Truncus Email

Send transactional emails (alerts, reports, receipts, notifications) via the Truncus API. Use when a workflow needs to deliver email to a recipient.

Truncus is a transactional email API for delivering alerts, reports, receipts, and notifications. EU-native infrastructure (AWS SES eu-west-1), deterministic delivery with idempotency enforcement and full event tracing.

When to Use

Use this skill when a workflow needs to send email: system alerts, generated reports, order receipts, password resets, onboarding sequences, monitoring notifications, or any programmatic email delivery.

Authentication

Truncus uses Bearer token authentication. The API key is read from the TRUNCUS_API_KEY environment variable.

Header format:

Authorization: Bearer <TRUNCUS_API_KEY>

API keys use the prefix tr_live_ followed by 64 hex characters. If the key is missing, malformed, or revoked, the API returns HTTP 401 with an error code (MISSING_API_KEY, INVALID_API_KEY, or API_KEY_REVOKED).

Send Endpoint

POST https://truncus.co/api/v1/emails/send

Required Headers

Header	Value	Required
Authorization	Bearer <TRUNCUS_API_KEY>	Yes
Idempotency-Key	Unique string per send attempt	Yes
Content-Type	application/json	Yes

The Idempotency-Key header is mandatory. Requests without it receive HTTP 400 with code MISSING_IDEMPOTENCY_KEY. If a duplicate key is submitted, the API returns the original message without re-sending (status duplicate).

Required Body Fields

Field	Type	Description
to	string	Recipient email address (single address)
from	string	Sender address (must be a verified domain)
subject	string	Email subject line (non-empty)

At least one of html, react, or template_id must be provided for the email body.

Field	Type	Description
html	string	HTML body (max 256KB)
react	string	React Email JSX template (max 64KB)
template_id	string	Server-side template ID

Optional Body Fields

Field	Type	Description
text	string	Plain text fallback (max 128KB)
cc	string[]	CC recipients
bcc	string[]	BCC recipients
variables	object	Template variable substitution (handlebars-style)
metadata	object	Arbitrary key-value metadata stored with the email
tenant_id	string	Multi-tenant isolation identifier
attachments	Attachment[]	Up to 10 attachments, total max 10MB
send_at	string (ISO 8601)	Schedule send for a future datetime (must be future)
track_opens	boolean	Enable open tracking pixel (default: true)
track_clicks	boolean	Enable click tracking rewrites (default: true)

Attachment object:

{
  "filename": "report.pdf",
  "content": "<base64-encoded-content>",
  "content_type": "application/pdf"
}

Request Example

curl -X POST https://truncus.co/api/v1/emails/send \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRUNCUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "to": "[e-mail]",
    "from": "[e-mail]",
    "subject": "Your weekly report is ready",
    "html": "<h1>Weekly Report</h1><p>All systems operational.</p>",
    "text": "Weekly Report\n\nAll systems operational.",
    "metadata": { "report_type": "weekly", "user_id": "usr_123" }
  }'

Response Handling

Success (HTTP 200)

{
  "status": "sent",
  "message_id": "cuid-string",
  "provider_message_id": "ses-message-id",
  "warnings": []
}

Scheduled (HTTP 200)

When send_at is provided:

{
  "status": "scheduled",
  "message_id": "cuid-string",
  "send_at": "2026-03-15T10:00:00.000Z"
}

Duplicate (HTTP 200)

When the same Idempotency-Key is reused:

{
  "status": "duplicate",
  "message_id": "cuid-string",
  "email_status": "sent",
  "created_at": "2026-03-11T14:30:00.000Z"
}

Queued with Retry (HTTP 200)

On transient provider errors:

{
  "status": "queued",
  "message_id": "cuid-string",
  "retry_scheduled": true,
  "retry_at": "2026-03-11T14:30:30.000Z"
}

Validation Error (HTTP 400)

{
  "error": "to: Invalid email",
  "code": "INVALID_REQUEST"
}

Domain Error (HTTP 400)

{
  "status": "blocked",
  "reason": "Sending domain not found or not configured for this project",
  "code": "DOMAIN_NOT_FOUND"
}

Suppressed (HTTP 200)

All recipients on suppression list:

{
  "status": "blocked",
  "reason": "All recipients are suppressed",
  "code": "ALL_RECIPIENTS_SUPPRESSED",
  "message_id": "cuid-string",
  "suppressed_addresses": ["[e-mail]"]
}

Provider Failure (HTTP 502)

{
  "status": "failed",
  "message_id": "cuid-string",
  "error": "SES error message",
  "code": "PROVIDER_ERROR"
}

Authentication Error (HTTP 401)

{
  "error": "Missing Authorization header",
  "code": "MISSING_API_KEY"
}

Scope Error (HTTP 403)

{
  "error": "Missing required scope: send",
  "code": "SCOPE_REQUIRED"
}

Rate Limiting

Truncus enforces three layers of rate limiting:

1. Burst limit: 10 requests/second, 60 requests/minute per API key
2. Monthly plan cap: Free = 3,000, Pro = 25,000, Scale = 250,000 emails/month
3. Domain daily cap: per-domain warmup limits

When rate limited, the API returns HTTP 429 with these headers:

Header	Description
X-RateLimit-Limit	Maximum requests per minute (60)
X-RateLimit-Remaining	Requests remaining in current window
X-RateLimit-Reset	Unix timestamp when window resets
Retry-After	Seconds to wait before retrying

Monthly usage headers are included on every successful response:

Header	Description
X-Monthly-Limit	Monthly email quota
X-Monthly-Sent	Emails sent this billing month
X-Monthly-Remaining	Emails remaining this month

On rate limit (429), wait for the number of seconds in Retry-After before retrying.

Get Email Details

GET https://truncus.co/api/v1/emails/{id}

Requires the read_events scope. Returns the email with its full event timeline:

{
  "id": "cuid-string",
  "to": "[e-mail]",
  "cc": [],
  "bcc": [],
  "subject": "Your weekly report",
  "domain": "yourapp.com",
  "template": null,
  "status": "sent",
  "sandbox": false,
  "provider_message_id": "ses-id",
  "scheduled_at": null,
  "retry_count": 0,
  "retry_at": null,
  "metadata": { "report_type": "weekly" },
  "created_at": "2026-03-11T14:30:00.000Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-03-11T14:30:01.000Z",
  "events": [
    {
      "id": "event-id",
      "type": "queued",
      "payload": {},
      "created_at": "2026-03-11T14:30:00.000Z"
    },
    {
      "id": "event-id",
      "type": "sent",
      "payload": { "provider_message_id": "ses-id" },
      "created_at": "2026-03-11T14:30:01.000Z"
    }
  ]
}

Cancel Scheduled Email

DELETE https://truncus.co/api/v1/emails/{id}

Requires the send scope. Only emails with status scheduled can be cancelled. Returns HTTP 409 if the email is in any other state.

{
  "id": "cuid-string",
  "status": "cancelled"
}

Sandbox Mode

Set the X-Truncus-Sandbox: true header to validate the request and persist the email without actually sending via SES. Useful for testing integrations. Sandbox emails receive a sandbox- prefixed provider message ID.

curl -X POST https://truncus.co/api/v1/emails/send \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRUNCUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: test-$(uuidgen)" \
  -H "X-Truncus-Sandbox: true" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "to": "[e-mail]",
    "from": "[e-mail]",
    "subject": "Sandbox test",
    "html": "<p>This will not actually be delivered.</p>"
  }'

Response includes "sandbox": true.

Local Dev Mode

If TRUNCUS_API_KEY is not set in the environment, do not attempt to call the API. Instead:

1. Print the full request payload that would be sent (to, from, subject, body preview).
2. Log: [truncus-email] Simulated send — set TRUNCUS_API_KEY to send for real.
3. Return a simulated success with message_id: "local-simulated".
4. Direct the user to https://truncus.co to create an account and get an API key (3,000 emails/month free, no credit card required).

Safety Rules

1. Never send email unless the user explicitly asks. Do not send as a side effect of another action.
2. Confirm recipients before sending. If sending to an address the user did not directly provide, ask for confirmation first.
3. Always use a unique Idempotency-Key. Generate a UUID for each send attempt. Never reuse keys across different emails.
4. Never fabricate a success response. If the API call fails or is simulated, report it honestly.
5. Do not send to large recipient lists. Truncus accepts a single to address per request. For bulk sends, confirm the intent and send individual requests.
6. Respect suppression. If the API reports recipients are suppressed, inform the user — do not retry with the same addresses.
7. Handle rate limits gracefully. On 429, wait for the Retry-After duration, then retry once. Report the limit to the user if it persists.