How to Send Email From Claude Code (No Coding Needed)

Your project is coming together in Claude Code. Then a sign-up form needs a welcome email, or a "forgot password" link needs to send something, and Claude Code tells you to set up a transactional email service and add your API key. If that's where you are, this guide is for you.

You'll see why your project can't send email by itself, what every email setup involves, and how to have Claude Code send email for you without opening a dashboard. By the end, you'll have sent your first email from the Claude Code chat and know what to ask for next.

No coding needed. Every step is either a few clicks or a message to Claude Code, written the way you'd brief a designer or developer.

Why does your project need an email service?

Your project needs an email service because the code Claude Code writes can decide when an email should go out, but it can't deliver one on its own. Delivery is a separate job, handled by a service that sends messages for you from your domain.

The emails in question are called transactional emails: messages your project sends automatically because someone did something. A transactional email service is the company that sends them. Here are the ones most projects need first:

You'll find the full list, with examples, in 12 transactional emails every SaaS needs.

These are different from newsletters and promotions, which people sign up to receive and which usually live in a separate tool. If you're not sure which kind you need, read transactional vs marketing emails. And if you're wondering whether you need any of this yet, this guide to Claude Code's recommendation walks through it.

What it takes to set up a developer email service

Most email services, such as Resend and SendGrid, are built for developers. They work well, and plenty of developers prefer them. Claude Code can help with the code, but their dashboards, docs and support assume you already know your way around keys, DNS and code.

Here's what that involves, using Resend's own documentation as the example:

1. Create an account on the provider's website.
2. Add and verify your domain. You add DNS records at the company where you bought your domain. DNS records are settings that tell the internet how your domain works, and these ones prove you own it. Resend recommends sending from a subdomain such as mail.yourcompany.com rather than yourcompany.com itself. Our guide to verifying a domain for email covers this step.
3. Create an API key. An API key is a secret code that lets your live project use the provider's service. Resend shows a new key only once, so you need to copy it straight away.
4. Store the key safely. It goes in a private settings file in your project, called a .env file, or in your hosting platform's settings. Here's where API keys should go and why.
5. Add the sending code. Claude Code can install the provider's SDK (a ready-made code library) and write the code that sends each email, once you've given it what it needs.
6. Send a test, and work out what went wrong if it doesn't arrive.

None of these steps is hard on its own, but the help around them is written for developers. Our step-by-step Resend setup shows the full process with current screens.

How SimpleSends lets Claude Code send email for you

SimpleSends is a transactional email service built for people who build with Claude Code but don't write code. You sign up, set up your sending address and connect SimpleSends to Claude Code once. From then on, you brief Claude Code in plain English and it takes care of your emails.

You connect SimpleSends to Claude Code as a connector. A connector is an MCP server: MCP, short for Model Context Protocol, is an open standard that lets AI tools like Claude Code work with other services. The people behind it compare it to a USB-C port, one standard plug that fits many devices. Our guide to email MCP servers explains what one lets Claude Code do.

Here's what makes SimpleSends different:

• It's built for people who don't code. The sign-up, the connect steps and the help are all written for someone who has never seen an API key.
• Everything after sign-up happens in the chat. You don't need to keep a dashboard open for day-to-day work. You tell Claude Code what you want, the way you'd brief a person.
• Claude Code does the whole job. It designs, writes, builds and changes every transactional email, from welcome emails to receipts, so "set up all my transactional emails" is a good place to start.
• Problems get sorted in plain English. If a user says an email never arrived, Claude Code checks the send logs in SimpleSends and tells you what happened.

What happens once your SaaS is live? The connector is for building. While you work in Claude Code, it lets Claude Code set up your emails and send you tests. When a real customer signs up or resets their password, your live project sends the email through SimpleSends on its own, using a secret key and a small piece of sending code in your project. Claude Code doesn't need to be open, and nothing goes through the chat.

Resend also offers an official Claude Code plugin with its own MCP server, so Claude Code can work with Resend from the chat too. Resend is a strong choice for developers, and its tools, docs and dashboard are built for people who code. SimpleSends is built for people who don't: after one sign-up, you work with Claude Code in plain English. For a closer look at Resend, see setting up Resend in Claude Code, or compare the two best-known providers in Resend vs SendGrid.

Which should you choose? If you're a developer who wants to control every setting, or you already use a provider and it works, a developer email service is a sound choice. If you'd rather not open a dashboard or write code, SimpleSends lets Claude Code take care of email for you.

Step by step: connect SimpleSends and send your first email

To send your first email, sign up on the SimpleSends website and set up your email address, add SimpleSends as a connector in Claude Code, log in, and then tell Claude Code it's connected. These steps work the same whether you use Claude Code in the desktop app or in your browser.

1. Sign up and set up your email address. Create your account on the SimpleSends website and follow the steps to set up the address your emails will come from, such as hello@yourcompany.com. To send from your own domain, this includes adding a few DNS records where your domain is registered. Sign-up happens on the website, not inside the Claude Code chat.

2. Add SimpleSends as a connector. In Claude Code, open Customize, then Connectors. Choose Add, then Add custom connector, and fill in:

   Field	What to enter
   Name	SimpleSends
   MCP server URL	https://mcp.simplesends.com/mcp

3. Log in to SimpleSends. When Claude asks you to connect, log in with your SimpleSends account. This links your account to Claude Code.

4. Tell Claude Code it's connected. Back in your Claude Code chat, send this message:

   I've connected SimpleSends for all transactional email.

   What to expect: Claude Code takes it from there, including adding what your project needs to send email. If you're ever unsure the connection is working, ask Claude Code whether SimpleSends is connected.

5. Send your first test email. Swap in your own email address:

   Can you send a quick test email to [your email address] through SimpleSends? Make the subject "Test from my project" and add one line saying the connection works. Let me know once it's sent.

   What to expect: The first time Claude Code uses SimpleSends, it may ask your permission. That's normal, so approve it. Claude Code then confirms the email was sent. Check your inbox.

6. Add your first real email. Now brief Claude Code on something your users will receive:

   When someone signs up, I'd like them to get a friendly welcome email from hello@yourcompany.com. Use their first name, keep it under 100 words, and add a button that takes them to their dashboard. Show me a preview and send me a test before you switch it on.

   What to expect: Claude Code shows you the email, sends you a test, and waits for your go-ahead before switching it on.

Want to know more about connectors in general? Our guide to connecting an MCP server to Claude Code explains how they work and what to do if one won't connect.

What to ask Claude Code next

Once SimpleSends is connected, work through the emails your project needs, one message at a time. Brief Claude Code as you would a person: who gets the email, what triggers it, which address it comes from and what it should say. Ask for a test first.

Here are good next messages to try:

Password resets

Let's add a "forgot password" email through SimpleSends. The reset link should stop working after an hour. Send me a test first.

Our guide to password reset emails covers what makes them secure.

Contact form notifications

When someone fills in my contact form, email me their name and message through SimpleSends. Set it up so I can hit reply and answer them directly.

See how to make your contact form send emails for the details, including an automatic reply to the sender.

Receipts after payment

After someone pays, send them a receipt through SimpleSends with what they bought, the amount and the date. Show me a preview first.

More on what to include in order confirmation and receipt emails.

Branded templates

I'd like all my emails to match my site, with the same logo, colors and font. Keep them clean and easy to read on a phone, and send me a test of each one.

Our guide to Claude Code email templates has before-and-after examples.

Checking an email was sent

A user says they never got their welcome email. Can you check in SimpleSends whether it went to [their email address] and tell me what happened?

Claude Code checks the send logs in SimpleSends for you and tells you whether the email went out, so you don't have to dig through a dashboard. When something does go missing, how to check whether your emails sent walks through the usual causes.

Before you launch, test every email end to end. Our email testing guide includes a pre-launch checklist.

For the bigger picture, read transactional emails in Claude Code: a beginner's guide. And if you'd like ready-made wording for every common email, try our 20 Claude Code prompts for your SaaS emails.