# Get started

> Get an Email Fast sandbox key and try the full pipeline dry today, or join early access to be among the first senders when live delivery opens.

Canonical: https://emailfast.dev/get-started

## 1 — Try it now with a sandbox key

sandbox keys (ef_sandbox_…) that run the real pipeline dry: real validation, real rendering, real events, a hosted capture inbox — and no email leaves.

The sandbox is not a mock. Your requests hit the same admission gate, the same
renderer, the same event stream as production — the only difference is that nothing
leaves. It's the honest way to evaluate an email platform before a single real
message is at stake.

:::panel Request a sandbox key
Email **hello@emailfast.dev** with the subject `sandbox key` and one line about what
you're building. Keys are issued manually during early access — typically within a
day. When self-serve signup opens, this page becomes the signup form.
:::

```bash
# Everything in the docs works with your sandbox key:
curl https://api.emailfast.dev/v1/emails \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ef_sandbox_..." \
  -d '{ "to": "test@example.com", "subject": "Hello", "html": "<p>Hi!</p>" }'
# → 202, a full event timeline, and the message in your hosted capture inbox
```

## 2 — Join the early-access list

Live sending opens in stages as outbound infrastructure arms. Early-access teams get
onboarded first, with hands-on help from the people who built the platform — including
migration from your current provider.

:::panel Join early access
Email **hello@emailfast.dev** with the subject `early access`. Tell us your monthly
volume, your current provider (if any), and whether you're here for the API, the
newsletter product, or the security features. No commitment; we onboard in order.
:::

---

## What you can evaluate today

- The full [REST API](/docs) against a sandbox key — admission, idempotency, templates, events
- The [browser SDK](/features/frontend) and the [SendGrid/Mailgun/Postmark compatibility endpoints](/features/migration)
- The [documentation](/docs) — including the markdown mirrors and [llms.txt](/llms.txt) your coding agent will use
- The [security architecture](/security), in the open

## What opens at launch

- Live delivery on our own infrastructure, with delivered messages can mint an Ed25519-signed delivery certificate — receiving mail server, TLS details, the server's SMTP response, and timestamps, with the recipient stored only as a keyed hash — chained into a tamper-evident ledger and verifiable without trusting us.
- Self-serve signup and the [free tier](/pricing) — which never expires
- Newsletter hosting: public archives, RSS, signup forms, paid subscriptions