Engagement-Based Suppression Workflow

Build a two-tier sunset system that protects email deliverability while giving disengaged contacts a fair chance to re-engage before suppression.

Why Two Tiers Matter

Suppressing contacts immediately after inactivity is aggressive and loses potential re-activations. A two-tier approach:

• Tier 1 (inactive for your sunset window — typically 120-270 days): Triggers a re-engagement campaign — a last chance to interact.
• Tier 2 (your re-engagement window after Tier 1 — typically 21-45 days — with still no engagement): Suppresses the contact from marketing emails.

This preserves deliverability scores while maximizing the recoverable audience.

Prerequisites

• HubSpot Marketing Professional or Enterprise plan
• A HubSpot service key (HUBSPOT_ACCESS_TOKEN in .env; an existing legacy private app token also works) with the automation scope (for the API path)
• Python 3.10+ with uv
• A re-engagement email campaign or sequence ready to send
• A custom dropdown property to track suppression status (default: engagement_flag — the execute script creates it if missing)

Scripts

Script paths are relative to this skill's directory. Run them from your project directory so .env, data/, and reports/ resolve there: prefix each path with wherever this skill is installed (skills/engagement-suppression-workflow/ in a clone of the repo).

before.py inventories existing workflows and checks for name collisions. execute.py creates the engagement_flag property (if missing) and both sunset workflows via POST /automation/v4/flows — always disabled, for review in the UI before enabling. after.py verifies they exist and reports enabled state.

Workflow Design

TRIGGER: Last engagement date > [sunset window] ago
         AND email is known
         AND not globally unsubscribed
         AND [suppression status property] is unknown
              │
              ▼
     ┌────────────────────┐
     │ Set [status prop]   │
     │ = "re-engagement    │
     │    sent"            │
     └────────┬───────────┘
              │
              ▼
     ┌────────────────────┐
     │ Enroll in           │
     │ re-engagement       │
     │ campaign/sequence   │
     └────────┬───────────┘
              │
              ▼
     ┌────────────────────┐
     │ Delay: [re-engage    │
     │  window] days       │
     └────────┬───────────┘
              │
              ▼
     ┌────────────────────┐
     │ IF/THEN BRANCH:     │
     │ Any engagement in   │
     │ re-engage window?   │
     ├──────────┬─────────┘
     │ YES      │ NO
     │          │
     ▼          ▼
   Clear     Set [status prop]
   status    = "suppressed"
   prop      + set non-marketing

Building the Workflow: Two Options

Option A: Create via the v4 Automation API (primary)

API status: HubSpot documents the Workflows API as beta and subject to change. Its current reference is the date-based beta path /automation/v4/2027-03-beta/flows; this skill's scripts still call the unversioned /automation/v4/flows path, which v4's end of support on March 30, 2027 also covers. Creating workflows disabled and reviewing them in the UI is what makes a beta API acceptable here. If a script's create call starts failing, the manual UI build below is the fallback.

The v4 Automation API supports creating workflows programmatically. Instead of one workflow with an if/then branch, the script decomposes the design into two linear workflows — which the API expresses cleanly and which are easier to reason about:

1. Tier 1 — Flag for Re-engagement: enrollment = last open older than the sunset window (or never) AND email known AND not globally unsubscribed AND flag unknown. Action: set engagement_flag = "re-engagement sent".
2. Tier 2 — Suppress Non-responders: enrollment = flag = "re-engagement sent" AND still no open/click after sunset + re-engagement windows. Actions: set flag = "suppressed", set marketing contact status to non-marketing.

Run the scripts (configure SUNSET_DAYS, REENGAGE_DAYS, FLAG_PROPERTY in execute.py first):

uv run scripts/before.py
uv run scripts/execute.py

Safety model: both workflows are created with isEnabled: false. Review them in Automation > Workflows, then:

• Add the "enroll in re-engagement sequence/email" action to Tier 1 (email/sequence IDs are portal-specific).
• If the script reported it could not include the set-marketing-status action, add "Set marketing contact status" to Tier 2 in the UI (one click).
• Turn both on, choosing whether to enroll existing contacts.

Payload notes: the scripts use documented v4 action types (0-5 set property; 0-31 set marketing contact status, with automatic fallback if your portal rejects its undocumented field shape). If a filter shape is rejected, HubSpot's own recommendation applies: build the workflow once in the UI, GET /automation/v4/flows/{flowId}, and adapt the script to the exact shapes your portal returns.

Option B: Manual UI Build (single workflow with branch)

Follow the step-by-step instructions in Stage 3 below. This builds the original single-workflow design with the if/then re-engagement branch, and works on portals where the Automation API is unavailable.

Alternatives: HubSpot Breeze AI can scaffold a similar workflow from a prompt, but it creates event-based (OR) triggers instead of filter-based (AND) triggers and cannot configure re-enrollment or "is unknown" conditions — every Breeze-built trigger needs manual verification. The Claude Chrome extension can drive the workflow builder UI directly. Both are secondary to Options A and B.

Step-by-Step Build Instructions

Stage 1: Plan

1. Choose your sunset window (typically 120-270 days; default 180) and re-engagement window (21-45 days; default 30).
2. Define "engagement" for the Tier 2 check. Recommended: email open OR email click within the re-engagement window.
3. Create or identify a re-engagement email/sequence. A simple 1-2 email series asking "Still interested?" with a clear CTA works well.

Stage 2: Before

Run uv run scripts/before.py — it inventories all workflows, flags name collisions with the two planned SUNSET workflows, and writes the inventory CSV baseline.

If building manually, also create your suppression status property (dropdown: "re-engagement sent", "suppressed") if it does not exist — the API path creates it automatically.

Stage 3: Execute

Option A: run uv run scripts/execute.py, then complete the UI review steps listed above.

Option B — manual UI build:

1. Set enrollment trigger:
   • hs_email_last_open_date is more than your sunset window (typically 120-270 days) ago OR is unknown
   • AND email is known
   • AND hs_email_optout is not true
   • AND your suppression status property is unknown
2. Action: Set contact property
   • Your suppression status property = "re-engagement sent"
3. Action: Enroll in re-engagement sequence (or send re-engagement email)
4. Delay: your re-engagement window (typically 21-45 days)
5. If/then branch:
   • Condition: hs_email_last_open_date is less than [re-engagement window] days ago OR hs_email_last_click_date is less than [re-engagement window] days ago
   • YES (re-engaged): Set your suppression status property to blank/unknown (clears flag, contact returns to normal)
   • NO (still disengaged): Set your suppression status property = "suppressed" and set hs_marketable_status to non-marketing contact via the "Set marketing contact status" workflow action. (The property itself is read-only via direct API writes — a workflow action is the mechanism, whether the workflow is built in the UI or created via the v4 API.)
6. Settings:
   • Re-enrollment: OFF
   • Goal: Contact opens or clicks any email (optional — exits workflow early)
7. Turn on the workflow.

Stage 4: After

1. Run uv run scripts/after.py (API path) to confirm both workflows exist and report their enabled state.
2. Spot-check 10-20 contacts that entered the workflow. Confirm:
   • Re-engagement email was sent
   • After the re-engagement window, disengaged contacts were suppressed
   • Re-engaged contacts had their suppression status property cleared (Option B) or never entered Tier 2 (Option A)
3. Monitor deliverability metrics weekly for the first month.
4. Track how many contacts re-engage vs. get suppressed — adjust the sunset window if needed.

Rollback

1. Turn off the workflow.
2. To reverse suppressions: filter contacts where your suppression status property = "suppressed" and manually set them back to marketing contacts in the UI.
3. Clear the suppression status property values in bulk if needed.

Tuning

• Shorten the sunset window (e.g., 90-120 days) for aggressive deliverability improvement.
• Lengthen the re-engagement window (e.g., 45-60 days) if your email cadence is low.
• Exclude recent customers — add a filter to skip contacts with lifecycle stage = Customer or with a closed-won deal in the last 12 months.