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This is the developer documentation for Mailtarget. It covers the API, SMTP relay and deliverability operations.

The fastest way through these docs is to answer three questions in order.

1. What is Mailtarget​

Mailtarget is enterprise email infrastructure. You send transactional and marketing email through an HTTP API or an SMTP relay, manage sending domains and authentication, monitor deliverability, and reach contacts via Mailtarget CDP when you need behavioral targeting.

Read What is Mailtarget for the full picture, including who runs the platform and what compliance posture it ships with.

2. Which path fits your use case​

Pick one path. Each reaches the same delivery engine but serves a different workflow.

  • The Email API path gives you JSON requests, server-side templates, substitution data, attachments, metadata for tracking, and a single response object with a transmissionId you can reconcile against webhooks. Best for transactional sends triggered by application events.
  • The SMTP path drops a relay in front of your existing mail stack with one host, one port, and one credential. Best for applications already built around SMTP.
  • The Email Marketing path gives you a campaign composer, contact management, audience segmentation, automation workflows, and reporting inside the Mailtarget dashboard. Best for newsletters, promotional campaigns, and drip sequences without writing API code.

Read API vs SMTP if you are deciding between the first two paths.

3. First Email​

Pick the quickstart that matches your decision above.

  • API Quickstart sends the first transactional email with cURL and language examples.
  • SMTP Quickstart configures the relay and sends one test message.
  • Email Marketing walks through composing and sending your first campaign from the dashboard.

Both developer quickstarts assume you already have an API key. If you do not, create one inside the Mailtarget dashboard with the permission scope that matches your path (Send via API or Send via SMTP).

Where to go next​

After your first send works, the order most teams follow is:

  1. Authentication for API keys, allowlisting, and rotation.
  2. Sending Domains for SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and tracking domain setup.
  3. Errors and Rate Limits before you write retry logic.
  4. Webhooks when you need delivery, open, click, or bounce events.
  5. The Transmission API reference once you start tuning the request body.

If you operate Mailtarget at production scale, the Operations section covers deliverability monitoring, webhook reliability, and domain verification troubleshooting.