Overview
SendGrid (Twilio SendGrid) is a transactional + marketing email service. The Automize SendGrid connector covers sending email (transactional), managing contacts/lists, templates, and reading delivery stats.
- Regions: SendGrid is a global service – api.sendgrid.com. EU data residency is available on enterprise plans (separate endpoint api.eu.sendgrid.com).
- Plans: Free (100/day), Essentials, Pro, Premier – all expose the Web API v3. Marketing Campaigns + dedicated IPs need higher plans.
Setting up the connection
Auth type: Bearer Token.
- Sign in to SendGrid → Settings → API Keys → Create API Key.
- Pick 'Restricted Access' and grant only what's needed (Mail Send, Marketing, Stats).
- Copy the key (starts with SG. – you only see it once).
- In Automize, open Settings → Connectors → SendGrid → Add connection. Paste the key.
Find your credentials at https://app.sendgrid.com/settings/api_keys.
Rate limits
Mail Send has no hard per-second cap on paid plans (free is 100/day total). Other endpoints (Contacts, Stats) cap at ~120 requests/min. Connector retries 429 with Retry-After.
Data model
SendGrid splits transactional + marketing:
Transactional ─── Mail Send (templated or freeform)
Marketing ─┬─ Lists ─── Contacts
├─ Segments (dynamic queries)
├─ Templates (Dynamic Templates)
└─ Campaigns (Single Sends)
Stats: per-day per-mailbox aggregatesAvailable operations
14 operations available. Click any row to jump to its detail.
| Operation | Category | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Add Contacts | General | Add or update marketing contacts |
| Create list | General | Create a SendGrid contact list. |
| Delete contacts | General | Delete SendGrid contacts by IDs. |
| Get contact | General | Get a SendGrid contact by ID. |
| Get stats | General | Get SendGrid email statistics. |
| Get Stats by Date | General | Get email statistics by date |
| Get template | General | Get a SendGrid email template by ID. |
| List Contacts | General | Search/list marketing contacts |
| List Contact Lists | General | List all marketing contact lists |
| List suppressions | General | List SendGrid email suppressions (bounces, blocks, spam). |
| List Templates | General | List email templates |
| Search Contacts | General | Search marketing contacts with a query |
| Send Email | General | Send an email via SendGrid |
| Send Template Email | General | Send email using a dynamic template |
Operations
Add Contacts
Add or update marketing contacts
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Contacts contacts | Yes | text | |
List Ids list_ids | Yes | text |
Tips
- Async – returns a job_id. Poll Get Import Job for completion.
- contacts: array of {email, first_name, last_name, custom_fields}. list_ids to add to specific lists.
Create list
Create a SendGrid contact list.
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Name name | Yes | text |
Tips
- name. Returns the new list_id.
Delete contacts
Delete SendGrid contacts by IDs.
No input parameters.
Get contact
Get a SendGrid contact by ID.
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Id id | Yes | text |
Tips
- contact_id (UUID).
Get stats
Get SendGrid email statistics.
No input parameters.
Get Stats by Date
Get email statistics by date
No input parameters.
Get template
Get a SendGrid email template by ID.
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Template Id template_id | Yes | text |
Tips
- Returns template + versions (only one version is 'active').
List Contacts
Search/list marketing contacts
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Query query | Yes | text |
Tips
- Returns marketing contacts (not transactional recipients). Pages via query parameter.
List Contact Lists
List all marketing contact lists
No input parameters.
Tips
- Marketing lists. Use Get List for member count.
List suppressions
List SendGrid email suppressions (bounces, blocks, spam).
No input parameters.
List Templates
List email templates
No input parameters.
Tips
- Dynamic Templates. Filter by generations=dynamic.
Search Contacts
Search marketing contacts with a query
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Query query | Yes | text |
Tips
- SQL-like query: 'email LIKE "%@example.com"'. Slow on big contact lists.
Send Email
Send an email via SendGrid
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Personalizations personalizations | Yes | text | |
From from | Yes | text | |
Subject subject | Yes | text | |
Content content | Yes | textarea |
Send Template Email
Send email using a dynamic template
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Personalizations personalizations | No | text | |
From from | No | text | |
Template Id template_id | No | text |
FAQ
- Why is my email going to spam?
- Domain authentication (SPF + DKIM via Sender Authentication). Without it, ISPs distrust the sender. Verify the from-domain in SendGrid → Sender Authentication.
- Marketing API vs Mail Send – which?
- Mail Send is for transactional (one-to-one, triggered by an event). Marketing API is for campaigns (one-to-many, scheduled). Free tier doesn't expose marketing.
- Categories vs custom args?
- categories ([string]) for high-level grouping in stats. custom_args ({key:value}) for arbitrary metadata returned in event webhooks. Use both.