Sequence Entry Controls Reference

Entry controls decide which contacts enter a triggered sequence, and how many of them. They are set on the sequence itself, above the sequence flow, and apply to every contact the trigger event matches.

Entry Caps

• Both caps are optional. Leave the field blank (or clear it) for no cap on that window.
• A cap must be at least 1. When both are set, Max contacts entering per 24 hrs must be greater than or equal to Max contacts entering per 1 hr.
• The windows are rolling, not calendar based: the 1 hour cap counts the contacts that entered the sequence in the previous hour.
• Contacts over a cap are dropped, not queued. They are not held back and admitted once the window clears — they simply do not enter the sequence. Example: 13,000 contacts are added to a contact list that triggers the sequence and Max contacts entering per 1 hr is set to 1,000. 1,000 contacts enter the sequence and receive its emails. The remaining 12,000 do not enter it, and the sequence does not let them in later on its own — they enter only if the trigger event fires for them again, for example the contact is added to the contact list again, or the contact opens or clicks another email on an Opened or Clicked sequence.
• Caps apply to contacts entering the sequence. A contact who is already moving through it — resuming after a Delay Time, or continuing after a Wait For or Wait For/Else — is never blocked by a cap.
• To load a large batch without losing contacts, clear the caps and control the volume on the way in instead, for example by adding the contacts to the list in batches.

Entry caps are not Send Integration caps

Send Integrations have their own caps, set per sending criteria. Those limit how many emails are sent through that integration in each window. The sequence caps limit how many contacts enter the sequence. A contact that enters a sequence can go on to receive several emails from it, so the two settings measure different things and are set in different places.

Days Before A Contact Can Re-Enter This Sequence

• This is a cooldown for each contact on each sequence. It is measured from the last time that contact entered this sequence.
• 0 — no cooldown. The contact enters every time the trigger event fires, and can be moving through several runs of the sequence at once.
• 1 to 365 — after the contact enters, the sequence skips that contact until the set number of days has passed.
• New sequences default to 60 days.
• The cooldown only decides whether a contact may enter. A contact who is already in the sequence always continues, including Delay Time and Wait For resumes.

Troubleshooting: fewer contacts entered than expected

1. Open the sequence and check Max contacts entering per 1 hr and Max contacts entering per 24 hrs. If either is set, contacts above the cap were dropped and will not arrive later.
2. Check Days before a contact can re-enter this sequence. Contacts that entered the sequence within that number of days are skipped.
3. Confirm the sequence is Active on the Triggered Sequences grid. An inactive sequence takes no new contacts.
4. Confirm the trigger event matches what actually happened, for example the correct contact list on Added to Contact List via API.
5. Check Delivery Events, filtered by the sequence name, for Suppressed or Failed events — those contacts entered the sequence but their email was not delivered.