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Connect SendGrid to RadarSend

SendGrid (Twilio SendGrid) is an email API from Twilio. This guide walks you through connecting your SendGrid account to RadarSend so you can send campaigns and track deliveries, bounces, and complaints.

Before you begin#

  • A SendGrid account. If you don’t have one yet, sign up at https://sendgrid.com.
  • Access to your domain’s DNS settings (so you can add the records SendGrid provides).
  • A RadarSend account with admin access.

Step 1 — Get your SendGrid credentials#

  1. Sign in to SendGrid at https://app.sendgrid.com.

  2. Authenticate your domain. Go to Settings→Sender Authentication, then start Authenticate Your Domain. SendGrid asks for your DNS provider and domain, then gives you a set of CNAME records. Add those records at your DNS provider, come back, and click Verify. (New records usually verify within an hour but can take up to 48 hours to propagate.) Domain authentication is the recommended path because it lets you send from any address on that domain.

    • No DNS access? Use Verify a Single Sender instead (also under Settings→Sender Authentication). SendGrid emails a confirmation link to that one address; click it to finish. This verifies a single from-address only and is best for testing rather than production sending.

  3. Create an API key. Go to Settings→API Keys→Create API Key, give it a name, and choose Restricted Access. RadarSend needs two permissions:

    • Mail Send — Full Access, to send your email (mail.send).
    • Event Webhook — Full Access, so RadarSend can add its own Event Webhook and check it (user.webhooks.event.settings.read and .update).
    • (Optional) Sender Authentication — Read Access, so RadarSend can show your domains’ status (whitelabel.read). RadarSend never changes them.

    SendGrid groups these differently from time to time; the scope names in brackets are what to look for. The connection test in Step 2 uses only the first two. Click Create & View, then copy the key. It starts with SG. and is shown only once, so store it somewhere safe.

Step 2 — Add the sending service in RadarSend#

  1. In RadarSend, go to Settings→Sending→Sending services and click + Connect a service.
  2. In the wizard, on Choose your sending service, pick SendGrid and click Continue.
  3. On Enter your SendGrid keys, paste your API Key. Leave Signed Event Webhook key (auto-configured) empty; RadarSend fills it in during Step 3. Then click Connect & verify.

RadarSend saves the service and runs a live connection test against SendGrid: it checks the key can manage Event Webhooks and send mail, without sending anything. When the key works, it shows Connected · SendGrid. If a permission is missing, it says which one.

Step 3 — Delivery, bounce & complaint tracking#

RadarSend sets this up for you as part of Connect & verify. Once the connection test passes, the wizard shows Setting up event webhooks…, then Event webhooks configured. It adds an Event Webhook named RadarSend that points at your RadarSend account, with the Bounced, Dropped, Spam Report, and Delivered events. It also turns on signing for that webhook and saves its verification key, so RadarSend checks every event really came from SendGrid. Event Webhooks you already have for other tools are left as they are.

To check it later, open the service at Settings → Sending → Sending services → your service. The Webhook delivery section shows Configured with the Bounce, Spam Complaint, and Delivery triggers. Click Re-check to run the check again. Configure webhooks (or Re-configure webhooks) only appears when something needs fixing; fix the cause, then click it to retry.

If the wizard says Connected, but event webhooks aren’t set up, the most likely cause is your SendGrid plan’s limit on Event Webhooks: the message says so and gives the number. RadarSend doesn’t take over a webhook another tool uses, so remove one you no longer need in SendGrid, then click Configure webhooks.

Step 4 — Confirm your sending address#

  1. Go to Settings→Sending→Senders and click + Add sender.
  2. Enter your Sending address and click Continue. Add a Display name and Reply-to, pick the email types this sender handles, and click Continue.
  3. On Tracking & confirm, choose this service under Sending service (you’ll only see this if you have more than one), enter a test recipient, and click Send test.
  4. When the test is accepted, click Save sender.

If SendGrid rejects the test, RadarSend shows SendGrid didn’t accept this address with SendGrid’s reason and, when your key can read it, what SendGrid currently says about the domain (for example Pending) or that the domain isn’t on the account yet. Verify the domain in SendGrid using the Open Sender Authentication in SendGrid link, then retry. RadarSend doesn’t add domains to your SendGrid account; that’s always done in SendGrid.

Tip: open the service to see the Verified sending domains section, which lists the domains SendGrid has authenticated and their status. It loads when you open the page; Re-check refreshes it. If the key doesn’t have Sender Authentication read access, the section says so instead.

Common issues#

  • “This key can’t manage SendGrid’s Event Webhook” when you connect. The key has Mail Send but not Event Webhook access. Add it (Step 1), or create a new key with both.
  • “Invalid API key” when you connect. SendGrid doesn’t recognize the key. Check you pasted all of it, starting with SG., and that it hasn’t been deleted.
  • API key missing the Mail Send scope. If sends fail with a permissions error, your key was created without Mail Send. Create a new Restricted Access key with Mail Send granted.
  • Domain not authenticated / DNS not propagated. If verification fails, double-check the CNAME records match exactly and wait — propagation can take up to 48 hours.
  • From-address not allowed. Your sending address must be on an authenticated domain, or be a verified single sender. Otherwise SendGrid rejects the send.
  • Webhook not configured. If Webhook delivery doesn’t show Configured, open the service and click Configure webhooks; the message says what’s in the way (usually the plan’s webhook limit). Until then, RadarSend doesn’t hear about deliveries, bounces, or complaints.
  • “The signing key saved in RadarSend doesn’t match…”, “Signing is off…”, or “RadarSend isn’t checking signatures…” under Webhook delivery. Signing is set per webhook, and the key RadarSend has saved no longer matches the RadarSend webhook in SendGrid (for example, signing was turned off or the key regenerated there). Until it’s fixed, RadarSend rejects every event. Click Re-configure webhooks and RadarSend fetches the current key. Don’t paste a key from a different webhook.
  • “RadarSend couldn’t turn on signing for its SendGrid webhook.” Webhooks still work; events are checked by their private address only. Click Re-configure webhooks to try again.

Good to know#

  • SendGrid API keys can be scoped narrowly. RadarSend needs Mail Send and Event Webhook access (Step 1). Sender Authentication with Read Access lets the Verified sending domains section show your domains; without it, everything else still works.
  • SendGrid accounts can have more than one Event Webhook; how many depends on your plan. RadarSend adds its own and never changes the others, so tools that already receive your events keep receiving them.