> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.instantcampaign.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Campaign safety checks

> How InstantCampaign protects your sender reputation before and during a send, and how to pause, resume or cancel a send.

InstantCampaign checks a campaign before it goes out and keeps watching while it's being delivered. This page explains what each safeguard does and what to do when one stops a send.

## Who never receives a campaign

Every marketing send automatically leaves out:

* contacts who have **unsubscribed**, from the list or from all email
* addresses that **bounced** or sent a spam **complaint**
* contacts still **pending** [double opt-in](/guides/audience-and-campaigns/double-opt-in) confirmation
* contacts whose data has been erased

The audience count in the send wizard already excludes these contacts, so the number you see is the number that gets sent. Transactional [send policies](/guides/audience-and-campaigns/send-policies) follow different rules for unsubscribed contacts.

## Pre-send deliverability checks

Before a send starts, and again when a scheduled send is delivered, InstantCampaign checks the domain you're sending from:

| Check                  | Blocks the send when                                                          |
| ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Sending domain**     | Warns only, when the domain isn't fully verified.                             |
| **DNS authentication** | The domain's SPF, DKIM or DMARC records have changed since it was verified.   |
| **Blocklists**         | The domain is listed on a blocklist.                                          |
| **Reputation**         | Recent bounce or complaint rates are at a level that risks an account review. |
| **Warm-up**            | The domain's warm-up ramp is paused, or today's cap is already used.          |

Checks can only block on evidence. A check that couldn't run, or a domain that has never been checked, shows as a warning and doesn't stop the send.

When a send is blocked, you'll see **Blocked by deliverability checks** along with the reason. Fix the issue on the **Deliverability** page, or under **Settings → Domain Authentication** for DNS problems, then send again.

<Note>
  **Warm-up:** if a new domain has a warm-up plan, a campaign that's bigger than today's allowance sends what the cap allows. The rest waits until the next day (00:00 UTC) and then continues automatically.
</Note>

## Plan readiness and content checks

For campaigns generated with AI, the [plan page](/guides/audience-and-campaigns/strategist) shows a **Ready to send** card before you approve. It lists:

* the deliverability checks above
* your monthly email allowance compared with what the plan will send
* content checks for every email in the sequence

The content checks flag a missing subject or one over 60 characters, subjects in all capitals, with repeated punctuation or with typical bulk-mail phrases, an empty or image-only body, no links or more than ten links, and HTML large enough for Gmail to clip. **Content checks are warnings only.** You can still approve. Approval is blocked only by a failed deliverability check, email 1 having no subject, an audience too large for your remaining monthly allowance (audience size times the number of emails in the plan), an empty audience, or a campaign that isn't active.

## Automatic pause on provider failures

If your email provider rejects five messages in a row while a campaign is being delivered, InstantCampaign **pauses the send** instead of working through the rest of the audience. A run of rejections usually means a problem on the sending side, such as expired credentials, an unverified sender or a blocked account. Carrying on would only harm your reputation.

The paused send shows **PAUSED** in **Send History**, together with the reason, for example *Paused after 5 consecutive provider failures: …*. Fix the cause, usually under **Integrations** or **Settings → Sender Information**, then click **Resume**.

## Pause, resume and cancel a send

On the campaign page, each send in **Send History** has these controls while it's queued or sending:

| Button     | What it does                                                                                              |
| ---------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Pause**  | Stops the send after the current batch. Contacts already sent to stay sent.                               |
| **Resume** | Available on a paused send. Queues it again straight away and skips everyone who has already received it. |
| **Cancel** | Stops the send for good.                                                                                  |

You need permission to send campaigns to use these controls.

## Automatic UTM tagging

Go to **Settings → General** and turn on **Automatic UTM tagging** to add `utm_source=instantcampaign`, `utm_medium=email`, `utm_campaign` (the campaign or automation name) and `utm_content` (the send) to every tracked link. Email traffic then shows up in Google Analytics and similar tools.

* Links that already have UTM parameters aren't changed.
* `mailto:`, `tel:`, anchor and unsubscribe links are never rewritten.
* It applies to campaign and automation sends from the moment you turn it on.
* In the send wizard, the **Tracking** step starts switched on and lets you override the values for a single send.

Only workspace owners and admins can change this setting.

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="My send is paused and I didn't pause it">
    The automatic pause kicked in. Read the reason on the send row, fix the provider or sender problem, and click **Resume**. Contacts who already received the email won't get it again.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A scheduled send failed but it passed when I scheduled it">
    The checks run again at delivery time. If the domain's state changed in between, for example it was added to a blocklist, the send is stopped at that point.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A queued send says it will not start">
    The background worker that delivers sends hasn't run recently. Queued sends aren't lost. They go out when the worker runs again.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>