZmfdgcqfA_ZlZdVk6pSnon3LGzMumCzEJE0zgWoo_RUmVUVJUAt","installation_id":"development"}'

Lifecycle

  • Registration: Once a token is registered for a user, MagicBell uses it for the next notification (unless otherwise specified in the delivery planner).
  • Rejection Handling: If a token is rejected by the external platform, MagicBell logs the error and marks the token as discarded.
  • Reactivation: If the same token is re-registered, it will be reactivated and used for future deliveries.

Best Practices

  1. Register on Sign-In: Register a token when a user signs in to your application. At this point, you can identify the user and access their token.

  2. Discard on Sign-Out: Discard tokens when a user signs out by sending a DELETE request to the token endpoint. For example:

    curl --request DELETE \
  --url 'https://api.magicbell.com/v2/channels/mobile_push/apns/tokens/{token_id}' \
  --header 'authorization: Bearer {token}' \
  --data '{}'

  3. Keep Tokens Updated: Re-register the token regularly, such as during every application launch or user sign-in. This ensures the latest token is always on file, enabling seamless notification delivery. Registering tokens is idempotennt.