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

# Email overview

> The two ways to get a sending identity, the three ways to send, and the setup path from signup to your first email.

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Email is available on every plan and isn't wallet gated. You can send your first campaign minutes
after signing up, using the managed sending address Brudcast gives every new organization. When
you're ready to send under your own name, add your own sending domain.

<Screenshot id="ss-email-overview-hero-setup-tab" alt="The Email channel's Setup tab with the steps Add your first sending domain, Verify DNS records, Add a sender address and Add your postal address" />

Everything for email lives under **Channels > Email**, on three tabs:

| Tab         | What it holds                                                                                                                                               |
| ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Setup**   | The checklist of what's left before email can send                                                                                                          |
| **Domains** | Your sending domains, including the managed sending address. Select a domain to open its DNS records, SMTP credentials, sending keys, IP pools and settings |
| **Senders** | Saved sender addresses for the campaign composer                                                                                                            |

## Two ways to get a sending identity

|                         | Managed sending address                                                    | Your own sending domain                                                                     |
| ----------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Ready                   | At signup                                                                  | After you publish five DNS records and verify them                                          |
| From address            | `mail@<label>.brudcastmail.com`, shown as "Your organization via Brudcast" | Any address on your domain                                                                  |
| Daily limit             | 500 emails, or your new-account sending limit if that's lower              | Your plan and your [new-account sending limits](/deliverability/new-account-sending-limits) |
| Campaigns               | Yes                                                                        | Yes                                                                                         |
| Send API and SMTP relay | No                                                                         | Yes                                                                                         |
| Reputation              | Shared with the Brudcast-owned parent domain                               | Your own                                                                                    |

### The managed sending address

The dashboard calls it your **Brudcast trial address**. It sits on `brudcastmail.com`, a domain
Brudcast owns and shares between every organization on a trial address, and that shapes its rules:

* **The address and display name are fixed.** A campaign always goes out as
  `mail@<label>.brudcastmail.com`, with your organization name followed by "via Brudcast". Anything
  you type as the from address is moved to **Reply-To**, so replies still reach you. Organization
  names longer than 40 characters are shortened first.
* **Unsubscribe headers are always on**, because mailbox providers judge bulk-sender rules for the
  whole shared domain.
* **No sending keys and no SMTP credentials.** Those tabs are locked, so use it from campaigns and
  add your own domain to send from code.
* **The tracking hostname is set by Brudcast** and can't be changed.
* **It can't be deleted**, and it doesn't count toward the number of sending domains your plan
  allows.

It appears on the **Domains** tab like any other domain, and its address and display name are on its
**Sender Identity** tab. It also completes the first two steps on the **Setup** tab, which read
"Trial sending address issued" and "Trial address verified".

When your own domain verifies, the 500-a-day cap lifts and the trial address is scheduled to retire
14 days later. The **Domains** tab shows "Retires in N days" under its status. Move any draft or
scheduled campaign to an address on your own domain before that date. On the date the address shows
**Retired**, its DNS records are removed, and a campaign still using it is blocked at send.

## Three ways to send

| Path       | Use it for                                                            | Credential                                       |
| ---------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| Campaigns  | Newsletters, announcements, anything sent to a list or segment        | None. You send from the dashboard                |
| Send API   | Messages your application triggers: receipts, password resets, alerts | A [sending key](/channels/email/domain-api-keys) |
| SMTP relay | An application that already sends mail over SMTP                      | An [SMTP user](/channels/email/smtp-users)       |

All three use the same sending domains, the same suppression list and the same reputation checks.

## Setup path

<Steps>
  <Step title="Add a sending domain" icon="globe">
    [Add a sending domain](/channels/email/add-a-sending-domain). Brudcast generates its DKIM keys and
    five DNS records.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Publish the DNS records" icon="list">
    [DNS records](/channels/email/dns-records) explains each one and shows where to paste them at the
    common DNS providers.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Verify" icon="circle-check">
    [Verify your domain](/channels/email/verify-your-domain).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add your postal address" icon="map-pin">
    Campaigns don't send without it. Add it in
    [Organization Settings](/organization/organization-settings).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Send" icon="send">
    [Send your first email](/channels/email/send-your-first-email) from a campaign, the API or SMTP.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Saving a [sender address](/channels/email/add-a-sending-domain#sender-addresses) is optional. It
makes addresses quicker to pick in the campaign composer.

## What a sending domain gives you

| Feature                                      | Where                    | Details                                                                  |
| -------------------------------------------- | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| DKIM signing                                 | Automatic                | Two selectors, `brd1` and `brd2`, with keys held and rotated by Brudcast |
| SMTP credentials                             | **SMTP Credentials** tab | [SMTP users](/channels/email/smtp-users)                                 |
| Sending keys                                 | **Sending Keys** tab     | [Sending keys](/channels/email/domain-api-keys)                          |
| Open and click tracking, unsubscribe headers | **Settings** tab         | [Tracking and unsubscribes](#tracking-and-unsubscribes)                  |
| Dedicated IPs                                | **IP Pools** tab         | [Deliverability overview](/deliverability/overview)                      |

## Tracking and unsubscribes

Each sending domain's **Settings** tab has a **Tracking & Delivery** section. Open it from
**Channels > Email**, the **Domains** tab, then the domain.

| Mail sent through       | Open and click tracking                                                        | Unsubscribe headers                   |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------- |
| Campaigns               | The campaign's **Track opens** and **Track clicks** settings, on by default    | The domain's **Unsubscribes** setting |
| Send API and SMTP relay | The domain's **Open Tracking** and **Click Tracking** settings, off by default | Never added                           |

A campaign knows who each recipient is and which list they're on, so it carries its own settings and
can act on an unsubscribe. Mail from your application has no campaign behind it, so the domain's
settings decide for it.

* **Tracking needs an HTML part.** Plain-text mail isn't tracked.
* **Opens** are recorded with a 1x1 image, and **clicks** by rewriting links through
  `track.<your domain>`. `mailto:` and `tel:` links, `#` anchors and unsubscribe links aren't
  rewritten.
* **One API call to several recipients credits every open and click to the first address in `to`.**
  Send one message per recipient if you need per-person tracking.
* **Unsubscribes** adds one-click `List-Unsubscribe` and `List-Unsubscribe-Post` headers to campaign
  mail, so mail clients can show their own unsubscribe button. It's off by default, and always on for
  the managed sending address. An unsubscribe applies to the whole organization, not just the list
  the campaign went to.

Publish and verify the tracking record before you turn tracking on, or the tracked links in your mail
break. To use a different hostname, select **Edit** next to **Tracking Hostname** and type a single
label such as `email` or `links`. The tracking record goes back to **Unconfigured** until you publish
the new CNAME and verify it, but the domain keeps its **Verified** status either way.

The same settings can be changed through the platform API with
`PATCH /api/v1/user/sending-domains/{id}` and the fields `openTrackingEnabled`,
`clickTrackingEnabled` and `unsubscribesEnabled`.

## Things to know first

* **Use a subdomain** such as `mail.example.com`, not your root domain. Its sending reputation then
  stays separate from the mail your staff send from the root domain.
* **Mailboxes on the same domain.** If you also host mailboxes on the domain, some records are
  shared. Read [Add a mail domain](/mailbox/add-a-mail-domain) before publishing both.
* **Credits.** Email uses 1 credit per message, and only for sends beyond your plan's allowance. See
  [Credits and wallet](/billing/credits-and-wallet).

## Related

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="DNS records" icon="list" href="/channels/email/dns-records">
    The five records, and where to publish them.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Add a sending domain" icon="globe" href="/channels/email/add-a-sending-domain">
    Start sending under your own name.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Send your first email" icon="send" href="/channels/email/send-your-first-email">
    Campaign, API or SMTP.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Email troubleshooting" icon="life-buoy" href="/channels/email/troubleshooting">
    Error messages and what they mean.
  </Card>
</Columns>