SES

🧠 What Is AWS SES?¶

Amazon SES (Simple Email Service) is a scalable, cost-effective, and flexible email service that supports:

✅ Email Sending (transactional, marketing, bulk)
✅ Email Receiving (store or process inbound mail)
✅ Email Notifications (delivery, bounce, complaints)

SES integrates seamlessly with applications, services (like Lambda), and SMTP clients.

📦 Key Use Cases¶

Use Case	Example
Transactional Emails	Password reset, order confirmations, alerts
Marketing Emails	Campaign newsletters, promotions
Application Alerts	Notify users of system status
Inbound Email Processing	Automatically process incoming emails via Lambda

🧱 How It Works¶

Application --> SES (via SMTP/API) --> Internet
                            |
                    Delivery Status (SNS)

You can:

Send emails via SMTP or SES API
Monitor delivery via SNS notifications
Verify domains or email addresses
Process incoming emails using Lambda or S3

🔐 Key Concepts¶

Concept	Description
Identity	Domain or email verified to send/receive
Sandbox Mode	Default state — only verified senders/recipients
Production Mode	After approval, unrestricted sending to all recipients
SES Sending Limits	Rate & quota depend on region and usage history
SMTP Credentials	Separate credentials generated for SMTP usage
Email Feedback	Bounce, delivery, and complaint notifications via SNS

✅ Setup Overview¶

Verify your domain or email address
- Add DNS records (TXT, CNAME, MX) for verification and DKIM
Request Production Access (move out of sandbox)
Create IAM user/credentials or SMTP credentials
Integrate SES via API, SDK, SMTP, or CLI
(Optional) Set up SNS for bounce/complaint tracking

💻 Sending Email via CLI¶

aws ses send-email \
  --from "your@email.com" \
  --destination "ToAddresses=someone@domain.com" \
  --message "Subject={Data=Hello},Body={Text={Data=This is a test email}}"

📨 Receiving Emails with SES¶

Step	Description
1. Domain setup	Set MX record to route mail to SES
2. Create Rule Set	Define how to handle incoming messages
3. Action	Store in S3, trigger Lambda, or send to SNS

🔐 DKIM, SPF, and DMARC¶

Record	Purpose	Sample DNS Entry
SPF	Authorize SES to send on your behalf	`v=spf1 include:amazonses.com ~all`
DKIM	Sign emails to prevent spoofing	TXT/CNAME records generated by SES
DMARC	Policy for handling unauthorized emails	`v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com`

📈 Monitoring and Metrics¶

Method	Description
CloudWatch	Metrics: delivery, bounce, complaint rates
SNS Topics	Real-time events (bounce, delivery, complaint)
Delivery Reports	Enable in configuration set for detailed logs

🧪 Sample Terraform: Sending Setup¶

resource "aws_ses_domain_identity" "domain" {
  domain = "yourdomain.com"
}

resource "aws_ses_domain_dkim" "dkim" {
  domain = aws_ses_domain_identity.domain.domain
}

resource "aws_ses_email_identity" "email" {
  email = "your@yourdomain.com"
}

💰 Pricing (as of 2024)¶

Feature	Cost
Send Email via SES	$0.10 per 1,000 emails
Receiving Emails	$0.10 per 1,000 emails received
Data Out (outside AWS)	Standard AWS data transfer costs
25,000 free emails/day	✅ When sent from EC2 within the same region

🛑 SES Sandbox Limitations¶

Limitation	Sandbox Mode
Unverified recipients	❌ Not allowed
Sending volume	Very low (200/day)
Email subject line	No marketing allowed

👉 You must request production access via AWS Support.

⚙️ API vs SMTP¶

Mode	Use When…
SMTP	Using 3rd-party SMTP clients like Outlook
API/SDK	Integrating in web apps or backend systems

🧠 Common Pitfalls¶

Issue	Fix
Emails going to spam	Ensure SPF/DKIM/DMARC setup is correct
SES "Address Not Verified"	Add recipient or request production access
Bounces from major providers	Monitor bounce/complaint rates via SNS
Attachments not supported (API)	Use raw email with MIME format (`send-raw-email`)

✅ TL;DR Summary¶

Feature	AWS SES Value
Email Sending	✅ Transactional, bulk, marketing
Email Receiving	✅ Store in S3, process with Lambda
Setup Required	Domain/email verification, SPF/DKIM, IAM config
Access Modes	SMTP, CLI, SDK, API
Monitoring	✅ CloudWatch + SNS
Price	$0.10/1,000 emails (first 25k free on EC2)