Send email with Laravel

One injectable service on the built-in HTTP client, keyed through config, queued when it matters.

Facts verified 2026-07-17 — corrections: hello@emailfast.dev

In Laravel, wrap the API in one small injectable service — the same shape you'd give a custom notification channel — and read the key through config(), not env(). Laravel's built-in HTTP client does the POST, so there is nothing new to install.

<?php
// app/Services/EmailFast.php
namespace App\Services;

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;

class EmailFast
{
    public function send(
        string $to,
        string $subject,
        string $html,
        array $data = [],
        ?string $idempotencyKey = null,
    ): array {
        return Http::withToken(config('services.emailfast.key'))
            ->timeout(10)
            ->post('https://api.emailfast.dev/v1/emails', [
                'to' => $to,
                'subject' => $subject,
                'html' => $html,
                'data' => $data,
                'idempotency_key' => $idempotencyKey,
            ])
            ->throw()
            ->json();
    }
}

// config/services.php
'emailfast' => ['key' => env('EMAILFAST_API_KEY')], // ef_sandbox_... while testing

// anywhere — a controller, a queued job, a listener
app(\App\Services\EmailFast::class)->send(
    to: $user->email,
    subject: 'Confirm your account',
    html: '<p>Hi {{name}}, confirm your address here.</p>',
    data: ['name' => $user->name],
    idempotencyKey: "confirm-{$user->id}", // a queue retry replays, never re-sends
);

a 202 from the API means the send is committed to a durable, partitioned outbox before we answer — a crash can't lose it, and a retry with the same idempotency key can't double-send.

Gotchas

• env() returns null once you run php artisan config:cache — only config/services.php may call it. Everywhere else, config('services.emailfast.key').
• Send from a queued job or a ShouldQueue listener so email never adds latency to a web request; the idempotency key is what makes queue retries safe.
• Using Laravel notifications? Lift this service into a custom channel (via() returning your channel class) and keep it as the single door to the API.
• ->throw() puts the API's error body in the exception message — log it; it names the exact rejection reason (invalid address, suppressed recipient, quota).

Next

• PHP SDK quickstart — the typed client
• The email API — batch, scheduling, message timelines
• Plain PHP recipe
• All docs