--- title: "Install and set up Workflow Transactional Email" description: "Install the app, connect a sender, build a layout and wire it into a Shopify Flow workflow. The dashboard, setup guide and what to check first." canonical: "https://crm-tool.k8s-gcp-dev.eu.codecreationlabs.cloud/h/flow-transactional-email/install-and-set-up" --- # Install and set up From a fresh install to a working automated email in about fifteen minutes. ## Before you start You need **Shopify Flow** installed on your store. It is free from Shopify, and this app's actions appear inside it - without Flow there is nothing to trigger a send. The **Help** page in the app has a button that opens Flow, or installs it if it is missing. The app itself needs **no access scopes**. It cannot read your products, orders or customers. Everything a customer sees in an email is data you deliberately pass in from Flow. ## The setup guide After installing, the dashboard shows a **Setup Guide** that tracks your progress through five steps and ticks them off as you complete them. You can collapse it, and it stays collapsed on your next visit; **Dismiss** removes it once you are done. The five steps, in the order that works best: ### 1. Configure an email sender Connect the mailbox your email goes out from. Three options: - **Microsoft 365** or **Google** - one-click OAuth, no credentials to store. Best if your business email is already on either. - **SMTP** - any server, including SendGrid, Mailgun, Amazon SES or your own. Send a test email straight afterwards, from **Email Senders → Send test email**. It takes ten seconds and rules out a mailbox problem before you build anything on top of it. See [Email senders overview](https://crm-tool.k8s-gcp-dev.eu.codecreationlabs.cloud/h/flow-transactional-email/email-senders-overview.md). ### 2. Create an email layout The email itself: subject, preview text, design. Pick **Visual builder** for a designed, branded email, or **Rich text / HTML** for something simple or to paste in HTML you already have. That choice is permanent for the layout, so decide before you start. See [Build an email layout](https://crm-tool.k8s-gcp-dev.eu.codecreationlabs.cloud/h/flow-transactional-email/build-an-email-layout.md). ### 3. Create an HTTP request (optional) Only if you also want Flow to call an external API. If you are just sending email, skip it. See [Make an HTTP request from Shopify Flow](https://crm-tool.k8s-gcp-dev.eu.codecreationlabs.cloud/h/flow-transactional-email/make-an-http-request.md). ### 4. Add secrets (optional) API keys, tokens and passwords, stored encrypted and referenced as `{{ secrets.keyName }}`. Only needed for HTTP requests or SMTP credentials you would rather not type inline. See [Secrets](https://crm-tool.k8s-gcp-dev.eu.codecreationlabs.cloud/h/flow-transactional-email/secrets.md). ### 5. Use the action in Shopify Flow Open Shopify Flow, build a workflow, and add a **Send Transactional Email** or **HTTP Request** step from this app. On the email action you set: - **To Email(s)** - usually a Flow variable such as `{{customer.defaultEmailAddress.emailAddress}}` - **Variables (JSON)** - the data your layout needs. Copy this from the **Use in Shopify Flow** card on your layout rather than writing it by hand. - **Send from** and **Template**, on the action's own configuration screen. See [Passing data from Shopify Flow](https://crm-tool.k8s-gcp-dev.eu.codecreationlabs.cloud/h/flow-transactional-email/passing-data-from-shopify-flow.md). ## Your first real test Test sends prove your design. They do **not** prove your Flow wiring, because they use the layout's Test Variables rather than the workflow's JSON. So once the workflow is on: 1. Trigger it for real - place a test order, or tag a test customer, depending on your trigger. 2. Open **History** in the app. 3. Confirm the row is **Success** with no **Empty variables** badge. 4. Check the received email: right values, right sender name, links working. If the row shows **Empty variables**, open it - it names exactly which placeholders produced nothing. ## The dashboard Once you are sending, the dashboard is your overview: | Card | What it tells you | | --- | --- | | **Events** | Actions in the selected range, with a trend against the previous period. The bell icon opens notification settings | | **Plan limit (30 days)** | Usage against your allowance | | **Success rate** | Share that succeeded, badged Excellent / Good / Needs attention | | **Current plan** | Your tier, with a link to change it | The date range picker offers Today, Yesterday, Last 7 / 30 / 90 / 365 days and a custom range, defaulting to the last 7 days and bucketed in your store's timezone. Below the cards, a chart breaks volume down by action type. > [!TIP] > Turn on notifications early, from the bell icon on the Events card. Quota warnings are on by default; **High failure rate** is off, and it is the one that tells you an expired password or a revoked token has started dropping customer email. See [Notifications and alerts](https://crm-tool.k8s-gcp-dev.eu.codecreationlabs.cloud/h/flow-transactional-email/notifications-and-alerts.md). ## Around the app | Page | What it is for | | --- | --- | | Home | Setup guide, usage, success rate, recent activity | | Email Senders | Connected accounts, SMTP servers, test sends | | Email Layouts | The emails themselves | | Header & Footer | Reusable branded headers and footers | | HTTP Requests | Saved request templates | | Secrets | Encrypted values for templates and requests | | History | Every execution, with request and response detail | | Settings | Custom fonts for your layouts | | Help | Support contacts, documentation and your plan | ## Uninstalling Uninstalling removes all of your data - layouts, senders, secrets, history and uploaded files. It is not recoverable, so export anything you want to keep first (**More → Export** on a layout). ## Related - [Email senders overview](https://crm-tool.k8s-gcp-dev.eu.codecreationlabs.cloud/h/flow-transactional-email/email-senders-overview.md) - step 1 in detail. - [Build an email layout](https://crm-tool.k8s-gcp-dev.eu.codecreationlabs.cloud/h/flow-transactional-email/build-an-email-layout.md) - step 2 in detail. - [Passing data from Shopify Flow](https://crm-tool.k8s-gcp-dev.eu.codecreationlabs.cloud/h/flow-transactional-email/passing-data-from-shopify-flow.md) - step 5 in detail. - [Plans and usage](https://crm-tool.k8s-gcp-dev.eu.codecreationlabs.cloud/h/flow-transactional-email/plans-and-usage.md) - what counts against your quota.