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Send email sends one of your saved email templates from an automation, through a sending account you pick. It works with every kind of account your brand has, so one step covers SMTP, Amazon SES, Postmark, Brevo, Resend, Mailgun, SendGrid and Mailrelay. Find it in the step list under Email. The step does not hold a copy of the email. It sends the template as it is when the step runs, so a change you save in the email builder reaches the next email the automation sends. The Send email step's options: Sending account, Email template with Edit email in builder, To, and the optional Subject, From email and From name showing the template's values in grey

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The fields

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Variables in the template

Write variables in the email builder the same way as in any other email, for example {{ purchase.customer_first_name }}. When the step runs, they are filled with the data of that run: the trigger’s data and the output of the steps before it. The variable picker in a step inserts the same values in the form {trigger.customer_first_name}, and both forms work in the template. A value that came from a visitor, such as a name typed into a form, is shown as text. It can’t add links, images or other markup to the email. A variable with no value in that run prints nothing. See Variables for what each trigger provides.

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Which account sends it

With Sending account picked, that account sends the email. Leave it empty and the step uses:
  1. your brand SMTP server, when the brand has one,
  2. otherwise your brand’s email sending account, when it has exactly one.
With no SMTP and several sending accounts, pick one in the step, or the email is not sent. An account must belong to the brand and be active. A paused account is refused, and the step fails instead of sending through another account.

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Which sender it uses

The from address is chosen in this order:
  1. the From email typed in the step,
  2. the template’s from address,
  3. the account’s Default From Email.
A from address set in the step or in the template has to be one the provider accepts: on a domain or sender you verified with that provider, or the provider refuses the email. The notice in the step says the same. The full rule is on How the sender is chosen.

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Steps made before templates were required

Before October 18, 2026, picking a template copied its subject and body into the step. Those steps keep sending the body saved in them, and the step shows a notice about it. Pick an email template in the step to send the template instead.

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When it fails

The step fails, and the reason is shown on the run, when:
  • the template was deleted,
  • the template has no subject and the step sets none,
  • the provider refuses the email (an unverified from address, a revoked key),
  • no account can send it.
See Run history.

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The older per-provider steps

The Mailgun, SendGrid and Mailrelay send steps are still in the step list and keep working in the automations that use them. They only send through their own provider, and they keep a copy of the template made when you picked it. Use Send email for Amazon SES, Postmark, Brevo, Resend or your SMTP server, when you want template changes to reach the automation, or when you want to switch providers later by changing one field.