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Log Search lets you look up any message that passed through MailChannels Outbound Filtering and find out exactly what happened to it. You can search by sender, recipient, subject, delivery status, SMTP response code, and more. Results appear in reverse chronological order, with the most recent messages at the top, and each entry shows the message status, sender, subject, and the time MailChannels processed it. Providers can also access the same data programmatically through the Log Search API, which supports filtering, pagination, and time-interval aggregation — making it straightforward to build delivery dashboards inside your own control panel or support tooling.

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Search from the web interface

To open Log Search, log in to the MailChannels Host Console and navigate to Outbound > Log Search. Type any term in the search box at the top of the page. MailChannels searches all indexed fields — including the from address, recipient addresses, and subject line — for that term. For example, entering joe@example.com returns all messages where that address appears in any field. You can narrow results by searching a specific field using the syntax field:value. Enclose multi-word values in double quotes. Combine multiple field searches with a space (logical AND) or the AND / OR keywords (which must be uppercase).
example queries
sender:joe@example.com
subject:"account suspended"
sender:hotmail AND rcpt:example
sender_id:testuser AND spam_disposition:bulk AND delivered:N
sender:joe@example.com AND rcpt_bad:y

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Searchable fields

FieldDescriptionExample
dateDate the message was processed (YYYY-MM-DD)date:2024-08-15
deliveredWhether the message was delivered (Y or N)delivered:Y
lastcmdLast SMTP command received (CONN, MAIL, RCPT, DATA)lastcmd:DATA
rcptRecipient addressrcpt:bob@example.com
rcpt_badMessage addressed to a non-existent recipient (y or n)rcpt_bad:y
senderEnvelope sender addresssender:joe@example.com
sender_idSender ID as carried in the X-AuthUser headersender_id:testuser
smtp_codeSMTP response code returned by the receiving serversmtp_code:550
spam_dispositionSpam classification (bulk, spam, etc.)spam_disposition:bulk
subjectMessage subject linesubject:"invoice due"
to_dateUpper date bound — no entries newer than this date are returnedto_date:2024-09-01

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Escaping control characters

Certain characters must be escaped with a backslash when used inside a search value:
CharacterEscaped form
&\&
"\"
:\:
For example: subject:"This is important\: foo".

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Sender Profiles

From any Log Search result, you can open a Sender Profile for a specific sender by clicking the Sender Profile icon to the left of the sender ID. A Sender Profile shows:
  • Every message that sender has submitted
  • Any alert notifications generated for that sender
  • A graphical ham-to-spam ratio with current counts
Sender Profiles are also accessible from the Top Senders view, giving you a consistent place to investigate any individual sender’s behavior regardless of how you discover them.

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Log Search API

The Log Search API provides programmatic access to the same delivery data available in the web interface. Providers typically use it to embed delivery diagnostics directly into their hosting control panels or support ticketing systems. With the Log Search API you can:
  • Search logs by any criteria — recipient address, SMTP response code, subject, sender, spam disposition, and more.
  • Identify delivered and undelivered messages to pinpoint deliverability problems.
  • Detect spam and virus dispositions to audit the compliance of your users’ sending.
  • Aggregate results by time interval — days, hours, or weeks — to identify volume trends and detect when an abuse campaign started.
  • Paginate through large result sets for systematic analysis.
The API returns JSON responses and is designed to integrate with any language or framework. Full API and SDK documentation is available at api.mailchannels.net/outbound/v1/search/documentation.

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Sender Profile API

The Log Search API is complemented by the Sender Profile API, which exposes the per-sender behavioral data shown in the Host Console. Use it to:
  • Search and filter transaction logs for a specific sender
  • Retrieve detailed sender behavior information to build a sender profile
  • Retrieve alert notification history for a sender
Together, the Log Search API and Sender Profile API let you build hourly, daily, and weekly deliverability dashboards inside your own tooling, using the same data your support team would review in the Host Console.
If your support team frequently looks up delivery status for specific customers, embedding Log Search API results in your control panel can dramatically reduce the time spent switching between systems.
Contact the MailChannels sales team to enable API access for your account. Once enabled, refer to the API documentation for authentication details and endpoint reference.