Email warmup — what it is and why it matters
WRRK automatically ramps your sending volume over 3 weeks so ISPs learn to trust your domain. Here's why, how, and what to do if a campaign hits the cap.
Email warmup
When you start sending from a newly-verified domain, ISPs have no reputation data on you. Blasting 10,000 emails on day one looks indistinguishable from a spammer — even if every recipient genuinely wants your email.
Warmup solves this by gradually ramping up your sending volume over 3 weeks. WRRK enforces this automatically once your domain is verified.
The warmup curve
| Day | Daily cap | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|
| 1–3 | 50 | 150 |
| 4–7 | 100 | 550 |
| 8–14 | 250 | 2,300 |
| 15–21 | 500 | 5,800 |
| 22+ | Your plan's full cap | — |
Plan caps after warmup:
- Free — 500/day
- Pro — 5,000/day
- Max — 25,000/day
- Enterprise — negotiated
What happens if I exceed the cap?
Campaigns that would exceed the daily cap are paused automatically with the reason warmup_cap_exceeded. You'll see this on the campaign detail page. The remaining recipients resume the next morning within the new day's cap.
You don't lose recipients; you don't get double-sent; the campaign simply picks up where it stopped.
Why not start at full volume?
Here's what Gmail sees when you launch without warmup:
- Day 1: 10,000 emails from a domain it has never seen before.
- Day 2: Same volume.
Gmail's spam filter interprets this pattern as a spammer who just finished setup. Even if your open rate is great, the damage to your domain reputation takes 4–8 weeks to repair.
Warming up lets Gmail learn gradually: "This domain sends 50/day on day 1, nobody marks as spam, recipients engage. OK, they're legitimate."
Seeing your warmup status
Go to Settings → Email Deliverability. The Warmup timeline section shows:
- Today's cap and how many you've sent.
- The 30-day ramp ahead.
- Date warmup started.
If your domain was verified but the warmup timeline is empty, it means no campaigns have sent yet. The warmup clock starts the moment your first email is sent, not when the domain is verified.
When warmup completes
On day 22, your daily cap flips to your plan tier's full limit. The warmup timeline disappears and the dashboard shows only the reputation metrics.
Can I skip warmup?
Only on Enterprise, after a reputation review. Contact support@wrrk.ai — we'll review your sending history (if any) on your domain and may waive the warmup for domains with existing good reputation.
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