Using Automations

Automations allow you to create email steps based on custom events from your application. You can use Automations for use cases like:

Welcome emails
Drip campaigns
Payment recovery
Abandoned cart
Trial expiration

Automations support {{{RESEND_UNSUBSCRIBE_URL}}} for compliance with non-transactional product and marketing messaging. See Unsubscribe behavior for how to add it to a Send Email step, or read more about when to use an unsubscribe link.

How it works

To start executing an Automation, you need to:

Create Automation

Outline the sequence of steps to be executed.

Add Trigger

Define the event name that will trigger the Automation.

Define Steps

Configure the steps to be executed.

Send an Event

Trigger the Automation by sending an event from your application.

Monitor Runs

Track and debug your Automation executions using runs.

Create an Automation

Using the dashboard
Using the API

Create Automation

The Automations page shows all existing automations. You can search by name and filter by status (All Statuses, Enabled, or Disabled) to quickly find the automation you need.Click Create automation to start a new Automation.

Add Trigger

A trigger is the first step that will run when the Automation is executed. You can use a custom event like user.created or onboarding.completed, defining it inline or in the Events page.

In this example, we will receive an event called user.created as a trigger.

See the Trigger documentation for more details.

Define Steps

Now, we need to define the steps that will be executed.There are several step types you can add to your Automation:

Step type	Description
Condition	Branches the workflow based on rules
Delay	Pauses execution for a specified duration
Wait for Event	Pauses execution until a specific event is received
Send Email	Sends an email using a template
Contact Update	Updates a contact’s fields
Contact Delete	Deletes the contact
Add to Segment	Adds the contact to a segment

On this example, we will use the Send Email step.

Once you select that step, you will be able to select an existing template.

If you select a draft template, you can publish it directly from the Send Email node without leaving the workflow editor. Click the Publish button that appears when a draft template is selected.With the template selected, you will be able to configure the email subject and sender address.

Once you’re done with the email, you can click on Start to enable the Automation.

Send an Event

Now, we’re ready to send an event to trigger the Automation.On your application, you can send an event to trigger the Automation by using the API.

import { Resend } from 'resend';

const resend = new Resend('re_xxxxxxxxx');

// Trigger with a contact ID
const { data, error } = await resend.events.send({
  event: 'user.created',
  contactId: '7f2e4a3b-dfbc-4e9a-8b2c-5f3a1d6e7c8b',
  payload: {
    plan: 'pro',
  },
});

// Trigger with an email address
const { data, error } = await resend.events.send({
  event: 'user.created',
  email: 'steve.wozniak@gmail.com',
  payload: {
    plan: 'pro',
  },
});

View the API reference for more details.

Monitor Runs

After sending events, you can monitor your Automation executions through Runs. Each time an event triggers an Automation, a Run is created to track the execution.

Learn how to:

View Run statuses and execution details
Filter Runs by status (running, completed, failed, cancelled)
Debug failed Runs with step-level error information
Stop Automation Runs when needed

See the Runs documentation for more details.

Create Automation

When creating an Automation via the API, you can create an entire Automation flow with a single request. It accepts four parameters (status is optional and defaults to disabled):

name: The name of the Automation.
status: The status of the Automation.
steps: The steps that compose the Automation graph.
connections: The connections between steps in the Automation graph.

import { Resend } from 'resend';

const resend = new Resend('re_xxxxxxxxx');

const { data, error } = await resend.automations.create({
  name: 'Welcome series',
  status: 'disabled',
  steps: [
    {
      key: 'start',
      type: 'trigger',
      config: { eventName: 'user.created' },
    },
    {
      key: 'welcome',
      type: 'send_email',
      config: {
        template: { id: '34a080c9-b17d-4187-ad80-5af20266e535' },
      },
    },
  ],
  connections: [{ from: 'start', to: 'welcome' }],
});

The trigger is defined as the first item in the steps array with type: 'trigger'. It requires you’ve created a custom event like user.created or onboarding.completed.For more help creating an Automation via the API, see the Create Automation API reference.

Send an Event

Trigger the Automation by sending an event from your application.

import { Resend } from 'resend';

const resend = new Resend('re_xxxxxxxxx');

// Trigger with a contact ID
const { data, error } = await resend.events.send({
  event: 'user.created',
  contactId: '7f2e4a3b-dfbc-4e9a-8b2c-5f3a1d6e7c8b',
  payload: {
    plan: 'pro',
  },
});

// Trigger with an email address
const { data, error } = await resend.events.send({
  event: 'user.created',
  email: 'steve.wozniak@gmail.com',
  payload: {
    plan: 'pro',
  },
});

View the Send Event API reference for more details.

Monitor Runs

After sending events, track your Automation executions through Runs.

import { Resend } from 'resend';

const resend = new Resend('re_xxxxxxxxx');

const { data, error } = await resend.automations.runs.list({
  automationId: 'c9b16d4f-ba6c-4e2e-b044-6bf4404e57fd',
});

You can filter Runs by status (running, completed, failed, cancelled).See the Runs documentation and List Runs API reference for more details.

​How it works

​Create an Automation

How it works

Create an Automation