# Create an onboarding email sequence

Source: https://help.meisa.io/articles/create-an-email-sequence

A sequence is a series of emails that goes out over days, one person at a time, starting when they join. To build one, open **Sequences**, click **New sequence**, add your email and wait steps, choose a sender in **Settings**, and click **Turn on**.

## Before you start

- Connect your email provider and verify your domain. See [Connect Amazon SES to Meisa](/articles/connect-amazon-ses).
- Add at least one sender. See [Add a sender (From name and address)](/articles/add-a-sender-address).
- Have the emails ready as templates, or create them as you go. See [Build an email template](/articles/build-an-email-template).

## Create the sequence

1. In the sidebar, under **Emails**, click **Sequences**.
2. Click **New sequence**.
3. Pick a starting point:
   - **Start from a blueprint**: onboarding, win-back, trial-to-paid and more. Each one is a set of emails and waits you can edit.
   - **Start blank**: an empty sequence with one email and a one-day wait.
   - **Ask Claude to build it**: describe the goal in Claude and Meisa creates the sequence for you. This needs the [Claude connector](/articles/connect-meisa-to-claude).
4. At the top of the builder, click the name field (**Name this sequence**) and give it a clear name, for example "Trial onboarding".

![The sequence builder with email and wait steps](https://cdn.kamaan.io/kamaan/sites/6ae9f671d5ea373710b2366f/images/meisa-sequence-editor-63d470f4.webp)
A new sequence is a draft. While it is a draft, Meisa saves your edits automatically (you see **Saving soon...** and then **Saved**).

## Add your steps

1. Click **Add the first step** (or the plus between two steps) and choose a step type:
   - **Email**: pick a template and send it.
   - **Wait**: pause for minutes, hours, days or weeks.
   - **Check a condition**: do different things based on what the person did.
   - **Action**: add a tag, set a field, or call a web address.
2. For an **Email** step, pick the template under **Template**. The subject comes from the template, so edit the template to change it.
3. For a **Wait** step, enter a number in **Wait for** and pick the **Unit**.
4. Repeat until the flow is complete. A typical onboarding sequence is: welcome email, wait 1 day, setup tip, wait 2 days, check if they did the key action, then a nudge or a "what's next" email.

To test a single email, select the step and use **Send a test of this email**. For waits and branches, see [Add delays, conditions and branches to a sequence](/articles/sequence-delays-and-conditions).

## Choose the sender and sending rules

1. Click **Settings** in the builder header to open **Sequence settings**.
2. Under **Send from**, choose a sender. Every email in this sequence goes out from it.
3. Optional settings:
   - **Email type**: whether these are marketing or transactional emails.
   - **Time zone** and **Sending hours**: limit sends to a window. Leave both empty to send at any hour.
   - **Most emails per person per day**: leave empty for no limit.
   - **Spread sends by up to (minutes)**: adds a small random delay so emails don't all leave at the same second.
   - **Tracking**: open and click tracking for this sequence. Keep it on if you plan to branch on opens or clicks.

## Turn it on

1. Click **Turn on** in the builder header.
2. If Meisa can't turn it on yet, it tells you why under the header (for example, an email step has no template, or no sender is chosen). Click **Go to that step** to fix it.
3. Once it is on, people who join get the emails. Next, decide how people join: see [Enroll contacts in a sequence](/articles/enroll-contacts-in-a-sequence).

## Edit a sequence that is already on

Edits to a live sequence don't reach people until you publish them. Make your changes, then click **Publish changes** in the bar at the bottom. People already in the sequence continue from where they are. To throw away your edits, use **Discard changes**.

To stop sending, click **Pause**. Nobody gets the next email until you turn it back on.

## Check results

Click **Results** in the builder header to see how many people joined, finished or left early, and the sends, opens and clicks for each step.

## Troubleshooting

- **Turn on is not available**: choose a sender in **Settings**, and make sure every email step has a template.
- **Nobody is getting emails**: a sequence only sends to people who joined it. Add an automation, add people by hand, or enroll them through the API.
- **Emails go out at odd hours**: set **Time zone** and **Sending hours** in **Sequence settings**.

## Related articles

- [Add delays, conditions and branches to a sequence](/articles/sequence-delays-and-conditions)
- [Enroll contacts in a sequence](/articles/enroll-contacts-in-a-sequence)
- [Create an automation rule](/articles/create-an-automation-rule)
- [Build an email template](/articles/build-an-email-template)