Send Your First Transactional Email with MailAnvil in 5 Minutes

2026-07-19 · MailAnvil Team

Send Your First Transactional Email with MailAnvil in 5 Minutes

You built an app. Now it needs to send emails — welcome emails, password resets, order confirmations. You need a transactional email API that doesn't suck.

MailAnvil is a developer-first transactional email API built on Cloudflare Workers + AWS SES. IDR pricing. QRIS/GoPay payments. MCP-native for AI agents. But today we're keeping it simple: REST API, curl, 5 minutes.

Step 1: Sign Up (30 seconds)

curl -X POST https://api.mailanvil.com/v1/signup \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "email": "you@example.com",
    "password": "your-secure-password"
  }'

Response:

{
  "api_key": "key_01J...",
  "customer": {
    "id": "cus_01J...",
    "email": "you@example.com",
    "plan": "free"
  }
}

Save that api_key — you'll use it for every request. It's only shown once.

Check your inbox for the verification email. Click the link to activate your account. Without verification, you can't send.

Step 2: Verify Your Domain (60 seconds)

MailAnvil won't send from unverified domains. This stops spammers and protects deliverability for everyone.

curl -X POST https://api.mailanvil.com/v1/domains \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer key_01J..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"domain": "example.com"}'

Response:

{
  "id": "dom_01J...",
  "domain": "example.com",
  "dkim_status": "pending",
  "dns_records": [
    {
      "type": "TXT",
      "name": "_amazonses.example.com",
      "value": "v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=MIGfMA0G...",
      "verified": false
    },
    {
      "type": "TXT",
      "name": "mailanvil._domainkey.example.com",
      "value": "v=DKIM1; h=sha256; k=rsa; p=MIIBIjAN...",
      "verified": false
    }
  ]
}

Add those DNS records to your domain. If your DNS is on Cloudflare, MailAnvil auto-configures DKIM for you — zero manual steps. For other DNS providers, copy-paste the records.

Once added, verify:

curl -X POST https://api.mailanvil.com/v1/domains/dom_01J.../verify \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer key_01J..."

Wait for DNS propagation (1-5 minutes). Response:

{
  "id": "dom_01J...",
  "dkim_status": "verified"
}

Green light. You're ready to send.

Step 3: Send Your First Email (30 seconds)

curl -X POST https://api.mailanvil.com/v1/send \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer key_01J..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -d '{
    "from": "noreply@example.com",
    "to": ["customer@their-inbox.com"],
    "subject": "Welcome to My App!",
    "html": "<h1>Welcome!</h1><p>Thanks for signing up. Your account is ready.</p>",
    "text": "Welcome! Thanks for signing up. Your account is ready."
  }'

Response: 202 Accepted

{
  "email_id": "em_01J...",
  "status": "queued"
}

202 means queued, not delivered. MailAnvil processes it through CF Queue → SES. Delivery happens in seconds.

The Idempotency-Key header prevents double-sends. Same key = same result. Use a UUID per unique email.

Step 4: Check Delivery Status

curl https://api.mailanvil.com/v1/emails/em_01J... \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer key_01J..."

Response:

{
  "id": "em_01J...",
  "from": "noreply@example.com",
  "subject": "Welcome to My App!",
  "status": "delivered",
  "recipients": [
    {
      "email": "customer@their-inbox.com",
      "status": "delivered",
      "delivered_at": "2026-07-19T12:00:05Z"
    }
  ],
  "created_at": "2026-07-19T12:00:01Z"
}

Boom. Email delivered.

Step 5: List All Your Emails

curl "https://api.mailanvil.com/v1/emails?limit=20" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer key_01J..."

Pagination: ?limit=50&offset=50. The dashboard at app.mailanvil.com shows all this visually.

What Just Happened Under the Hood

Your curl → API Worker (Hono.js, auth, validation)
         → CF Queue (at-most-once claim)
         → Consumer Worker (suppression check, DKIM verify)
         → AWS SES (ap-southeast-1, SigV4 signed)
         → Recipient inbox

Every step has guardrails: - DKIM verified domain required before sending (INV-1) - Suppression list checked — hard-bounced or complained addresses blocked (INV-2) - At-most-once per email ID — no duplicates even on retry (INV-3) - Automatic kill switch if bounce rate exceeds 5% or complaint rate exceeds 0.3% (INV-5)

Pricing: Pay in Rupiah

Plan	Emails/mo	Price
Free	500	Rp 0
Starter	10,000	Rp 149rb/bln
Growth	100,000	Rp 599rb/bln
Scale	1,000,000	Rp 2.9jt/bln

All plans include DKIM, SPF, suppression list, webhooks, and the dashboard. No hidden per-email fees. Pay with QRIS, GoPay, or bank transfer.

Next Steps

Full API docs — every endpoint, every error code
MCP Server — let AI agents send email directly
Dashboard — visual logs, domain management, billing

For Cloudflare DNS Users

If your domain is on Cloudflare DNS, MailAnvil auto-configures DKIM when you add a domain. No manual TXT records. No copy-paste. Just add the domain and we handle the rest. This is a MailAnvil exclusive — no other email API does this.

Got questions? Email support@mailanvil.com or open an issue on GitHub.

Start sending: app.mailanvil.com