Test e-mails

Every e-mail builder can send one copy of a draft to one inbox before anything goes to customers: Send a test in Email Studio and the sequence editor, Send a test on a journey's e-mail step, and Send me a test first on a proof piece.

Where the test comes from

A test leaves from the same sending identity a real send would use, so the From line, the domain and its authentication are what your customers will see. That identity is configured once per brand, in Connections → Email sending: either The AI CMO sends for you on your verified domain, or your own provider (Resend, Postmark, SendGrid, or any SMTP). Journeys have always tested this way; since 2 September 2026 Email Studio and the sequence editor do too.

In Email Studio and the sequence editor the dialog offers Send from with two choices, each showing the real address:

• Your sending identity – for example Kajot Intacto <info@mail.kajotintacto.cz>. The default whenever the brand has a verified identity.
• The AI CMO – hello@theaicmo.com, a neutral sender for a quick look at the layout.

The choice is remembered per brand. A brand with no verified identity yet sees the first option as the thing to set up, with a link to Connections, and the test goes out from The AI CMO's sender.

What a test looks like

The subject is prefixed [Test]. Personalization tokens are filled with sample values – John Doe, Example Corp, seven orders – so you see what a recipient would, and unknown tokens blank exactly as they do in production. A test never counts as a campaign send in your analytics; it is logged separately so reports can leave it out. Through a managed domain it uses one e-mail of your plan's monthly allowance.

Suppression lists are skipped for a test, because you are mailing yourself. The one exception is a blacklist entry set to block everything: that address gets nothing, test or not.