AWS SDK SES Examples: Send Email, Templates and Attachments (Python, PHP, Node.js)

By Ravindra Bagale, trainer · LinkedIn · Last updated: 24 October 2026

1. The big picture: a post office counter

Why do we need this?

Before the post office ships letters with your company name, it checks you really own that name. Then it stamps and sends as many as your daily limit allows. SES works the same: verify the identity, then send within your quota.

What is it?

Use the sesv2 client and SendEmail. Content is Simple (subject + body), Template (name + data) or Raw (full MIME, needed for attachments). New accounts are in the sandbox: you can only send to verified addresses.

How to do it (step by step)

2. Verify a sender

Why do we need this?

Sofia sends invoices from billing@studio.example.es; SES must know the studio owns that address.

What is it?

For an email address SES mails a link. For a domain it returns DKIM tokens to add as CNAME records.

How to do it (step by step)

1. Python: verify an email address.

import boto3
ses = boto3.client("sesv2", region_name="eu-west-1")
ses.create_email_identity(EmailIdentity="billing@studio.example.es")
print(ses.get_email_identity(EmailIdentity="billing@studio.example.es")["VerifiedForSendingStatus"])

Expected output:

False   (True after Sofia clicks the link)

2. Node.js: verify a whole domain.

import { SESv2Client, CreateEmailIdentityCommand } from "@aws-sdk/client-sesv2";
const ses = new SESv2Client({ region: "ap-south-1" });
const r = await ses.send(new CreateEmailIdentityCommand({ EmailIdentity: "studio.example.in" }));
for (const t of r.DkimAttributes.Tokens) console.log(`${t}._domainkey CNAME ${t}.dkim.amazonses.com`);

Expected output:

abc123._domainkey CNAME abc123.dkim.amazonses.com
(3 lines)

3. PHP: check the account sending quota.

<?php
require "vendor/autoload.php";
$ses = new Aws\SesV2\SesV2Client(["region" => "eu-west-1"]);
$a = $ses->getAccount();
printf("sandbox=%s max24h=%d rate=%d/s\n", $a["ProductionAccessEnabled"] ? "no" : "yes",
  $a["SendQuota"]["Max24HourSend"], $a["SendQuota"]["MaxSendRate"]);

Expected output:

sandbox=yes max24h=200 rate=1/s

4. Verify: list identities.

aws sesv2 list-email-identities --region eu-west-1 --query "EmailIdentities[].[IdentityName,SendingEnabled]" --output text

Expected output:

billing@studio.example.es  True

3. Send a simple HTML email

Why do we need this?

Sofia emails a client in Berlin a €1,200 invoice summary.

What is it?

Simple content takes Subject and Body with Text and Html parts. Always include the text part for clients that block HTML.

How to do it (step by step)

1. Python.

r = ses.send_email(
    FromEmailAddress="Studio Billing <billing@studio.example.es>",
    Destination={"ToAddresses": ["lukas@client.example.de"]},
    Content={"Simple": {
        "Subject": {"Data": "Invoice INV-2041: €1,200.00"},
        "Body": {"Text": {"Data": "Amount due: €1,200.00 by 30 Nov."},
                 "Html": {"Data": "<h2>Invoice INV-2041</h2><p>Amount due: <b>€1,200.00</b></p>"}}}})
print(r["MessageId"])

Expected output:

0102018f2a...-000000

2. Node.js.

import { SendEmailCommand } from "@aws-sdk/client-sesv2";
const r = await ses.send(new SendEmailCommand({
  FromEmailAddress: "billing@studio.example.in",
  Destination: { ToAddresses: ["ravi@client.example.in"] },
  Content: { Simple: { Subject: { Data: "Invoice INV-88: ₹45,000" },
    Body: { Text: { Data: "Amount due: ₹45,000 incl. GST." } } } },
}));
console.log(r.MessageId);

Expected output:

0109018f2b...-000000

3. PHP.

<?php
$r = $ses->sendEmail([
  "FromEmailAddress" => "billing@studio.example.es",
  "Destination" => ["ToAddresses" => ["amy@client.example.com"]],
  "Content" => ["Simple" => [
    "Subject" => ["Data" => "Invoice INV-2042: $950.00"],
    "Body" => ["Text" => ["Data" => "Amount due: $950.00"]]]]]);
echo $r["MessageId"], PHP_EOL;

Expected output:

0102018f2c...-000000

4. Verify: a sandbox test with the mailbox simulator.

aws sesv2 send-email --from-email-address billing@studio.example.es --destination ToAddresses=success@simulator.amazonses.com --content '{"Simple":{"Subject":{"Data":"t"},"Body":{"Text":{"Data":"t"}}}}' --query MessageId --output text

Expected output:

0102018f2d...-000000

4. Templates for many customers

Why do we need this?

Priya sends 300 monthly statements; only the name and amount change.

What is it?

CreateEmailTemplate stores subject, text and HTML with {{placeholders}}. SendEmail with Template content passes TemplateData as a JSON string.

How to do it (step by step)

1. Python: create the template.

ses.create_email_template(TemplateName="statement", TemplateContent={
    "Subject": "Your statement, {{name}}",
    "Text": "Hi {{name}}, your balance is {{amount}}.",
    "Html": "<p>Hi {{name}},</p><p>Your balance is <b>{{amount}}</b>.</p>"})
print("template ok")

Expected output:

template ok

2. Node.js: send with template data.

const r = await ses.send(new SendEmailCommand({
  FromEmailAddress: "billing@studio.example.in",
  Destination: { ToAddresses: ["kavya@example.in"] },
  Content: { Template: { TemplateName: "statement",
    TemplateData: JSON.stringify({ name: "Kavya", amount: "₹12,300" }) } },
}));
console.log(r.MessageId);

Expected output:

0109018f2e...-000000

3. PHP: render a template to preview it.

<?php
$r = $ses->testRenderEmailTemplate(["TemplateName" => "statement",
  "TemplateData" => json_encode(["name" => "Oliver", "amount" => "£310.00"])]);
echo strtok($r["RenderedTemplate"], "\n"), PHP_EOL;

Expected output:

Subject: Your statement, Oliver

4. Verify: list templates.

aws sesv2 list-email-templates --region eu-west-1 --query "TemplatesMetadata[].TemplateName" --output text

Expected output:

statement

5. Attachments with raw MIME

Why do we need this?

The Madrid client wants the PDF invoice attached, not a link.

What is it?

Build a MIME message with your language library and pass the bytes as Content.Raw.Data. Total size limit is 40 MB.

How to do it (step by step)

1. Python with email.message.

from email.message import EmailMessage
m = EmailMessage()
m["Subject"], m["From"], m["To"] = "INV-2041 PDF", "billing@studio.example.es", "lukas@client.example.de"
m.set_content("Invoice attached.")
m.add_attachment(open("INV-2041.pdf", "rb").read(), maintype="application", subtype="pdf", filename="INV-2041.pdf")
r = ses.send_email(Content={"Raw": {"Data": m.as_bytes()}})
print(r["MessageId"])

Expected output:

0102018f2f...-000000

2. Node.js with nodemailer's MailComposer.

import MailComposer from "nodemailer/lib/mail-composer/index.js";
const raw = await new MailComposer({ from: "billing@studio.example.in", to: "ravi@client.example.in",
  subject: "INV-88 PDF", text: "Attached.", attachments: [{ path: "INV-88.pdf" }] }).compile().build();
const r = await ses.send(new SendEmailCommand({ Content: { Raw: { Data: raw } } }));
console.log(r.MessageId);

Expected output:

0109018f30...-000000

3. PHP with PHPMailer to build MIME.

<?php
$mail = new PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer();
$mail->setFrom("billing@studio.example.es"); $mail->addAddress("amy@client.example.com");
$mail->Subject = "INV-2042 PDF"; $mail->Body = "Attached.";
$mail->addAttachment("INV-2042.pdf"); $mail->preSend();
$r = $ses->sendEmail(["Content" => ["Raw" => ["Data" => $mail->getSentMIMEMessage()]]]);
echo $r["MessageId"], PHP_EOL;

Expected output:

0102018f31...-000000

4. Verify: check delivery events in the account suppression list (should be empty).

aws sesv2 list-suppressed-destinations --region eu-west-1 --query "length(SuppressedDestinationSummaries)"

Expected output:

0

6. The same call in Java, Go, .NET and the CLI

Why do we need this?

Teams often mix languages. Once you know the call in Python, PHP and Node.js, the other SDKs are the same API with different syntax.

What is it?

All of them call the SendEmail API. Use the CLI line to test it quickly from a terminal.

How to do it (step by step)

7. Clean up so nothing keeps costing

Why do we need this?

Lab resources left running cost money and can be a security risk.

What is it?

Delete in reverse order: children first, then parents.

How to do it (step by step)

1. Delete the template and identities.

aws sesv2 delete-email-template --template-name statement --region eu-west-1
aws sesv2 delete-email-identity --email-identity billing@studio.example.es --region eu-west-1

Expected output:

(no output means success)

8. Interview questions and answers

Revision, comparison and interview cards

Revise this lesson in a few minutes. Save the cards on your phone or download them as PNG files. The QR code on each card opens this lesson.

More cards: Ravi Sir's Cards.