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

# Send Your First Email with EffiLink: Quick Start Guide

> Follow this step-by-step guide to create an EffiLink account, get your API key, and send your first transactional email in under 5 minutes.

This guide walks you through creating an EffiLink account, obtaining an API key, setting up a verified sender, and making your first API call to send a transactional email. You'll be sending in under 5 minutes.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create an account">
    Sign up at [app.effilink.co](https://app.effilink.co). Your account is free to create — no credit card required for trial access.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Get your API key">
    1. Log in to your EffiLink account.
    2. Click **Settings** in the top-right corner.
    3. Navigate to **API Configuration → API Keys**.
    4. Click **Create API Key** in the top-right.
    5. **Save the generated key immediately** — the second half of the key is only shown once.

    <Warning>
      Store your API key in a secure secrets manager. Never commit it to source control or expose it in client-side code.
    </Warning>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add a verified sender">
    Before you can send email, you must register the sending address or domain:

    1. Go to **Settings → Verified Senders**.
    2. Add your sending email address (e.g. `noreply@yourdomain.com`).
    3. Complete domain verification by adding the DNS records EffiLink provides (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).

    <Info>
      You can start testing with sandbox mode while domain verification is in progress. See [Sandbox Mode](/docs/sandbox-mode).
    </Info>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Send your first email">
    With your API key and verified sender ready, make this API call:

    ```bash theme={null}
    curl --request POST \
      --url https://api.effilink.co/v5/transactional/mail/sends_customised \
      --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
      --header 'ApiKey: YOUR_API_KEY' \
      --data '{
        "subject": "Welcome to our platform",
        "content": "<p>Hello! Thanks for signing up.</p>",
        "senderMail": "noreply@yourdomain.com",
        "senderName": "Your Company",
        "to": {
          "email": "recipient@example.com",
          "name": "Recipient Name"
        }
      }'
    ```

    A successful response looks like:

    ```json theme={null}
    {
      "code": 200,
      "message": ""
    }
    ```
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What's next?

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Transactional Email" icon="envelope" href="/docs/transactional-email">
    Explore all parameters for sending single and batch transactional emails.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Campaign Email" icon="bullhorn" href="/docs/campaign-email">
    Learn how to send marketing campaigns to contact lists.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Webhooks" icon="webhook" href="/docs/webhooks">
    Receive real-time delivery and engagement events.
  </Card>

  <Card title="API Reference" icon="code" href="/api/transactional-send">
    Full endpoint reference documentation.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>