> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.conversion.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Update Subscription Status

> Change a contact's email subscription status within a workflow, with built-in compliance safeguards.

The Update Subscription Status node changes a contact's email subscription state as they pass through a workflow. This node enforces strict transition rules to protect deliverability and comply with email regulations like CAN-SPAM and GDPR. Only safe transitions are allowed — you cannot use this node to resubscribe contacts who have unsubscribed or bounced.

## Configuration

Select one of two target statuses:

### Update to "Subscribed"

Moves the contact to **Subscribed** status. This transition is only allowed when the contact's current status is **No subscription status**.

| Current status         | Result                |
| ---------------------- | --------------------- |
| No subscription status | Changed to Subscribed |
| Subscribed             | No change             |
| Unsubscribed           | No change (blocked)   |
| Bounced                | No change (blocked)   |

**Common use cases:**

* Automatically subscribing new leads from form submissions who arrive without a subscription status
* Subscribing CRM-synced contacts that were imported without a status
* Adding trial signups or event registrants to email campaigns

### Update to "No subscription status"

Moves the contact to **No subscription status**. This transition is only allowed when the contact's current status is **Subscribed**.

| Current status         | Result                            |
| ---------------------- | --------------------------------- |
| Subscribed             | Changed to No subscription status |
| No subscription status | No change                         |
| Unsubscribed           | No change (blocked)               |
| Bounced                | No change (blocked)               |

**Common use cases:**

* Temporarily suppressing internal or test accounts from campaigns without unsubscribing them
* Preventing unqualified leads from receiving emails until they meet criteria
* Cleaning up incorrectly marked imported contacts

## Decision logic

The full transition matrix:

| Current status             | Update to Subscribed | Update to No subscription status |
| -------------------------- | -------------------- | -------------------------------- |
| **Subscribed**             | No change            | Changed                          |
| **No subscription status** | Changed              | No change                        |
| **Unsubscribed**           | No change            | No change                        |
| **Bounced**                | No change            | No change                        |

## Why these restrictions exist

The node intentionally prevents certain transitions to protect you and your recipients:

* **Deliverability protection.** Re-sending to bounced email addresses damages your sender reputation and can cause your domain to be blocklisted. Bounced contacts must remain in their current state.
* **Compliance enforcement.** Resubscribing contacts who explicitly unsubscribed violates CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and other email regulations. Unsubscribed status represents the contact's explicit intent and cannot be overridden by automation.
* **Data integrity.** Restricting transitions to safe paths maintains a clean, auditable opt-in history. If you need to manually override a contact's status (e.g., after a direct request), do so in the contact record directly for full accountability.

<Warning>
  Manual overrides for Unsubscribed and Bounced contacts are only available directly in the contact record. This is by design — forcing these changes to be manual ensures intentionality and creates an audit trail.
</Warning>

## Behavior

* The node executes once per contact as they pass through.
* If the transition is blocked (e.g., attempting to subscribe a bounced contact), the node is silently skipped and the contact advances to the next step.
* The subscription status is updated before the contact advances to the next node.