Send Emails from the Command Line with Swaks

Send emails through AhaSend’s SMTP servers directly from your terminal using Swaks, a powerful command-line tool designed for testing and debugging SMTP servers. Perfect for scripting, automation, and troubleshooting email delivery issues.

What is Swaks? Swaks (Swiss Army Knife for SMTP) is a versatile, scriptable tool for testing SMTP servers and sending emails from the command line. It supports TLS encryption, various authentication methods, and is designed as a diagnostic tool rather than for high-volume sending.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

System Requirements

Swaks installed on your system
Command line access (Terminal, Command Prompt, etc.)
Basic familiarity with command-line tools

AhaSend Setup

Domain verified in your AhaSend account
SMTP credentials created (username and password)
Access to your AhaSend dashboard for credential management

Need SMTP Credentials? If you haven’t created SMTP credentials yet, check out our SMTP Credentials guide for step-by-step instructions.

Installation

Install Swaks using your system’s package manager:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install swaks

# CentOS/RHEL
sudo yum install swaks

# Fedora
sudo dnf install swaks

brew install swaks

choco install swaks

Connection Settings

Use these settings for all Swaks commands with AhaSend:

Primary Server

Host: send.ahasend.com Ports: 587 (recommended), 25, 2525 Security: TLS (—tls flag) Authentication: Plain (—auth plain)

US Server

Host: send-us.ahasend.com Ports: 587 (recommended), 25, 2525 Security: TLS (—tls flag) Authentication: Plain (—auth plain)

Basic Email Examples

swaks \
  --from hello@yourdomain.com \
  --to user@example.com \
  --server send.ahasend.com \
  --port 587 \
  --auth plain \
  --tls \
  --auth-user 'YOUR_SMTP_USERNAME' \
  --auth-password 'YOUR_SMTP_PASSWORD' \
  --header 'Subject: Welcome to our platform!' \
  --body "Thanks for signing up. We're excited to have you!"

swaks \
  --from hello@yourdomain.com \
  --to user@example.com \
  --server send.ahasend.com \
  --port 587 \
  --auth plain \
  --tls \
  --auth-user 'YOUR_SMTP_USERNAME' \
  --auth-password 'YOUR_SMTP_PASSWORD' \
  --header 'Subject: Welcome to our platform!' \
  --body "<html><body><h1>Welcome!</h1><p>Thanks for signing up. We're <strong>excited</strong> to have you!</p></body></html>" \
  --add-header "Content-Type: text/html"

swaks \
  --from hello@yourdomain.com \
  --to user@example.com \
  --server send.ahasend.com \
  --port 587 \
  --auth plain \
  --tls \
  --auth-user 'YOUR_SMTP_USERNAME' \
  --auth-password 'YOUR_SMTP_PASSWORD' \
  --header 'Subject: Your Invoice is Ready' \
  --body "Please find your invoice attached to this email." \
  --attach @/path/to/invoice.pdf

Advanced Examples

swaks \
  --from hello@yourdomain.com \
  --to user1@example.com,user2@example.com \
  --server send.ahasend.com \
  --port 587 \
  --auth plain \
  --tls \
  --auth-user 'YOUR_SMTP_USERNAME' \
  --auth-password 'YOUR_SMTP_PASSWORD' \
  --header 'Subject: Newsletter Update' \
  --body "This is our latest newsletter update."

swaks \
  --from hello@yourdomain.com \
  --to user@example.com \
  --cc manager@yourdomain.com \
  --bcc analytics@yourdomain.com \
  --server send.ahasend.com \
  --port 587 \
  --auth plain \
  --tls \
  --auth-user 'YOUR_SMTP_USERNAME' \
  --auth-password 'YOUR_SMTP_PASSWORD' \
  --header 'Subject: Project Update' \
  --body "Here's the latest project update."

swaks \
  --from hello@yourdomain.com \
  --to user@example.com \
  --server send.ahasend.com \
  --port 587 \
  --auth plain \
  --tls \
  --auth-user 'YOUR_SMTP_USERNAME' \
  --auth-password 'YOUR_SMTP_PASSWORD' \
  --header 'Subject: Documents Package' \
  --body "Please find the requested documents attached." \
  --attach @/path/to/document1.pdf \
  --attach @/path/to/document2.xlsx

Using Special Headers

Add AhaSend’s special headers to control tracking, retention, and other features:

swaks \
  --from hello@yourdomain.com \
  --to user@example.com \
  --server send.ahasend.com \
  --port 587 \
  --auth plain \
  --tls \
  --auth-user 'YOUR_SMTP_USERNAME' \
  --auth-password 'YOUR_SMTP_PASSWORD' \
  --header 'Subject: Newsletter with Tracking' \
  --add-header "ahasend-track-opens: true" \
  --add-header "ahasend-track-clicks: true" \
  --add-header "ahasend-tags: newsletter,cli,swaks" \
  --body "<html><body><h1>Newsletter</h1><p>Check out our <a href='https://yourdomain.com/features'>latest features</a>!</p></body></html>" \
  --add-header "Content-Type: text/html"

swaks \
  --from hello@yourdomain.com \
  --to user@example.com \
  --server send.ahasend.com \
  --port 587 \
  --auth plain \
  --tls \
  --auth-user 'YOUR_SMTP_USERNAME' \
  --auth-password 'YOUR_SMTP_PASSWORD' \
  --header 'Subject: Temporary Notification' \
  --add-header "ahasend-message-retention: 7" \
  --add-header "ahasend-message-data-retention: 1" \
  --body "This is a temporary notification that will be automatically deleted."

swaks \
  --from hello@yourdomain.com \
  --to user@example.com \
  --server send.ahasend.com \
  --port 587 \
  --auth plain \
  --tls \
  --auth-user 'YOUR_SMTP_USERNAME' \
  --auth-password 'YOUR_SMTP_PASSWORD' \
  --header 'Subject: Product Update with Tracking' \
  --add-header "ahasend-track-opens: true" \
  --add-header "ahasend-track-clicks: true" \
  --add-header "ahasend-tags: product-update,announcement,cli" \
  --add-header "ahasend-message-retention: 30" \
  --add-header "ahasend-message-data-retention: 7" \
  --body "<html><body><h1>Product Updates</h1><p>We've launched <a href='https://yourdomain.com/new-features'>exciting new features</a>!</p></body></html>" \
  --add-header "Content-Type: text/html"

Testing with Sandbox Mode

Use sandbox mode to safely test your email integration:

swaks \
  --from hello@yourdomain.com \
  --to test@example.com \
  --server send.ahasend.com \
  --port 587 \
  --auth plain \
  --tls \
  --auth-user 'YOUR_SMTP_USERNAME' \
  --auth-password 'YOUR_SMTP_PASSWORD' \
  --header 'Subject: Sandbox Test Email' \
  --add-header "AhaSend-Sandbox: true" \
  --add-header "AhaSend-Sandbox-Result: deliver" \
  --body "This email is sent in sandbox mode for testing."

swaks \
  --from hello@yourdomain.com \
  --to test@example.com \
  --server send.ahasend.com \
  --port 587 \
  --auth plain \
  --tls \
  --auth-user 'YOUR_SMTP_USERNAME' \
  --auth-password 'YOUR_SMTP_PASSWORD' \
  --header 'Subject: Sandbox Bounce Test' \
  --add-header "AhaSend-Sandbox: true" \
  --add-header "AhaSend-Sandbox-Result: bounce" \
  --body "This email simulates a bounce for webhook testing."

swaks \
  --from hello@yourdomain.com \
  --to test@example.com \
  --server send.ahasend.com \
  --port 587 \
  --auth plain \
  --tls \
  --auth-user 'YOUR_SMTP_USERNAME' \
  --auth-password 'YOUR_SMTP_PASSWORD' \
  --header 'Subject: Verbose Sandbox Test' \
  --add-header "AhaSend-Sandbox: true" \
  --add-header "AhaSend-Sandbox-Result: deliver" \
  --body "Testing with verbose output enabled." \
  --show-data \
  --show-raw-text

Sandbox Benefits: Emails sent in sandbox mode are free, trigger webhooks normally, and never actually deliver to recipients - perfect for development and testing.

Scripting and Automation

Shell Script Example

Email Script Example

#!/bin/bash

# Configuration
SMTP_SERVER="send.ahasend.com"
SMTP_PORT="587"
SMTP_USERNAME="YOUR_SMTP_USERNAME"
SMTP_PASSWORD="YOUR_SMTP_PASSWORD"
FROM_EMAIL="hello@yourdomain.com"

# Function to send email
send_email() {
    local to_email="$1"
    local subject="$2"
    local body="$3"

    swaks \
        --from "$FROM_EMAIL" \
        --to "$to_email" \
        --server "$SMTP_SERVER" \
        --port "$SMTP_PORT" \
        --auth plain \
        --tls \
        --auth-user "$SMTP_USERNAME" \
        --auth-password "$SMTP_PASSWORD" \
        --header "Subject: $subject" \
        --body "$body"
}

# Send notification email
send_email "admin@yourdomain.com" "System Alert" "The backup process has completed successfully."

# Send welcome email
send_email "newuser@example.com" "Welcome!" "Thanks for joining our platform."

Environment Variables

For security, use environment variables for credentials:

Environment Setup

# Set environment variables
export AHASEND_SMTP_USERNAME="your_smtp_username"
export AHASEND_SMTP_PASSWORD="your_smtp_password"
export AHASEND_FROM_EMAIL="hello@yourdomain.com"

# Use in swaks command
swaks \
  --from "$AHASEND_FROM_EMAIL" \
  --to user@example.com \
  --server send.ahasend.com \
  --port 587 \
  --auth plain \
  --tls \
  --auth-user "$AHASEND_SMTP_USERNAME" \
  --auth-password "$AHASEND_SMTP_PASSWORD" \
  --header 'Subject: Secure Email' \
  --body "This email uses environment variables for credentials."

Resources

Swaks Documentation

Official Swaks documentation and manual

SMTP Testing Guide

Complete guide to testing email delivery

AhaSend SMTP Settings

SMTP server configuration and credentials

AhaSend Support

Get help from our engineering team

Pro Tip: Start with sandbox mode and basic commands before building complex automation. Use environment variables for credentials and always test scripts thoroughly before production use.

Getting Started

Sending with SMTP

Sending with the API

Email Tracking

Integrations

Data Retention

Security

Scaling up

Send emails from the CLI

Send Emails from the Command Line with Swaks

Prerequisites

Installation

Connection Settings

Primary Server

US Server

Basic Email Examples

Advanced Examples

Using Special Headers

Testing with Sandbox Mode

Scripting and Automation

Shell Script Example

Environment Variables

Resources

Swaks Documentation

SMTP Testing Guide

AhaSend SMTP Settings

AhaSend Support

​Send Emails from the Command Line with Swaks

​Prerequisites

​Installation

​Connection Settings

Primary Server

US Server

​Basic Email Examples

​Advanced Examples

​Using Special Headers

​Testing with Sandbox Mode

​Scripting and Automation

​Shell Script Example

​Environment Variables

​Resources

Swaks Documentation

SMTP Testing Guide

AhaSend SMTP Settings

AhaSend Support

Send Emails from the Command Line with Swaks

Prerequisites

Installation

Connection Settings

Basic Email Examples

Advanced Examples

Using Special Headers

Testing with Sandbox Mode

Scripting and Automation

Shell Script Example

Environment Variables

Resources