# Send Email

The Send Email step's fields, how its sender and replies work, the checks before it sends, and what it saves.

Updated Oct 28, 2026. Source: https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/workflows/steps/email

## What this does

When a run reaches **Send Email**, Small Business Chatbot sends one email through the sending domain connected under **Admin › Workflow Email (Mailgun)**. The email is logged on the matching CRM contact's timeline as **Email sent:** and its subject.

- **Where:** **Workflows** › a step's **Node settings** › **Node type**: Send Email
- **Needs:** **Outbound automation** and **Emails** on, and a sending domain
- **Counts toward:** the daily limit for emails, once per step whatever the number of recipients

## Fields

The step's editor has three parts: **Envelope**, **Message** and **Email editor**.

| Field | What it does | Default or options |
|---|---|---|
| **To** | The address to email. Type it or insert a variable such as `{{trigger.email}}`. | Empty. In a workflow that starts with an appointment trigger: `{{trigger.contact.email}}` |
| **CC (optional)** | Copies another address. | Empty |
| **BCC (optional)** | Blind-copies another address. | Empty |
| **From email** | The sender. A full address is used as typed. A name with no `@`, such as `hello`, gets your sending domain added. | Empty. Required |
| **Sender name** | The name shown before the sender's address. | Blank sends as **Workflow** |
| **Subject** | The subject line. | Empty. Required |
| **Body HTML** | The email as HTML. A tab in **Email editor**. | Empty |
| **Body text** | The email as plain text. A tab in **Email editor**. | Empty |

![A Send Email step with To set to {{trigger.email}}, From email set to the assistant's name, a subject line and a short plain-text body](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/static/images/docs/workflows/email-ref-fields-2026-10-28.webp)
*Workflows › Send Email, October 2026*

Fill in **Body HTML**, **Body text** or both. When both are filled, both go out in the same email and the reader's mail app picks one. Each step sends one email; to email several people separately, use one step per address. Variables work in every field; the rules are on [Variables](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/workflows/variables).

### Send test email

**Send test email** sends one email now with the step's current values. Variables are filled from the run chosen under **Execution** in the step's **Runtime data inspector**, the latest run by default. With no run yet, type a real address in **To**. The test needs a connected sending domain. It skips the outbound switches, opt-outs and daily limits. Fill in **Sender name** to see the name your contacts will see.

## Replies

Every email carries a Reply-To address on your sending domain, made from the **From email** name, for example `hello@` and your sending domain. Replies come back to the app. When the workflow has **Stop workflows when contact replies** on with **Email replies** checked, a reply stops that contact's active runs of the workflow.

## Before it sends

The step runs these checks in this order. The first one that fails stops the step, and nothing is sent.

| Check | When it fails |
|---|---|
| Required fields | **To**, **Subject** or both bodies are empty, or **From email** is empty. |
| **Outbound automation** and **Emails** | Either switch is off under **CRM › Contacts › Settings**. |
| Opt-outs | A contact with the **To**, **CC** or **BCC** address has **Do not email** or **Do not contact (all channels)** checked. Each address is checked. |
| Daily limit for emails | The emails sent or started by all your workflows in the last 24 hours have reached your limit. |

If a retry finds that an earlier attempt may already have reached Mailgun, the step fails instead of sending again, so nobody gets the email twice.

> **Careful:** A published workflow with emails switched on emails real people. Test with your own address first.

## What it saves

Later steps read these with the step's **Node name**, for example `{{node_outputs_by_name.send_email.subject}}`.

| Output | What it holds |
|---|---|
| `status` | `success` |
| `to_email` | The **To** address |
| `cc_email`, `bcc_email` | The copied addresses |
| `from_email` | The full sender address used |
| `from_display_name` | The sender name used |
| `reply_to` | The Reply-To address |
| `subject` | The subject as sent |
| `body_text`, `body_html` | The bodies as sent, with variables filled in |
| `mailgun_message_id` | The email's ID at Mailgun, which sends it |
| `summary` | A line such as "Email sent to jamie@example.com with subject ..." |

## Guides that use it

- [Your first workflow](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/user-guides/workflows/your-first-workflow)
- [Calendar booking](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/user-guides/chat-widget/calendar-booking): the booking confirmation, reminder and cancellation workflows the calendar settings create are Send Email steps.
- [Sending domain](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/integrations/email/sending-domain)