Send an email

candidates send-email sends a branded, templated email to a candidate — the same composer the dashboard uses. Set a subject, a hero title, a body, and an optional call-to-action button.

staplehire candidates send-email <candidateId> \
  --subject "Quick follow-up" \
  --title "Sorry we missed you" \
  --body "Hi — here's a Calendly link when you're free."

staplehire candidates send-email <candidateId> \
  --subject "Quick follow-up" \
  --title "Sorry we missed you" \
  --description "We'd love to reconnect" \
  --body "Hi Alex, here's a link to book time with us." \
  --cta "Book 15 minutes" \
  --url "https://calendly.com/you/15min"

Parameters

Flag	Required	Description
`<candidateId>`	Yes	Candidate to email
`--subject <text>`	Yes	Email subject line
`--title <text>`	Yes	Hero title rendered in the email body
`--body <value>`	Yes	Body content: inline text, a file path, `@path`, or `-` for stdin
`--description <text>`	No	Subheading shown under the title
`--cta <label>`	No	Button label (pair with `--url`)
`--url <url>`	No	Button link (pair with `--cta`)
`--brand-name <name>`	No	Override the brand name in the template
`--dry-run`	No	Validate the payload without sending

--cta and --url work together — set both to render a button, or neither.

Body from a file or stdin

The --body flag accepts the same input forms as --jd:

staplehire candidates send-email <candidateId> \
  --subject "Update" --title "Next steps" \
  --body "Thanks for your time today."

staplehire candidates send-email <candidateId> \
  --subject "Update" --title "Next steps" \
  --body @./email-body.md

cat email-body.md | staplehire candidates send-email <candidateId> \
  --subject "Update" --title "Next steps" --body -

Preview without sending

Use --dry-run to validate the payload (and catch missing fields) without actually delivering the email.

staplehire candidates send-email <candidateId> \
  --subject "Test" --title "Hello" --body "Preview only" --dry-run

Common errors

Error	Exit code	Fix
`ValidationError`	`3`	Missing `--subject`, `--title`, or `--body` — provide all three
`NotFoundError`	`4`	Candidate does not exist — run `candidates list`
`AuthenticationError`	`2`	Run `staplehire login` or set `STAPLEHIRE_KEY`

FAQ

What's the minimum to send an email?

--subject, --title, and --body. Everything else is optional.

Can I add a button?

Yes. Set --cta "Label" together with --url "https://…".

Is there a deprecated alias?

Yes — candidates send-message is a deprecated alias for send-email.

How do I test a template before sending?

Add --dry-run. The CLI validates the payload and reports what would be sent, without delivering it.

Get started

Workflows

Automation

Reference

Send an email

Send an email

Parameters

Body from a file or stdin

Preview without sending

Common errors

FAQ

​Send an email

​Parameters

​Body from a file or stdin

​Preview without sending

​Common errors

​FAQ

Send an email

Parameters

Body from a file or stdin

Preview without sending

Common errors

FAQ