# Does MailBlastr require production approval?

> New MailBlastr accounts start in a sending sandbox. Until your account has production access, sending is capped to sandbox limits.

Yes — at the infrastructure level. New MailBlastr accounts start in a **sending sandbox**. Until your account is granted **production access**, your sending is capped to sandbox limits.

## What the sandbox restricts

While in the sandbox:

- You can only send to **verified recipients** — addresses (or domains) that have been verified — not to arbitrary external inboxes.
- Daily volume and send rate are held to **low sandbox limits**.
- This is intended for testing and integration work, not production traffic.

> **Warning:** If a send to an unverified recipient is rejected and you have not yet been granted production access, the sandbox is almost always the cause. Verify the recipient to test, or request production access to send freely.

## Not the same as a pending domain

Being in the sandbox is separate from a domain that has not finished verifying. If you have added a domain but not yet published its DNS records, it stays **Pending** and you cannot send **from** it — but that is a DNS problem, not the sandbox.

- **Domain shows Pending** → publish the SPF/DKIM/DMARC records so it verifies. See [Managing domains](https://www.mailblastr.com/docs/domains/managing).
- **Send to an unverified recipient is rejected** → that is the sandbox; verify the recipient or request production access.

## Requesting production access

To leave the sandbox and send to any recipient at production volume, your account needs **production access** granted. To request it:

1. **Verify your sending domain** — Publish the SPF/DKIM/DMARC records MailBlastr generates so your domain is fully verified. See [Managing domains](https://www.mailblastr.com/docs/domains/managing).
2. **Prepare your use case** — Be ready to describe what you send, who you send to, how recipients opt in, and how you handle bounces and complaints — these are the details required to grant production access.
3. **Request access** — Submit the production-access request from the dashboard (or contact support). Approval lifts the sandbox restrictions and unlocks higher [quotas](https://www.mailblastr.com/docs/kb/quotas).

> **Note:** Production access and your daily sending quota are related but separate: production access removes the sandbox restrictions; the [daily quota](https://www.mailblastr.com/docs/kb/quotas) is then raised on request as your volume grows.