Email Notifications (Resend)

SidClaw sends email notifications when an agent action requires human approval. Emails are delivered via Resend and include the full context of the request — agent name, operation, target integration, data classification, risk level, and the policy rationale — with a direct link to the dashboard for approval.

Unlike Slack and Telegram integrations, email notifications do not support inline approve/deny. Reviewers click through to the dashboard to make their decision.

How it works

1. An AI agent calls POST /api/v1/evaluate via the SDK
2. The policy engine returns approval_required
3. SidClaw sends an email to all reviewers and admins (or a configured recipient list)
4. The email contains the full approval context and a "Review in Dashboard" button
5. A reviewer clicks the link, opens the approval in the dashboard, and approves or denies
6. The agent receives the decision and proceeds (or halts)

Email notifications are dispatched alongside chat integrations (Slack, Telegram) — they are not mutually exclusive. All enabled channels fire in parallel.

Setup

1. Create a Resend account

Sign up at resend.com and verify your sending domain.

2. Get an API key

In the Resend dashboard, go to API Keys and create a new key. Copy the key (it starts with re_).

3. Configure environment variables

Set the following environment variables on your SidClaw API server:

If EMAIL_API_KEY is not set, email notifications are disabled and a log message is printed at startup. The API continues to function normally — emails are simply skipped.

4. Verify domain in Resend

For production use, add your domain to Resend and configure the DNS records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) they provide. This ensures deliverability and prevents emails from landing in spam.

Email content

Each approval notification email includes:

Subject line

[Approval Required] {agent_name}: {operation} → {target_integration}

For example: [Approval Required] financial-advisor: wire_transfer → banking_api

HTML body

The HTML email contains:

• Header: "Approval Required"
• Agent card: Agent name highlighted with an amber left border, operation and target in monospace
• Details table: Data classification and risk level (if available)
• Policy rationale: The reason the action was flagged, in italics
• CTA button: "Review in Dashboard" linking to the approvals page

Plain text fallback

A plain text version is included for email clients that do not render HTML:

An AI agent requires your approval.

Agent: financial-advisor
Action: wire_transfer → banking_api
Classification: confidential
Risk: HIGH

Reason: Wire transfers over $10,000 require human review per FINRA compliance policy.

Review and approve/deny:
https://app.sidclaw.com/dashboard/approvals

Recipients

By default, SidClaw emails all users with the admin or reviewer role in your tenant. You can override this by setting a custom notification email list in your tenant settings:

• Default: All admins and reviewers receive the email
• Custom list: Set notification_email in tenant settings to an email address or array of addresses

Rate limiting

Email notifications are rate-limited to one email per tenant per minute. If multiple approvals are created within the same minute, only the first triggers an email. This prevents email flooding during burst scenarios.

Subsequent approvals are still visible in the dashboard and delivered via chat integrations (Slack, Telegram) if configured.

Disabling email notifications

To disable email notifications entirely for a tenant, set notifications_enabled to false in the tenant settings. This stops email delivery but does not affect chat integrations.

Alternatively, simply do not set the EMAIL_API_KEY environment variable. Without it, the email service logs what would have been sent but does not attempt delivery.

Fire-and-forget delivery

Email delivery is fire-and-forget — it never blocks or slows down the primary evaluate endpoint. If Resend is unreachable or returns an error:

• The error is logged server-side
• The approval request is still created normally
• Reviewers can still approve/deny via the dashboard, Slack, or Telegram

Troubleshooting

Emails are not arriving

• Verify EMAIL_API_KEY is set on your API server
• Check the API logs for "Email notifications disabled" at startup (indicates the key is missing)
• Verify your sending domain is verified in Resend
• Check spam/junk folders — unverified domains often land in spam
• Confirm that users with admin or reviewer roles exist in your tenant

Emails land in spam

• Verify your domain in Resend and configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records
• Use a custom EMAIL_FROM address on your verified domain instead of the default

Rate limiting is suppressing emails

• The rate limit is 1 email per tenant per 60 seconds
• If you need higher throughput, consider using Slack or Telegram for real-time notifications and email as a fallback
• Check the API logs for "Rate limited for tenant" messages

"Review in Dashboard" link goes to localhost

• Set the DASHBOARD_URL environment variable to your production dashboard URL (e.g., https://app.sidclaw.com)
• The default is http://localhost:3000, which is only correct for local development

Environment variables