Resend CLI

The official CLI for Resend.

Built for humans, AI agents, and CI/CD pipelines.

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Install

cURL

curl -fsSL https://resend.com/install.sh | bash

Node.js

npm install -g resend-cli

Homebrew (macOS / Linux)

brew install resend/cli/resend

PowerShell (Windows)

irm https://resend.com/install.ps1 | iex

Or download the .exe directly from the GitHub releases page.

Quickstart

# Authenticate
resend login

# Send an email
resend emails send \
  --from "you@yourdomain.com" \
  --to delivered@resend.dev \
  --subject "Hello from Resend CLI" \
  --text "Sent from my terminal."

# Check your environment
resend doctor

Agent skills

This CLI ships with an agent skill that teaches AI coding agents (Cursor, Claude Code, Windsurf, etc.) how to use the Resend CLI effectively, including non-interactive flags, output formats, and common pitfalls.

To install skills for Resend's full platform (API, CLI, React Email, email best practices) from the central skills repository:

npx skills add resend/resend-skills

Local development

Use this when you want to change the CLI and run your build locally.

Prerequisites

Node.js 20+

Setup

Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/resend/resend-cli.git
cd resend-cli

Install dependencies
```
pnpm install
```
Build locally
```
pnpm build
```
Output: ./dist/cli.cjs

Running the CLI locally

Use the dev script:

pnpm dev --version

Or run the built JS bundle:

node dist/cli.cjs --version

Making changes

After editing source files, rebuild:

pnpm build

Building native binaries

To build a standalone native binary:

pnpm build:bin

Output: ./dist/resend

Authentication

The CLI resolves your API key using the following priority chain:

Priority	Source	How to set
1 (highest)	`--api-key` flag	`resend --api-key re_xxx emails send ...`
2	`RESEND_API_KEY` env var	`export RESEND_API_KEY=re_xxx`
3 (lowest)	Config file	`resend login`

If no key is found from any source, the CLI errors with code auth_error.

Commands

`resend login`

Authenticate by storing your API key locally. The key is validated against the Resend API before being saved.

resend login

Interactive mode (default in terminals)

When run in a terminal, the command checks for an existing key:

No key found: Offers to open the Resend API keys dashboard in your browser so you can create one, then prompts for the key.
Existing key found: Shows the key source (env, config) and prompts for a new key to replace it.

Enter the key via a masked password input. Your key must start with re_.

Non-interactive mode (CI, pipes, scripts)

When stdin is not a TTY, the --key flag is required:

resend login --key re_xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Omitting --key in non-interactive mode exits with error code missing_key.

Options

Flag	Description
`--key <key>`	API key to store (required in non-interactive mode)

Output

On success, credentials are saved to ~/.config/resend/credentials.json with 0600 permissions (owner read/write only). The config directory is created with 0700 permissions.

# JSON output
resend login --key re_xxx --json
# => {"success":true,"config_path":"/Users/you/.config/resend/credentials.json"}

Error codes

Code	Cause
`missing_key`	No `--key` provided in non-interactive mode
`invalid_key_format`	Key does not start with `re_`
`validation_failed`	Resend API rejected the key

Switch between teams and accounts

If you work across multiple Resend teams or accounts, the CLI handles that, too.

Switch between profiles without logging in and out:

resend auth switch

You can also use the global --profile (or -p) flag on any command to run it with a specific profile.

resend domains list --profile production

`resend emails send`

Send an email via the Resend API.

Provide all options via flags for scripting, or let the CLI prompt interactively for missing fields.

resend emails send \
  --from "Name <sender@yourdomain.com>" \
  --to delivered@resend.dev \
  --subject "Subject line" \
  --text "Plain text body"

Options

Flag	Required	Description
`--from <address>`	Yes	Sender email address (must be from a verified domain)
`--to <addresses...>`	Yes	One or more recipient email addresses (space-separated)
`--subject <subject>`	Yes	Email subject line
`--text <text>`	One of text/html/html-file	Plain text body
`--html <html>`	One of text/html/html-file	HTML body as a string
`--html-file <path>`	One of text/html/html-file	Path to an HTML file to use as body
`--cc <addresses...>`	No	CC recipients (space-separated)
`--bcc <addresses...>`	No	BCC recipients (space-separated)
`--reply-to <address>`	No	Reply-to email address

Interactive mode

When run in a terminal without all required flags, the CLI prompts for missing fields:

# prompts for from, to, subject, and body
resend emails send

# prompts only for missing fields
resend emails send --from "you@yourdomain.com"

Non-interactive mode

When piped or run in CI, all required flags must be provided. Missing flags cause an error listing what's needed:

echo "" | resend emails send --from "you@yourdomain.com"
# Error: Missing required flags: --to, --subject

A body (--text, --html, or --html-file) is also required — omitting all three exits with code missing_body.

Examples

Multiple recipients:

resend emails send \
  --from "you@yourdomain.com" \
  --to delivered@resend.dev bounced@resend.dev \
  --subject "Team update" \
  --text "Hello everyone"

HTML from a file:

resend emails send \
  --from "you@yourdomain.com" \
  --to delivered@resend.dev \
  --subject "Newsletter" \
  --html-file ./newsletter.html

With CC, BCC, and reply-to:

resend emails send \
  --from "you@yourdomain.com" \
  --to delivered@resend.dev \
  --subject "Meeting notes" \
  --text "See attached." \
  --cc manager@example.com \
  --bcc delivered+1@resend.dev \
  --reply-to noreply@example.com

Overriding the API key for one send:

resend --api-key re_other_key emails send \
  --from "you@yourdomain.com" \
  --to delivered@resend.dev \
  --subject "Test" \
  --text "Using a different key"

Output

Returns the email ID on success:

{ "id": "49a3999c-0ce1-4ea6-ab68-afcd6dc2e794" }

Error codes

Code	Cause
`auth_error`	No API key found or client creation failed
`missing_body`	No `--text`, `--html`, or `--html-file` provided
`file_read_error`	Could not read the file passed to `--html-file`
`send_error`	Resend API returned an error

`resend doctor`

Run environment diagnostics. Verifies your CLI version, API key, domains, and detects AI agent integrations.

resend doctor

Checks performed

Check	Pass	Warn	Fail
CLI Version	Running latest	Update available or registry unreachable	—
API Key	Key found (shows masked key and source)	—	No key found
Domains	Verified domains exist	No domains or all pending verification	API key invalid
AI Agents	Lists detected agents (or none)	—	—

The API key is always masked in output (e.g. re_...xxxx).

Interactive mode

In a terminal, shows animated spinners for each check with colored status icons:

  Resend Doctor

  ✔ CLI Version: v0.1.0 (latest)
  ✔ API Key: re_...xxxx (source: env)
  ✔ Domains: 2 verified, 0 pending
  ✔ AI Agents: Detected: Cursor, Claude Desktop

JSON mode

resend doctor --json

{
  "ok": true,
  "checks": [
    { "name": "CLI Version", "status": "pass", "message": "v0.1.0 (latest)" },
    {
      "name": "API Key",
      "status": "pass",
      "message": "re_...xxxx (source: env)"
    },
    { "name": "Domains", "status": "pass", "message": "2 verified, 0 pending" },
    { "name": "AI Agents", "status": "pass", "message": "Detected: Cursor" }
  ]
}

Each check has a status of pass, warn, or fail. The top-level ok is false if any check is fail.

Detected AI agents

Agent	Detection method
OpenClaw	`~/clawd/skills` directory exists
Cursor	`~/.cursor` directory exists
Claude Desktop	Platform-specific config file exists
VS Code	`.vscode/mcp.json` in current directory

Exit code

Exits 0 when all checks pass or warn. Exits 1 if any check fails.

Webhooks

With the Resend CLI, you can manage webhook endpoints so your app receives real-time event notifications.

Payloads are signed with Svix headers (svix-id, svix-timestamp, svix-signature). Verify them in your app with the Resend SDK.

For example: resend.webhooks.verify({ payload, headers, webhookSecret })

There are many events that you can listen for in your application.

For example, you can:

Set up a POST endpoint to unsubscribe users when an email bounces or they mark your email as spam.
Notify yourself when you get a new subscriber using the contact.created event.
Use an email.received webhook to set up an inbox for your agent and notify it when a new email is received.

Event types

Category	Events
Email	`email.sent`, `email.delivered`, `email.delivery_delayed`, `email.bounced`, `email.complained`, `email.opened`, `email.clicked`, `email.failed`, `email.scheduled`, `email.suppressed`, `email.received`
Contact	`contact.created`, `contact.updated`, `contact.deleted`
Domain	`domain.created`, `domain.updated`, `domain.deleted`

Use all with --events to subscribe to every event.

Subcommands

list
create
get
update
delete
listen

Aliases

webhooks ls → list
webhooks rm → delete

`resend webhooks list`

Lists existing webhooks.

Running resend webhooks with no subcommand runs list.

Flag	Description
`--limit <n>`	Max webhooks to return (`1`–`100`, default `10`)
`--after <cursor>`	Return webhooks after this cursor (webhook ID; next page)
`--before <cursor>`	Return webhooks before this cursor (previous page)

Only one of --after or --before may be used. The API response includes has_more when more pages exist.

resend webhooks list
resend webhooks list --limit 25
resend webhooks list --after wh_abc123 --json

`resend webhooks create`

Registers a new endpoint.

The endpoint must use HTTPS. The signing_secret in the response is shown once. Store it immediately to verify incoming payloads.

In interactive mode, the CLI can prompt for endpoint and events. In non-interactive mode (pipes, CI, --json), --endpoint and --events are required.

Flag	Description
`--endpoint <url>`	HTTPS URL that receives webhook POSTs
`--events <events...>`	Event names (comma- or space-separated), or `all`

resend webhooks create --endpoint https://app.example.com/hooks/resend --events all
resend webhooks create --endpoint https://app.example.com/hooks/resend --events email.sent email.bounced
resend webhooks create --endpoint https://app.example.com/hooks/resend --events email.sent,email.delivered

`resend webhooks get`

Fetches one webhook by ID.

Omit the ID in a terminal to pick from a list.

resend webhooks get wh_abc123
resend webhooks get wh_abc123 --json

The signing secret is not returned from get. To rotate secrets, delete the webhook and create a new one.

`resend webhooks update`

Updates the webhook:

endpoint URL
the full event list
delivery status

At least one of --endpoint, --events, or --status is required.

Flag	Description
`--endpoint <url>`	New HTTPS URL
`--events <events...>`	New event list, or `all`
`--status <status>`	`enabled` or `disabled`

Disabled status pauses delivery without deleting the webhook.

resend webhooks update wh_abc123 --status disabled
resend webhooks update wh_abc123 --endpoint https://new-app.example.com/hooks/resend
resend webhooks update wh_abc123 --events email.sent email.bounced

`resend webhooks delete`

Deletes a webhook and stops deliveries.

In non-interactive mode, --yes is required to confirm.

resend webhooks delete wh_abc123 --yes

To pause delivery temporarily, prefer resend webhooks update <id> --status disabled.

`resend webhooks listen`

Built-in local development helper. It:

Starts a small HTTP server
Registers a temporary Resend webhook pointing at your public tunnel URL
Prints events in the terminal
Deletes the webhook on exit

Your tunnel must forward to the same port as --port, e.g. ngrok http 4318.

Flag	Description
`--url <url>`	Public URL (tunnel) that reaches this machine — required
`--port <port>`	Local server port (default `4318`)
`--events <events...>`	Events to subscribe to (default: all)
`--forward-to <url>`	Also POST each payload to this URL (Svix headers preserved)

# Terminal 1: tunnel to the listen port
ngrok http 4318

# Terminal 2: use the HTTPS URL ngrok gives you
resend webhooks listen --url https://xxxx.ngrok-free.app
resend webhooks listen --url https://xxxx.ngrok-free.app --forward-to localhost:3000/api/webhooks/resend
resend webhooks listen --url https://xxxx.ngrok-free.app --port 8080 --events email.sent email.bounced

Global options

These flags work on every command and are passed before the subcommand:

resend [global options] <command> [command options]

Flag	Description
`--api-key <key>`	Override API key for this invocation (takes highest priority)
`-p, --profile <name>`	Profile to use (overrides `RESEND_PROFILE` env var)
`--json`	Force JSON output even in interactive terminals
`-q, --quiet`	Suppress spinners and status output (implies `--json`)
`--version`	Print version and exit
`--help`	Show help text

Output behavior

The CLI has two output modes:

Mode	When	Stdout	Stderr
Interactive	Terminal (TTY)	Formatted text	Spinners, prompts, human-readable errors
Machine	Piped, CI, or `--json`	Success JSON only	JSON errors; optional warnings (e.g. flags)

Switching is automatic — pipe to another command and JSON output activates:

resend doctor | jq '.checks[].name'
resend emails send --from ... --to ... --subject ... --text ... | jq '.id'

Error output

Errors always exit with code 1. The format on stderr depends on output mode (same rules as the table above):

Machine (piped stdout, CI, --json, or -q): structured JSON so stdout stays success-only for scripting (jq, etc.):

{ "error": { "message": "No API key found", "code": "auth_error" } }

Interactive (TTY without --json / -q): a human-readable line such as Error: No API key found (still on stderr).

Agent & CI/CD usage

CI/CD

Set RESEND_API_KEY as an environment variable — no resend login needed:

# GitHub Actions
env:
  RESEND_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.RESEND_API_KEY }}
steps:
  - run: |
      resend emails send \
        --from "deploy@yourdomain.com" \
        --to "delivered@resend.com" \
        --subject "Deploy complete" \
        --text "Version ${{ github.sha }} deployed."

AI agents

Agents calling the CLI as a subprocess automatically get JSON output (non-TTY detection). The contract:

Input: All required flags must be provided (no interactive prompts)
Output: Success JSON on stdout; error JSON on stderr (use 2> or combined capture if you need both)
Exit code: 0 success, 1 error
Errors: Always include message and code fields
Discovery: resend commands prints the full command tree as JSON (subcommands, options, descriptions).

`resend commands`

Prints the CLI command tree as JSON for scripting and AI agents. In an interactive terminal, pass global --json if you need machine output; when stdout is piped, JSON is used automatically.

Dry-run (no API call)

--dry-run is only implemented where agents most often need to validate a complex payload before a high-impact send:

resend emails send ... --dry-run — validates inputs and prints { "dryRun": true, "request": { ... } } without sending. Attachments appear as filename and byteLength only.
resend broadcasts create ... --dry-run — same for the broadcast create payload.

Other write commands (batch, broadcasts send, webhooks, contacts, etc.) do not support --dry-run yet. If that would help your workflow, open an issue — likely next candidates are emails batch (large JSON files) and broadcasts send (confirm id + schedule before delivery).

Configuration

Item	Path	Notes
Config directory	`~/.config/resend/`	Respects `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` on Linux, `%APPDATA%` on Windows
Credentials	`~/.config/resend/credentials.json`	`0600` permissions (owner read/write)
Install directory	`~/.resend/bin/`	Respects `$RESEND_INSTALL`

License

MIT

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 321 Commits
.github		.github
scripts		scripts
skill-evals/resend-cli		skill-evals/resend-cli
skills/resend-cli		skills/resend-cli
src		src
tests		tests
.gitignore		.gitignore
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
biome.json		biome.json
install.ps1		install.ps1
install.sh		install.sh
package.json		package.json
pnpm-lock.yaml		pnpm-lock.yaml
renovate.json		renovate.json
tsconfig.json		tsconfig.json
vitest.config.e2e.ts		vitest.config.e2e.ts
vitest.config.ts		vitest.config.ts

Folders and files

Latest commit

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Resend CLI

Install

cURL

Node.js

Homebrew (macOS / Linux)

PowerShell (Windows)

Quickstart

Agent skills

Local development

Prerequisites

Setup

Running the CLI locally

Making changes

Building native binaries

Authentication

Commands

resend login

Interactive mode (default in terminals)

Non-interactive mode (CI, pipes, scripts)

Options

Output

Error codes

Switch between teams and accounts

resend emails send

Options

Interactive mode

Non-interactive mode

Examples

Output

Error codes

resend doctor

Checks performed

Interactive mode

JSON mode

Detected AI agents

Exit code

Webhooks

Event types

Subcommands

Aliases

resend webhooks list

resend webhooks create

resend webhooks get

resend webhooks update

resend webhooks delete

resend webhooks listen

Global options

Output behavior

Error output

Agent & CI/CD usage

CI/CD

AI agents

resend commands

Dry-run (no API call)

Configuration

License

About

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Watchers

Forks

Releases 26

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Contributors

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Languages

`resend login`

`resend emails send`

`resend doctor`

`resend webhooks list`

`resend webhooks create`

`resend webhooks get`

`resend webhooks update`

`resend webhooks delete`

`resend webhooks listen`

`resend commands`