SendPigeon CLI: Send Emails From Your Terminal

You're debugging a production issue. Emails aren't delivering, and you need to see what's happening right now. Opening the dashboard, clicking through pages, refreshing... too slow.

npx @sendpigeon-sdk/cli logs tail

One command. Real-time streaming. The SendPigeon CLI brings your email workflow to the terminal.

npx @sendpigeon-sdk/cli <command>

Why a CLI?

Your SDK handles sending emails from application code. But what about everything else?

Debugging at 2am - Tail logs in real-time without leaving your terminal. Filter by status, watch for bounces, see exactly what's happening.

Template version control - Pull templates to your repo, edit in your IDE, review in PRs, push back. No more copy-pasting between dashboard and code.

Quick tests - Send a test email in 10 seconds without writing code. Check if your domain is verified. Trigger a webhook.

Offline development - Catch emails locally with zero config. No internet, no account, no problem.

Send Emails From the Terminal

No code required. Send emails directly:

sendpigeon send \
  --to user@example.com \
  --subject "Quick update" \
  --html "<p>Just checking in!</p>"

Or use a template:

sendpigeon send \
  --to user@example.com \
  --template welcome \
  --var name=John \
  --var company=Acme

Useful for:

• Testing email flows manually
• Sending one-off notifications
• Debugging template rendering

Version Control Your Templates

Templates live in SendPigeon's dashboard, but you want them in git. The CLI bridges the gap.

Pull templates to your repo:

sendpigeon templates pull

This creates a sendpigeon-templates/ directory:

sendpigeon-templates/
  welcome/
    template.json    # Metadata (subject, variables)
    content.html     # HTML body
    content.txt      # Plain text
  password-reset/
    template.json
    content.html

Edit locally, then push:

sendpigeon templates push

Now you can:

• Review template changes in PRs
• Roll back to previous versions
• Deploy templates alongside code
• Use your favorite editor

Stream Logs in Real-Time

Watch emails as they're sent:

sendpigeon logs tail

Output:

[12:34:56] ✓ delivered  user@example.com       "Welcome to Acme"
[12:35:01] ✗ bounced    bad@invalid.com        "Password Reset"
[12:35:15] → sent       another@example.com    "Order Confirmation"

Filter by status:

sendpigeon logs tail --status bounced

Perfect for:

• Monitoring production sends
• Debugging delivery issues
• Demos and presentations

Local Development Server

Catch emails locally during development:

sendpigeon dev

This starts:

• HTTP API at localhost:4100/v1/emails
• Web UI at localhost:4100
• SMTP at localhost:4125

Set SENDPIGEON_DEV=true and your SDK routes to localhost automatically:

# Terminal 1
sendpigeon dev

# Terminal 2
SENDPIGEON_DEV=true npm run dev

No real emails sent. Ever.

See our local email testing guide for the full setup.

Authentication

Set your API key once:

export SENDPIGEON_API_KEY=sk_live_xxx

Or pass it to any command:

sendpigeon status --api-key sk_live_xxx

The status command shows your account info:

$ sendpigeon status

✓ API key valid

  Organization: Acme Inc
  Plan:         Pro
  API Key:      sk_live_...xxx (live, full_access)

  Usage this period:
    1,234 / 50,000 emails (2%)
    [██░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░]

All Commands

Get Started

No install needed - use npx:

export SENDPIGEON_API_KEY=sk_live_xxx
npx @sendpigeon-sdk/cli status

Or install globally for shorter commands:

npm install -g @sendpigeon-sdk/cli
sendpigeon status

Read the CLI documentation for the full reference.