Getting Started with Amazon SES
Setup means verifying a sending identity (a domain, ideally, rather than individual email addresses) in the SES console, adding the SPF and DKIM DNS records SES provides, and requesting production access to move out of the Sandbox before sending to real, unverified recipients.
Setup basics
SES isn't available in every AWS region, so confirming your sending identity is verified in the same region your application actually calls matters -- a domain verified in one region doesn't automatically work from another. The account-level suppression list (which SES maintains automatically for hard bounces and complaints) starts working from day one, but understanding it exists early avoids confusion later when a resend to a previously-bounced address silently fails.
Implementation considerations
- Verify a domain identity (not just individual addresses) and add both SPF and DKIM records before requesting production access.
- Confirm your sending identity and API calls target the same AWS region, since SES verification doesn't carry across regions automatically.
- Test with a small cohort of verified addresses in the Sandbox before requesting production access, to catch configuration issues early.