Knowledge Base Connect a provider Connect SendGrid to RadarSend

Connect SendGrid to RadarSend

SendGrid (Twilio SendGrid) is an email API from Twilio. This guide walks you through connecting your SendGrid account to RadarSend so you can send campaigns and track deliveries, bounces, and complaints.

Before you begin#

  • A SendGrid account. If you don’t have one yet, sign up at https://sendgrid.com.
  • Access to your domain’s DNS settings (so you can add the records SendGrid provides).
  • A RadarSend account with admin access.

Step 1 — Get your SendGrid credentials#

  1. Sign in to SendGrid at https://app.sendgrid.com.
  2. Authenticate your domain. Go to Settings → Sender Authentication, then start Authenticate Your Domain. SendGrid asks for your DNS provider and domain, then gives you a set of CNAME records. Add those records at your DNS provider, come back, and click Verify. (New records usually verify within an hour but can take up to 48 hours to propagate.) Domain authentication is the recommended path because it lets you send from any address on that domain.
    • No DNS access? Use Verify a Single Sender instead (also under Settings → Sender Authentication). SendGrid emails a confirmation link to that one address; click it to finish. This verifies a single from-address only and is best for testing rather than production sending.
  3. Create an API key. Go to Settings → API Keys → Create API Key. Give it a name, choose Restricted Access, scroll to the Mail Send section, and grant it access (drag the slider to full). Click Create & View, then copy the key — it starts with SG. and is shown only once, so store it somewhere safe.
  4. (Optional) Enable the Signed Event Webhook. Go to Settings → Mail Settings, turn on Signed Event Webhook, and click Save — SendGrid only generates the verification key after you save. Copy that verification key; you’ll use it in Step 3 so RadarSend can cryptographically verify incoming events.

Step 2 — Add the sending service in RadarSend#

  1. In RadarSend, go to Settings → Sending → Sending services and click + Connect a service.
  2. In the wizard, on Choose your sending service, pick SendGrid and click Continue.
  3. On Enter your SendGrid keys, paste your API Key. Optionally paste a Signed Event Webhook key. Then click Create.

RadarSend validates the fields and saves the service. It does not live-test SendGrid at this point, so you’ll confirm that sending actually works in Step 4.

Step 3 — Turn on delivery, bounce & complaint tracking#

Set this up manually so RadarSend knows what happens to your messages after they leave.

  1. Open the service (Settings → Sending → Sending services → your service). The Webhook delivery section shows a webhook URL unique to your account (it looks like https://…/webhooks/sendgrid/…). Copy it.
  2. In SendGrid, go to Settings → Mail Settings → Event Webhook (Event Notification). Paste the URL into the HTTP POST URL field, and enable the Bounced, Spam Report, and Delivered events. Save.
  3. (Optional) Enable the Signed Event Webhook and paste its verification key into RadarSend’s Signed Event Webhook key field, so RadarSend can cryptographically verify each event.
  4. Back in RadarSend, click Check to confirm the triggers are on.

Step 4 — Confirm your sending address#

  1. Go to Settings → Sending → Senders and click + Add sender.
  2. Enter your Sending address and click Continue. Add a Display name and Reply-to, pick the email types this sender handles, and click Continue.
  3. On Tracking & confirm, choose this service under Sending service (you’ll only see this if you have more than one), enter a test recipient, and click Send test.
  4. When the test is accepted, click Save sender.

If the test is rejected because your domain isn’t authenticated, RadarSend offers to Authenticate {domain} (DKIM/SPF) and shows the DNS records to add.

Tip: open the service and click Check verified domains to see which of your domains SendGrid has authenticated.

Common issues#

  • API key missing the Mail Send scope. If sends fail with a permissions error, your key was created without Mail Send. Create a new Restricted Access key with Mail Send granted.
  • Domain not authenticated / DNS not propagated. If verification fails, double-check the CNAME records match exactly and wait — propagation can take up to 48 hours.
  • From-address not allowed. Your sending address must be on an authenticated domain, or be a verified single sender. Otherwise SendGrid rejects the send.
  • Webhook not working. Confirm the webhook URL was saved in SendGrid and that Bounced, Spam Report, and Delivered are all enabled. A missing or wrong URL means RadarSend never hears about deliveries.
  • Signed webhook enabled but not verifying. If you turned on the Signed Event Webhook in SendGrid, you must paste its verification key into RadarSend’s Signed Event Webhook key field, or events will be rejected.

Good to know#

  • SendGrid API keys can be scoped narrowly. Mail Send is the minimum RadarSend needs. If you also want RadarSend’s Check verified domains button to work, add the Sender Authentication read permission to the key.