How to Set Up Email Sequences for Resend (Complete Guide)

Setting Up Email Sequences for Resend from Scratch

Resend is one of the best email APIs available for developers — clean documentation, excellent deliverability, and React Email support. But Resend does not include a built-in email sequence or drip campaign feature. That is where Driplane comes in.

This guide walks you through the complete setup: from creating your Resend account to sending your first automated email sequence.

Prerequisites

• A Resend account with a verified domain (free tier works fine)
• A Driplane account ($47 one-time — no subscription)
• At least one contact or audience in Resend

Step 1: Get Your Resend API Key

Log into resend.com/api-keys and create a new API key with full access permissions. Copy the key — you will only see it once.

If you have not verified a domain yet, do that first under Domains in your Resend dashboard. You need a verified domain to send emails.

Step 2: Connect Driplane to Resend

Sign up at driplane.app. After payment, the onboarding wizard will ask for your Resend API key. Paste it in and Driplane encrypts it with AES-256-GCM before storing it. Your key is never visible in plain text after saving.

Driplane immediately syncs your Resend audiences so you can target them in your sequences.

Step 3: Set Up the Webhook

For Driplane to track opens, clicks, bounces, and auto-enroll new contacts, you need to create a webhook in Resend:

1. Go to resend.com/webhooks
2. Add the endpoint URL that Driplane provides (shown during onboarding)
3. Select these events: contact.created, email.opened, email.clicked, email.bounced
4. Copy the signing secret and paste it back into Driplane

Step 4: Create Your First Sequence

Click "New Sequence" from the dashboard. Name it something descriptive like "Welcome Series" or "Trial Onboarding." Select the Resend audience you want to target.

Now build your flow using the visual drag-and-drop builder:

• Email steps: Write your emails in React Email, Markdown, HTML, or plain text
• Wait steps: Add delays between emails (e.g., "Wait 2 days")
• Branch steps: Split based on opens or clicks
• Tag steps: Add tags to contacts as they progress
• Webhook steps: Notify Slack, update your CRM, or trigger any API

Step 5: Test and Activate

Use the test send feature to send yourself preview emails. Check formatting, links, and subject lines. When everything looks good, hit "Activate."

All existing contacts in the audience are enrolled immediately. New contacts added to the audience (via Resend API or webhook) are enrolled automatically.

Monitoring Your Sequence

Driplane's analytics dashboard shows real-time data: emails sent, open rates, click rates, and bounces. You can pause a sequence at any time — contacts freeze in place and resume exactly where they left off when you reactivate.

Common Setup Issues

• Emails not sending: Check that your Resend API key has full access permissions and your domain is verified
• No open/click tracking: Make sure the webhook is set up correctly with all required events
• Contacts not enrolling: Verify the webhook signing secret matches and the contact.created event is enabled

That is it — you now have a fully automated email sequence running on Resend. The entire setup takes about 15 minutes, and you never pay another monthly fee.