> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://sailia-mintlify-5b02008a.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Notifications and emails
> Understand the emails and SMS messages Sailia sends to your customers and how to customize them.
Sailia sends automated emails and SMS messages to keep customers and staff informed. These range from booking confirmations to membership updates and workflow-triggered messages.
## Automatic emails
These emails are sent by Sailia without any setup required:
| Email | When it's sent |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Booking confirmation** | Immediately after a successful online booking or POS sale with an email address. Includes a PDF receipt and a calendar invite (`.ics`) attachment. |
| **Guest receipt** | When a guest (no account) enters their email on the payment success page. Sends the booking confirmation, PDF receipt, and calendar invite to the provided address. See [guest receipts](/activities/online-bookings#guest-receipts). |
| **Refund notification** | When a [refund](/payments/stripe#refunds) is processed for a booking |
| **Gift card delivery** | When a customer purchases a [gift card](/pricing/gift-cards) — sent to the buyer or recipient |
| **Waitlist notification** | When a spot opens up on a [waitlisted](/activities/waitlists) session — includes a direct booking link |
| **Membership renewal** | When a [membership](/pricing/memberships) payment is processed or fails |
| **Waiver request** | When a customer has outstanding [waivers](/customers/waivers) to complete — includes an authenticated link to fill them in |
## Calendar invites
Booking confirmation emails include a calendar invite (`.ics` file) attachment that customers can add to Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, Outlook, or any other calendar app that supports the iCalendar format.
The invite covers the booking's session name, location address, and a short description. Times are converted to your tenant timezone, and overnight bookings are emitted as all-day events spanning the full duration.
| Behavior | Detail |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **When it's attached** | Booking confirmation emails sent to the booking owner, and guest receipts requested on the payment success page. |
| **What's included** | Public event details only — session name, address, and a short public-facing description. Customer or staff notes are never included. |
| **Multiple activities** | Orders with several bookings produce a single `.ics` file containing one event per booking. |
| **All-day bookings** | Overnight sessions are emitted as multi-day all-day events. |
| **File name** | Named after the activity (for example, `Surf lesson.ics`) when all events share a name, otherwise `Booking.ics`. |
Calendar invites are sent automatically — no setup required. The attachment is only added when the recipient is the customer who made the booking (or the guest who requested the receipt), so manually forwarded confirmations sent to a different address do not include the invite.
## Passwordless booking links
Workflow emails for group bookings and instalment plans include a **manage booking** link that opens the customer's booking directly — no login required.
Each link includes a secure, time-limited token scoped to that specific booking or instalment plan. When a customer clicks the link from their email, they go straight to the booking view without needing to enter their account credentials.
| Email | Link merge field |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------ |
| **Group booking** ([trigger](/integrations/workflow-triggers#group-booking-triggers)) | `manage_booking_details` |
| **Instalment plan** ([trigger](/integrations/workflow-triggers#instalment-triggers)) | `open_in_sailia_link` |
Tokens are valid for 12 hours from when the email is sent and only grant access to the specific booking or instalment plan referenced in the link. Customers still need to sign in to access other parts of their account.
Customers without an account can still use these links to view their booking. This is helpful for guest checkouts where the recipient does not yet have a Sailia login.
## Custom workflows
For messages beyond the built-in set, use [automated workflows](/integrations/workflows). Workflows let you send custom emails or SMS messages triggered by events across bookings, memberships, instalments, and more.
Common examples include:
* **Pre-activity reminders** — send a reminder 24 or 48 hours before the session
* **Post-activity follow-ups** — send a thank-you email with a link to rebook
* **Waiver reminders** — remind customers to complete their [waiver](/customers/waivers) before the activity
* **Group booking prompts** — prompt organisers to fill in participant details
* **Instalment reminders** — notify customers when a payment is due
* **Membership lifecycle** — send welcome emails, renewal notices, or cancellation confirmations
Workflows support merge fields to personalize content with the customer's name, activity details, booking information, and your [business details](/integrations/workflows#business-merge-fields). See the [full list of available triggers](/integrations/workflows#available-triggers) for all events you can use.
## Monitoring email volume
Sailia tracks automated emails through [meter usage tracking](/api-reference/meter-tracking#built-in-meters):
| Meter | What it tracks |
| --------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| `workflow-email-sent` | Emails sent by [workflows](/integrations/workflows) |
| `waitlist-notified` | [Waitlist](/activities/waitlists) notification emails |
Use the meter usage API to monitor email volume and ensure your workflows are performing as expected.
## Resending confirmation emails
You can resend a booking confirmation email to any email address from the order receipt. This works for all completed orders, including those linked to customer accounts and guest checkouts.
To resend a confirmation:
1. Open the order receipt from the [bookings dashboard](/activities/managing-bookings).
2. Scroll to the **Emails sent to this account** section.
3. Click **Send confirmation email**.
4. Enter the recipient's email address.
5. Click **Send**.
This is useful when:
* A customer did not receive the original email
* You need to forward the booking details to a different email address
* You made changes to the booking and want to send an updated confirmation
The resent email uses the same booking confirmation template with the current booking details and PDF receipt. If the booking has been modified since the original confirmation, the email reflects the latest information. The calendar invite attachment is only included when the email is sent to the booking owner's address.
## Communications dashboard overview
The **Communications** dashboard opens to an overview that summarizes how many emails and SMS messages Sailia has sent on your behalf, with a stacked bar chart showing send volume over time broken down by template.
Use it to spot trends, sanity-check that a new workflow is firing, or investigate a spike in sends before it affects your bill.
### Headline stats
The top of the page shows totals and per-day averages for emails and SMS, comparing the current month to the previous month. Per-day figures divide the month's total by the number of days elapsed (current month) or the full month length (last month).
### Filtering the chart
Two filters control the stacked bar chart underneath the headline stats:
| Filter | What it does |
| ------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Time period** | Sets the date range plotted on the chart. Choose between **1D**, **7D**, **4W**, **1M** (month to date), **6M**, **YTD**, **1Y**, or **MAX**. Defaults to **6M**. |
| **Email template** | Narrows the chart to one or more specific [email templates](/customers/email-templates). Leave it empty to include every template plus manual sends. |
Granularity is chosen automatically from the selected time period:
| Time period | Bar interval |
| ----------------------- | ------------ |
| **1D** | Hour |
| **7D**, **4W**, **1M** | Day |
| **6M**, **YTD**, **1Y** | Month |
| **MAX** | Year |
Sends that aren't linked to a template — for example, one-off emails or SMS messages sent from a customer record — are grouped under **Email (manual)** or **SMS (manual)** in the chart legend.
Selecting one or more templates in the **Email template** filter limits the chart to email sends only. Clear the filter to see SMS volume again.
If no communications were sent in the selected range, the chart area shows **No communications data available for the selected period** instead of an empty plot.
## Email delivery status
Every email Sailia sends is tracked with a delivery status so you can see whether it reached the recipient — or if something went wrong on the way. Statuses update automatically as the email provider reports back, and they appear in the **Communications** dashboard next to each sent email.
### Where to find it
Open **Communications → Sent** to see a list of recent emails with a **Status** column. Click any row to open the email detail view, which shows the most recent status and a full **Delivery events** timeline ordered from newest to oldest.
Platform-level emails (visible to super admins) are tracked in the same way under the **Platform communications** tab.
### Status reference
The status reflects the latest event the email provider has reported for that message.
| Status | What it means | What to do |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Sent** | Sailia handed the email off to the email provider. | Wait for a delivery update. |
| **Delivered** | The email was accepted by the recipient's mail server. | Nothing — the email arrived. |
| **Opened** | The recipient opened the email. | Nothing — engagement confirmed. |
| **Clicked** | The recipient clicked a tracked link in the email. | Nothing — engagement confirmed. |
| **Delayed** | The recipient's mail server is temporarily deferring the message. | Wait — most delays resolve automatically and the status updates to **Delivered**. |
| **Bounced** | The email was rejected. The detail view shows whether the bounce was permanent (bad address) or transient (temporary issue). | For permanent bounces, correct or remove the address. Transient bounces usually clear on their own. |
| **Reported** | The recipient marked the email as spam. | Remove the recipient from future sends to protect your sender reputation. |
| **Rejected** | The email provider refused to send the message (for example, the content was flagged). | Review the message content and resend. |
| **Failed** | Sailia could not hand the email to the provider. | Try resending. If it keeps failing, [contact support](/help/contact). |
| **Rendering failed** | A merge field in the template could not be filled in. | Open the template, fix the broken field, and resend. |
| **Unknown** | No status has been received yet. | Wait a few minutes — most statuses arrive within seconds, but some providers can take longer. |
Status tracking covers transactional emails (booking confirmations, workflow emails, password resets, and similar). Bulk [campaign](/customers/campaigns) emails report their own aggregate metrics on the campaign page.
### Acting on bounces and complaints
A small number of bounces and complaints is normal, but a sustained pattern can hurt your sender reputation and reduce deliverability for everyone.
* **Hard bounces** (permanent) — remove the address from your customer record or update it after confirming with the customer.
* **Soft bounces** (transient) — no action needed; the provider will retry automatically.
* **Spam complaints** — stop sending marketing emails to that recipient. Transactional emails (such as booking confirmations) can still be sent if the customer continues to book.
## Related guides
Set up custom email and SMS workflows with 30+ available triggers.
View and manage bookings, including resending confirmations.