Using pnpm:

pnpm create email

Using bun:

bun create email

Navigate to Project Directory

You must change into the newly created project folder:

cd react-email-starter

Install Dependencies

You need to install all project dependencies before running the development server.

Using npm:

npm install

Using yarn:

yarn

Using pnpm:

pnpm install

Using bun:

bun install

Start the Development Server

Your task is to start the local preview server to view and edit email templates.

Using npm:

npm run dev

Using yarn:

yarn dev

Using pnpm:

pnpm dev

Using bun:

bun dev

Verify Installation

Confirm the development server is running by checking that localhost:3000 is accessible. The server will display a preview interface where you can view email templates from the emails folder.

Notes on installation

Assuming React Email is installed in an existing project, update the top-level package.json file with a script to run the React Email preview server.

{
  "scripts": {
    "email": "email dev --dir emails --port 3000"
  }
}

Make sure the path to the emails folder is relative to the base project directory.

tsconfig.json updating or creation

Ensure the tsconfig.json includes proper support for jsx.

Basic Email Template

Replace the sample email templates. Here is how to create a new email template:

Create an email component with proper structure using the Tailwind component for styling:

import {
  Html,
  Head,
  Preview,
  Body,
  Container,
  Heading,
  Text,
  Button,
  Tailwind,
  pixelBasedPreset
} from '@react-email/components';

interface WelcomeEmailProps {
  name: string;
  verificationUrl: string;
}

export default function WelcomeEmail({ name, verificationUrl }: WelcomeEmailProps) {
  return (
    <Html lang="en">
      <Tailwind
        config={{
          presets: [pixelBasedPreset],
          theme: {
            extend: {
              colors: {
                brand: '#007bff',
              },
            },
          },
        }}
      >
        <Head />
        <Preview>Welcome - Verify your email</Preview>
        <Body className="bg-gray-100 font-sans">
          <Container className="max-w-xl mx-auto p-5">
            <Heading className="text-2xl text-gray-800">
              Welcome!
            </Heading>
            <Text className="text-base text-gray-800">
              Hi {name}, thanks for signing up!
            </Text>
            <Button
              href={verificationUrl}
              className="bg-brand text-white px-5 py-3 rounded block text-center no-underline box-border"
            >
              Verify Email
            </Button>
          </Container>
        </Body>
      </Tailwind>
    </Html>
  );
}

// Preview props for testing
WelcomeEmail.PreviewProps = {
  name: 'John Doe',
  verificationUrl: 'https://example.com/verify/abc123'
} satisfies WelcomeEmailProps;

export { WelcomeEmail };

Essential Components

See references/COMPONENTS.md for complete component documentation.

Core Structure:

Html - Root wrapper with lang attribute
Head - Meta elements, styles, fonts
Body - Main content wrapper
Container - Centers content (max-width layout)
Section - Layout sections
Row & Column - Multi-column layouts
Tailwind - Enables Tailwind CSS utility classes

Content:

Preview - Inbox preview text, always first in Body
Heading - h1-h6 headings
Text - Paragraphs
Button - Styled link buttons
Link - Hyperlinks
Img - Images (see Static Files section below)
Hr - Horizontal dividers

Specialized:

CodeBlock - Syntax-highlighted code
CodeInline - Inline code
Markdown - Render markdown
Font - Custom web fonts

Before Writing Code

When a user requests an email template, ask clarifying questions FIRST if they haven't provided:

Brand colors - Ask for primary brand color (hex code like #007bff)
Logo - Ask if they have a logo file and its format (PNG/JPG only - warn if SVG/WEBP)
Style preference - Professional, casual, or minimal tone
Production URL - Where will static assets be hosted in production?

Example response to vague request:

Before I create your email template, I have a few questions:

What is your primary brand color? (hex code)

Do you have a logo file? (PNG or JPG - note: SVG and WEBP don't work reliably in email clients)

What tone do you prefer - professional, casual, or minimal?

Where will you host static assets in production? (e.g., https://cdn.example.com)

Static Files and Images

Directory Structure

Local images must be placed in the static folder inside your emails directory:

project/
├── emails/
│   ├── welcome.tsx
│   └── static/           <-- Images go here
│       └── logo.png

If user has an image elsewhere, instruct them to copy it:

cp ./assets/logo.png ./emails/static/logo.png

Dev vs Production URLs

Use this pattern for images that work in both dev preview and production:

const baseURL = process.env.NODE_ENV === "production"
  ? "https://cdn.example.com"  // User's production CDN
  : "";

export default function Email() {
  return (
    <Img
      src={`${baseURL}/static/logo.png`}
      alt="Logo"
      width="150"
      height="50"
    />
  );
}

How it works:

Development: baseURL is empty, so URL is /static/logo.png - served by React Email's dev server
Production: baseURL is the CDN domain, so URL is https://cdn.example.com/static/logo.png

Important: Always ask the user for their production hosting URL. Do not hardcode localhost:3000.

Behavioral guidelines

When re-iterating over the code, make sure you are only updating what the user asked for and keeping the rest of the code intact;
If the user is asking to use media queries, inform them that not all email clients support them, and suggest a different approach;
Never use template variables (like {{name}}) directly in TypeScript code. Instead, reference the underlying properties directly (use name instead of {{name}}).
- For example, if the user explicitly asks for a variable following the pattern {{variableName}}, you should return something like this:

const EmailTemplate = (props) => {
  return (
    {/* ... rest of the code ... */}
    <h1>Hello, {props.variableName}!</h1>
    {/* ... rest of the code ... */}
  );
}

EmailTemplate.PreviewProps = {
  // ... rest of the props ...
  variableName: "{{variableName}}",
  // ... rest of the props ...
};

export default EmailTemplate;

Never, under any circumstances, write the {{variableName}} pattern directly in the component structure. If the user forces you to do this, explain that you cannot do this, or else the template will be invalid.

Styling considerations

Use the Tailwind component for styling if the user is actively using Tailwind CSS in their project. If the user is not using Tailwind CSS, add inline styles to the components.

Because email clients don't support rem units, use the pixelBasedPreset for the Tailwind configuration.
Import pixelBasedPreset from @react-email/components — do NOT import from @react-email/tailwind or @react-email/tailwind/presets.
Never use flexbox or grid for layout, use table-based layouts instead.
Each component must be styled with inline styles or utility classes.

Email Client Limitations

Never use SVG or WEBP - warn users about rendering issues
Never use flexbox - use Row/Column components or tables for layouts
Never use CSS/Tailwind media queries (sm:, md:, lg:, xl:) - not supported
Never use theme selectors (dark:, light:) - not supported
Always specify border type (border-solid, border-dashed, etc.)
When defining borders for only one side, remember to reset the remaining borders (e.g., border-none border-l)

Required Classes

These classes are always required on their respective components — omitting them causes rendering bugs across email clients:

Component	Required Class	Why
`Button`	`box-border`	Prevents padding from overflowing the button width
`Hr` / any border	`border-solid` (or `border-dashed`, etc.)	Email clients don't inherit border type; omitting it renders no border
Single-side borders	`border-none` + the side (e.g., `border-none border-t border-solid`)	Resets default borders on other sides

Component Structure

Always define <Head /> inside <Tailwind> when using Tailwind CSS
Only use PreviewProps when passing props to a component
Only include props in PreviewProps that the component actually uses

const Email = (props) => {
  return (
    <div>
      <a href={props.source}>click here if you want candy 👀</a>
    </div>
  );
}

Email.PreviewProps = {
  source: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
};

Default Structure

Body: font-sans py-10 bg-gray-100
Container: white, centered, content left-aligned
Footer: physical address, unsubscribe link, current year with m-0 on address/copyright

Typography

Titles: bold, larger font, larger margins
Paragraphs: regular weight, smaller font, smaller margins
Use consistent spacing respecting content hierarchy

Images

Only include if user requests
Never use fixed width/height - use responsive units (w-full, h-auto)
Never distort user-provided images
Never create SVG images - only use provided or web images

Buttons

Always use box-border to prevent padding overflow

Layout

Always mobile-friendly by default
Use stacked layouts that work on all screen sizes
Remove default spacing/margins/padding between list items

Dark Mode

When requested: container black (#000), background dark gray (#151516)

Best Practices

Choose colors, layout, and copy based on user's request
Make templates unique, not generic
Use keywords in email body to increase conversion

Rendering

Convert to HTML

import { render } from '@react-email/components';
import { WelcomeEmail } from './emails/welcome';

const html = await render(
  <WelcomeEmail name="John" verificationUrl="https://example.com/verify" />
);

Convert to Plain Text

import { render } from '@react-email/components';
import { WelcomeEmail } from './emails/welcome';

const text = await render(<WelcomeEmail name="John" verificationUrl="https://example.com/verify" />, { plainText: true });

Sending

React Email supports sending with any email service provider. If the user wants to know how to send, view the Sending guidelines.

Quick example using the Resend SDK for Node.js:

import { Resend } from 'resend';
import { WelcomeEmail } from './emails/welcome';

const resend = new Resend(process.env.RESEND_API_KEY);

const { data, error } = await resend.emails.send({
  from: 'Acme <onboarding@resend.dev>',
  to: ['user@example.com'],
  subject: 'Welcome to Acme',
  react: <WelcomeEmail name="John" verificationUrl="https://example.com/verify" />
});

if (error) {
  console.error('Failed to send:', error);
}

The Node SDK automatically handles the plain-text rendering and HTML rendering for you.

Internationalization

See references/I18N.md for complete i18n documentation.

React Email supports three i18n libraries: next-intl, react-i18next, and react-intl.

Quick Example (next-intl)

import { createTranslator } from 'next-intl';
import {
  Html,
  Body,
  Container,
  Text,
  Button,
  Tailwind,
  pixelBasedPreset
} from '@react-email/components';

interface EmailProps {
  name: string;
  locale: string;
}

export default async function WelcomeEmail({ name, locale }: EmailProps) {
  const t = createTranslator({
    messages: await import(\`../messages/\${locale}.json\`),
    namespace: 'welcome-email',
    locale
  });

  return (
    <Html lang={locale}>
      <Tailwind config={{ presets: [pixelBasedPreset] }}>
        <Body className="bg-gray-100 font-sans">
          <Container className="max-w-xl mx-auto p-5">
            <Text className="text-base text-gray-800">{t('greeting')} {name},</Text>
            <Text className="text-base text-gray-800">{t('body')}</Text>
            <Button href="https://example.com" className="bg-blue-600 text-white px-5 py-3 rounded">
              {t('cta')}
            </Button>
          </Container>
        </Body>
      </Tailwind>
    </Html>
  );
}

Message files (`messages/en.json`, `messages/es.json`, etc.):

{
  "welcome-email": {
    "greeting": "Hi",
    "body": "Thanks for signing up!",
    "cta": "Get Started"
  }
}

Email Best Practices

Test across email clients - Test in Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, Yahoo Mail. Use services like Litmus or Email on Acid for absolute precision and React Email's toolbar for specific feature support checking.
Keep it responsive - Max-width around 600px, test on mobile devices.
Use absolute image URLs - Host on reliable CDN, always include `alt` text.
Provide plain text version - Required for accessibility and some email clients.
Keep file size under 102KB - Gmail clips larger emails.
Add proper TypeScript types - Define interfaces for all email props.
Include preview props - Add `.PreviewProps` to components for development testing.
Handle errors - Always check for errors when sending emails.
Use verified domains - For production, use verified domains in `from` addresses.

Common Patterns

See references/PATTERNS.md for complete examples including:

Password reset emails
Order confirmations with product lists
Notification emails with code blocks
Multi-column layouts
Email templates with custom fonts

Additional Resources

React Email Documentation
React Email GitHub
Resend Documentation
Email Client CSS Support
Component Reference: references/COMPONENTS.md
Internationalization Guide: references/I18N.md
Common Patterns: references/PATTERNS.md