# Guides (/docs/v/0.5.0/guides)



Use these guides when you are operating a production send path or building something that should live outside one send call: fallback routes, tests, reusable plugins, custom provider adapters, or community packages.

If you want to support a provider that Email SDK does not officially maintain, start with [Publish a community adapter](/docs/v/0.5.0/guides/authoring/publish-community-adapter). Community adapters live in their own npm packages and can be listed in the docs without becoming official.

## Operate [#operate]

<Cards>
  <Card title="Production send pipeline" href="/docs/v/0.5.0/guides/production-send-pipeline" description="Combine adapters, validation, retries, fallback routes, observability, tests, and CLI checks." />

  <Card title="Test email behavior" href="/docs/v/0.5.0/guides/test-email-behavior" description="Use memory providers and capture plugins to assert send behavior." />
</Cards>

## Build [#build]

<Cards>
  <Card title="Create your first plugin" href="/docs/v/0.5.0/guides/authoring/create-first-plugin" description="Build a policy plugin that blocks sends missing required metadata." />

  <Card title="Create an adapter" href="/docs/v/0.5.0/guides/authoring/create-adapter" description="Implement a provider adapter and expose it as a plugin." />

  <Card title="Publish a community adapter" href="/docs/v/0.5.0/guides/authoring/publish-community-adapter" description="Publish a third-party provider package and list it without making it official." />
</Cards>

## Where reference lives [#where-reference-lives]

Guides are procedural. Use the reference pages when you need exact fields and contracts:

| Need                       | Page                                                 |
| -------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| Client options             | [Client](/docs/v/0.5.0/reference/client)                     |
| Message shape              | [Message](/docs/v/0.5.0/reference/message)                   |
| Adapter contract           | [Adapter contract](/docs/v/0.5.0/reference/adapter-contract) |
| Plugin types and lifecycle | [Plugin API](/docs/v/0.5.0/plugins/api)                      |
| Provider field limits      | [Field support](/docs/v/0.5.0/adapters/field-support)        |