Hi,

In my app, I am adding an email address to a project. I am trying to trigger an event in Intercom that sends an invitation email.

First, I search for the email address, so I do not create multiple leads:

Connecting: api.intercom.io:443
Sending: POST http://api.intercom.io:443/contacts/search
Header: accept-encoding: gzip, deflate
Header: accept: application/vnd.intercom.3+json
Header: user-agent: Intercom-Ruby/4.2.1
Header: content-type: application/json
Header: acceptencoding: gzip, deflate
Header: authorization: Bearer REDACTED]
Header: host: api.intercom.io
Header: content-length: 159
Data: {"query":{"operator":"AND","value"::{"field":"email","operator":"=","value":""REDACTED]"},{"field":"role","operator":"=","value":"lead"}]}}
Status: 200
Benchmark: 0.493817 seconds
Header: date: Sat, 01 Jul 2023 04:45:04 GMT
Header: content-type: application/json; charset=utf-8
Header: transfer-encoding: chunked
Header: connection: keep-alive
Header: status: 200 OK
Header: x-ratelimit-limit: 167
Header: x-ratelimit-reset: 1688186711
Header: vary: Accept,Accept-Encoding
Header: x-ratelimit-remaining: 167
Header: x-intercom-version: 5404b96008c2cb8d59fba43f2a4614e0a1736517
Header: content-encoding: gzip
Header: x-request-id: 002i95tngf1earoa7rkg
Header: etag: W/"3accce3023253f75d3952041dc778ae0"
Header: x-frame-options: SAMEORIGIN
Header: cache-control: max-age=0, private, must-revalidate
Header: strict-transport-security: max-age=31556952; includeSubDomains; preload
Header: x-xss-protection: 1; mode=block
Header: intercom-version: 2.9
Header: x-runtime: 0.166042
Header: x-content-type-options: nosniff
Header: server: nginx
Header: x-ami-version: ami-05190846778a05936
Response:
{"type":"list","data"::],"total_count":0,"pages":{"type":"pages","page":1,"per_page":50,"total_pages":0}}

If I do not find it, I create the lead:

Connecting: api.intercom.io:443
Sending: POST http://api.intercom.io:443/contacts
Header: accept-encoding: gzip, deflate
Header: accept: application/vnd.intercom.3+json
Header: user-agent: Intercom-Ruby/4.2.1
Header: content-type: application/json
Header: acceptencoding: gzip, deflate
Header: authorization: Bearer eREDACTED]
Header: host: api.intercom.io
Header: content-length: 94
Data: {"email":""REDACTED]","role":"lead","name":""REDACTED]","custom_attributes":{}}
Status: 200
Benchmark: 0.491296 seconds
Header: date: Sat, 01 Jul 2023 04:45:05 GMT
Header: content-type: application/json; charset=utf-8
Header: transfer-encoding: chunked
Header: connection: keep-alive
Header: status: 200 OK
Header: x-ratelimit-limit: 167
Header: x-ratelimit-reset: 1688186711
Header: vary: Accept,Accept-Encoding
Header: x-ratelimit-remaining: 166
Header: x-intercom-version: 5404b96008c2cb8d59fba43f2a4614e0a1736517
Header: content-encoding: gzip
Header: x-request-id: 002ij2aiiguojsv4i2ug
Header: etag: W/"24b6a2f3065c70d377ed261ab1a65f60"
Header: x-frame-options: SAMEORIGIN
Header: cache-control: max-age=0, private, must-revalidate
Header: strict-transport-security: max-age=31556952; includeSubDomains; preload
Header: x-xss-protection: 1; mode=block
Header: intercom-version: 2.9
Header: x-runtime: 0.205667
Header: x-content-type-options: nosniff
Header: set-cookie: recent_write=343c3a66-2fbe-47e1-a1fc-ade9b8f359fd; path=/; max-age=1; HttpOnly; secure
Header: server: nginx
Header: x-ami-version: ami-05190846778a05936
Response:
{"type":"contact","id":""REDACTED]","workspace_id":""REDACTED]","external_id":""REDACTED]","role":"lead","email":""REDACTED]","phone":null,"name":""REDACTED]","avatar":null,"owner_id":null,"social_profiles":{"type":"list","data":a]},"has_hard_bounced":false,"marked_email_as_spam":false,"unsubscribed_from_emails":false,"created_at":1688186705,"updated_at":1688186705,"signed_up_at":null,"last_seen_at":null,"last_replied_at":null,"last_contacted_at":null,"last_email_opened_at":null,"last_email_clicked_at":null,"language_override":null,"browser":null,"browser_version":null,"browser_language":null,"os":null,"location":{"type":"location","country":null,"region":null,"city":null,"country_code":null,"continent_code":null},"android_app_name":null,"android_app_version":null,"android_device":null,"android_os_version":null,"android_sdk_version":null,"android_last_seen_at":null,"ios_app_name":null,"ios_app_version":null,"ios_device":null,"ios_os_version":null,"ios_sdk_version":null,"ios_last_seen_at":null,"custom_attributes":{},"tags":{"type":"list","data":a],"url":"/contacts/tREDACTED]/tags","total_count":0,"has_more":false},"notes":{"type":"list","data":a],"url":"/contacts/tREDACTED]/notes","total_count":0,"has_more":false},"companies":{"type":"list","data":a],"url":"/contacts/tREDACTED]/companies","total_count":0,"has_more":false},"opted_out_subscription_types":{"type":"list","data":a],"url":"/contacts/tREDACTED]/subscriptions","total_count":0,"has_more":false},"opted_in_subscription_types":{"type":"list","data":a],"url":"/contacts/tREDACTED]/subscriptions","total_count":0,"has_more":false},"utm_campaign":null,"utm_content":null,"utm_medium":null,"utm_source":null,"utm_term":null,"referrer":null,"sms_consent":false,"unsubscribed_from_sms":false}

I create an event for the lead, whether existing or newly created:

Connecting: api.intercom.io:443
Sending: POST http://api.intercom.io:443/events
Header: accept-encoding: gzip, deflate
Header: accept: application/vnd.intercom.3+json
Header: user-agent: Intercom-Ruby/4.2.1
Header: content-type: application/json
Header: acceptencoding: gzip, deflate
Header: authorization: Bearer aREDACTED]
Header: host: api.intercom.io
Header: content-length: 282
Data: {"event_name":"guest-invited","created_at":1688186705,"id":"iREDACTED]","metadata":{"invitation_link":"nREDACTED]","effi_event_name":"mREDACTED]"}}
Status: 202
Benchmark: 0.424042 seconds
Header: date: Sat, 01 Jul 2023 04:45:06 GMT
Header: content-type: text/html
Header: transfer-encoding: chunked
Header: connection: keep-alive
Header: status: 202 Accepted
Header: x-ratelimit-limit: 167
Header: x-ratelimit-reset: 1688186711
Header: x-intercom-version: 5404b96008c2cb8d59fba43f2a4614e0a1736517
Header: x-ratelimit-remaining: 165
Header: vary: Accept-Encoding
Header: content-encoding: gzip
Header: x-intercomrade: Like APIs? Check out https://www.intercom.io/careers
Header: x-request-id: 002jbokheh78hnc749lg
Header: x-frame-options: SAMEORIGIN
Header: cache-control: no-cache
Header: strict-transport-security: max-age=31556952; includeSubDomains; preload
Header: x-xss-protection: 1; mode=block
Header: intercom-version: 2.9
Header: x-runtime: 0.133361
Header: x-content-type-options: nosniff
Header: server: nginx
Response:

When the lead already exists, the event works and the email is sent. The problem: when a new lead is created (like the interaction above) - the event is not shown in Intercom and the email is not sent. The lead is created though, and if I try for the same lead again after a few minutes - the lead is found in search and the event is triggered.

So it seems there needs to be some time after a lead is created before an event can be triggered for that lead. The strange thing is, the event creation API seems to be successful, it responds with a 202.

Can somebody help in understanding what I am doing wrong?