kula Docs
Getting started

Quickstart

From sign-up to your first newsletter in about fifteen minutes

You need access to the DNS settings of your domain (Cloudflare, OVH, GoDaddy…): Kula only sends from a domain you own.

Once your domain is verified, the Assistant in the dashboard can do the rest: "Create a Newsletter list and draft a welcome email." You approve everything before it goes out. What the assistant can do.

Create your account

Go to app.kulamail.com/signup and enter your email address. Kula sends you a 6-digit code to confirm it.

You can then set a password and turn on two-factor authentication. Both stay optional.

The onboarding asks for the name of your first space. A space is one brand or product, with its own domain, contacts and reputation. Use the name your readers know, such as "Acme" or "Acme Weekly".

Verify your sending domain

Open Settings › Domains, click Add domain and type the domain you send from, for example acme.com.

Kula shows the records to add at your DNS provider: three DKIM records, a return path, a DMARC record and a tracking subdomain. Copy each one, then click Check now. Most providers publish records within minutes.

The domain is ready when all four checks are green. Until then, nothing can be sent. Every record explained.

Set your sender and design

In Settings › General, choose the default sender name and address, for example Acme <hello@acme.com>. The address must use your verified domain.

In Settings › Email design, add your logo, your brand color and a footer with your postal address. Every email written in the editor is wrapped in this design.

Add your contacts

Create a list in Lists, for example "Newsletter". A list is something people subscribe to: unsubscribe links and the preferences page work list by list.

Then fill it:

  • Import a CSV file from Contacts › Import. Kula skips invalid, duplicate and role addresses (info@, noreply@…) and tells you why. Import guide.
  • Add a signup form to your website from Signup forms. Signup forms.
  • Create contacts from your app with the API.
Contacts who have never opened one of your emails are sent to progressively, to protect your reputation. Why and how.

Write and send a campaign

Open Campaigns › New campaign:

  1. Pick the list, and optionally a segment to narrow it.
  2. Write the subject, a preview text, then the content in the editor. Insert {{ contact.first_name | default: "there" }} to greet each reader by name.
  3. Click Send test to receive the email in your own inbox.
  4. Click Send now, or schedule it for later.

The campaign report fills in as emails are delivered, opened and clicked. Campaigns in detail.

What's next

Welcome new subscribers

A flow that greets each new subscriber

Send from your app

Password resets and receipts through the API

Understand deliverability

What Kula does so your emails reach the inbox

Learn the concepts

Spaces, lists, segments and flows

Concepts

Spaces, contacts, lists, segments, campaigns, flows and transactional emails