Create a template
Creates a template and its first draft version. Drafts cannot send — render it, test it, then publish. Requires a write-scope key.
bearerAuth writeAuthorizationBearer <token>An API key from the dashboard under Settings → API keys, sent as Authorization: Bearer aem_….
Authorization has two independent axes.
The scope is ranked — a key satisfies any requirement at or below its own tier:
read— see messages, contacts and metrics. Changes nothing, and cannot send.write— everythingreaddoes, plus managing templates, contacts, automations, segments and suppressions. This is what editing a template needs.admin— everythingwritedoes, plus sending configuration: domains, senders, webhook registration, kill switch, daily cap, brand.
There is no approve scope. It was a rung once; it is not one now, and a key requested with it is rejected.
The approval grant (can_approve) is a separate boolean, not a rung. Delivering mail to a real inbox needs write and the grant. Keeping them on separate axes is what makes the review gate a control rather than a convention: a key that may propose is not automatically a key that may approve its own proposal.
Give your application the lowest tier that works. Most need write and the grant — the dashboard mints that combination as Send + manage; Manage only is the same rung with the grant withheld.
Scope: write
Idempotency-Key?stringMakes a retry safe (1–256 chars, kept 24 hours). The same key with the same body replays the first success with Idempotency-Replay: true; the same key with a different body, or while the first request is still running, is 409 conflict. A failed request releases its key. Use a value tied to the thing you are creating, e.g. onboarding/user_42.
1 <= length <= 256application/json- body
slug*stringkebab-case identity, unique in the project. This is what POST /api/v1/emails sends by.
^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*$2 <= length <= 60name*stringHuman label for the dashboard.
1 <= length <= 120description?stringlength <= 500category*stringtransactional (receipts, resets — delivered even to unsubscribed contacts) or lifecycle (marketing email — not delivered to unsubscribed contacts). Both carry List-Unsubscribe headers and an unsubscribe footer; the category decides only who an existing unsubscribe blocks.
"transactional""lifecycle"subject*stringSubject line. Supports {{variable}} interpolation.
1 <= length <= 300tsx_source*stringreact.email TSX. May import only react and @react-email/components — the allowlist is enforced at compile time and a violation returns invalid_request.
20 <= length <= 100000variables?array<>Declared template variables, used to generate example props for rendering.
items <= 40[]Template created as an unpublished draft.
application/json- response
id?stringslug?stringversion?integerstatus?"draft""draft"curl -X POST 'https://sendandretain.com/api/v1/templates' \ -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \ -d '{ "slug": "welcome", "name": "Welcome email", "category": "transactional", "subject": "Welcome to Acme, {{firstName}}", "tsx_source": "import { Html, Head, Preview, Body, Text } from '\''@react-email/components'\'';\nexport default function Welcome({ firstName }) {\n return (<Html><Head /><Preview>{`Welcome, ${firstName}`}</Preview><Body><Text>Hi {firstName}</Text></Body></Html>);\n}", "variables": [ { "name": "firstName", "type": "string", "required": true } ]}'{ "id": "tpl_9Xa2", "slug": "welcome", "version": 1, "status": "draft"}