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CLI

Send your first email from a macOS or Linux terminal: install the bird CLI, log in once, and send. You do not need to copy an API key.

1. Install

Code example
curl -fsSL https://cli.bird.com/install.sh | sh
Run bird version to confirm that the installation succeeded. For Windows and other installation options, see Install the CLI.

2. Log in

Code example
bird auth login --scope emails:write
This opens a browser consent page where you choose a workspace and approve the grant. The emails:write scope lets step 3 send. Without it, bird auth login requests read-only access and the send is refused. The CLI stores a workspace-bound OAuth token in ~/.config/bird/credentials.json, refreshes it when needed, and records the workspace region.

3. Send an email

Send from Bird's shared onboarding domain to the delivered@messagebird.dev sandbox address: no domain verification, no real mailbox needed.
Code example
bird email send \
  --from onboarding@messagebird.dev \
  --to delivered@messagebird.dev \
  --subject "Hello from Bird" \
  --html "<p>My first Bird email.</p>"
The CLI prints the accepted message as JSON. The *_count fields track recipients through the delivery states. In the initial response, one recipient is accepted and none are delivered:
Code example
{
  "id": "em_01ky7ma8y2es1s2akzk53tmjn0",
  "status": "accepted",
  "category": "marketing",
  "from": { "email": "onboarding@messagebird.dev" },
  "to": [{ "email": "delivered@messagebird.dev" }],
  "subject": "Hello from Bird",
  "accepted_count": 1,
  "processed_count": 0,
  "delivered_count": 0,
  "deferred_count": 0,
  "bounced_count": 0,
  "complained_count": 0,
  "rejected_count": 0,
  "open_count": 0,
  "click_count": 0,
  "track_opens": true,
  "track_clicks": true,
  "created_at": "2026-07-23T13:58:20.866Z"
}
--to is repeatable for multiple recipients, --text sends a plain-text body, and --dry-run prints the resolved request without sending it.

4. Check the result

accepted means Bird took the message and delivers it asynchronously. Read it back by its em_ ID and watch the status reach delivered:
Code example
bird email get em_01ky7ma8y2es1s2akzk53tmjn0
Add --format text for a human-readable card instead of JSON.
Every command writes JSON to standard output by default. Errors use a JSON envelope on standard error, and exit codes identify failure categories. See the CLI for agents for the full contract.

Next steps