SendGrid Email API

Set up API access for sending transactional and marketing emails with SendGrid.

⏱ 10 minutes email messaging app.sendgrid.com

getapi sendgrid

Prerequisites

A SendGrid account (free tier available at signup)
A verified sender email address or authenticated domain

Credentials

Variable	Description	Sensitive
`SENDGRID_API_KEY`	API key for authenticating requests to the SendGrid API	Secret

Setup Steps

1 Info

We'll create a SendGrid API key for sending emails. You'll also need a verified sender identity before you can send any emails.
2 Open URL

Opening the SendGrid dashboard. Sign in or create an account if prompted.
https://app.sendgrid.com
3 Choice
Do you have a verified sender identity (email or domain)?
- Yes, I have a verified sender
  
  → Jumps to create_key_nav
- No, I need to set one up
  
  → Jumps to setup_sender
4 Open URL

Opening Sender Authentication settings. You can either verify a single sender email (quick) or authenticate an entire domain (recommended for production).
https://app.sendgrid.com/settings/sender_auth
5 Choice
Which verification method do you want to use?
- Single Sender Verification (quick, good for testing)
  
  Configures: sender_note
- Domain Authentication (recommended for production)
  
  Configures: sender_note
6 Info

sender_note
7 Confirm

Sender identity verified (or verification in progress for domain auth)?

Checkpoint — confirm before continuing
8 Open URL

Opening the API Keys page.
https://app.sendgrid.com/settings/api_keys
9 Info

Click 'Create API Key'. Give it a descriptive name. For permissions, 'Full Access' works for development, but 'Restricted Access' is recommended for production (grant only 'Mail Send' if you just need to send emails).
10 Confirm

API key created? It should be displayed on screen now.

Checkpoint — confirm before continuing
11 Input

Copy your API key and paste it here (starts with SG.):

→ SENDGRID_API_KEY

Starts with SG. At least 20 characters
12 Validate

Checking your API key works...

API key verified. SendGrid is ready to send emails.

Couldn't verify the API key. Make sure you copied it correctly and it has the necessary permissions.

Things to Know

SendGrid API keys are shown only once when created. If you lose it, you'll need to create a new one.
The free tier allows 100 emails per day. Paid plans start at 40,000 emails per month.
You MUST have a verified sender identity before sending any emails, or API calls will fail with a 403 error.
If using Single Sender Verification, emails can only be sent from that exact address. Domain auth allows any address on the domain.
SendGrid may suspend new accounts that send too many emails too quickly. Start with small volumes and ramp up gradually.