Templates

Resend Templates

Overview

Templates are reusable email structures stored on Resend. Define HTML and variables once; reference the template ID or alias when sending.

Use templates when: the same structure is reused across many sends, non-engineers need to edit copy without touching code, or you want version history.

Use inline html when: the structure changes per send, you need more than 50 dynamic variables, or you want tighter rendering control.

Template Lifecycle

Create (draft) → Publish → Send
      ↑ edit                 |
      └─────────────────────┘

Editing a published template creates a new draft — the published version keeps sending until you publish again.

SDK Methods (Node.js)

Chainable Create → Publish

The SDK supports chaining .publish() after .create() or .duplicate():

const { data, error } = await resend.templates.create({
  name: 'Welcome',
  html: '<p>Hi {{{NAME}}}</p>',
}).publish();
// Template is created AND published in one call

Aliases

An alias is a stable, human-readable slug you set at create time. Pass it in the id field anywhere you'd use the auto-generated template ID.

// Set alias at create time
await resend.templates.create({
  name: 'Order Confirmation',   // display-only
  alias: 'order-confirmation',  // referenceable slug
  html: '<p>Hi {{{CUSTOMER_NAME}}}</p>',
});

// Reference by alias — no need to store the generated tmpl_ ID
template: { id: 'order-confirmation', variables: { CUSTOMER_NAME: 'Alice' } }

Variable Syntax

Use triple mustache in HTML and subject: {{{VARIABLE_NAME}}}

<!-- ✅ Correct -->
<p>Hi {{{CUSTOMER_NAME}}}, your order #{{{ORDER_ID}}} has shipped!</p>

<!-- ❌ Wrong — double braces don't render in Resend -->
<p>Hi {{CUSTOMER_NAME}}</p>

Plain substitution only — no {{#each}}, {{#if}}, or other Handlebars control flow. Pre-render dynamic lists server-side into a single HTML variable.

Variable key casing is arbitrary (ORDER_ID, orderId, order_id all work) but must be consistent: whatever casing you use in the template definition must match exactly in the send call.

Sending with a Template

const { data, error } = await resend.emails.send(
  {
    from: 'Acme <orders@acme.com>',
    to: ['customer@example.com'],
    template: {
      id: 'order-confirmation',  // alias or auto-generated ID
      variables: { CUSTOMER_NAME: 'Alice', ORDER_ID: '12345' },
    },
  },
  { idempotencyKey: `order-confirm/${orderId}` }
);

Cannot combine template with html, text, or react — mutually exclusive. subject and from from the template can be overridden per-send.

For variable constraints, reserved names, full CRUD examples, pagination, and version history, see reference.md.