Transactional Notifications with Novu

Send transactional notifications through Novu by triggering a workflow when a business event occurs in your application. Novu delivers the message across in-app, email, SMS, push, or chat based on your workflow steps and the subscriber’s contact details. Common transactional events include order confirmations, shipping updates, payment failures, and subscription renewals.

How do I send a transactional notification?

Create a workflow in the Novu Dashboard with the channels you need (for example, email + in-app).
Register or upsert a subscriber with the recipient’s subscriberId, email, and phone.
Trigger the workflow from your backend with the workflow identifier, subscriberId, and event payload.

import { Novu } from '@novu/api';

const novu = new Novu({ secretKey: process.env.NOVU_SECRET_KEY });

await novu.trigger({
  workflowId: 'order-shipped',
  to: { subscriberId: 'user_123' },
  payload: {
    orderId: 'ORD-456',
    trackingUrl: 'https://example.com/track/456',
  },
});

import os
import novu_py
from novu_py import Novu

with Novu(secret_key=os.getenv("NOVU_SECRET_KEY", "")) as novu:
    novu.trigger(trigger_event_request_dto=novu_py.TriggerEventRequestDto(
        workflow_id="order-shipped",
        to={"subscriber_id": "user_123"},
        payload={
            "orderId": "ORD-456",
            "trackingUrl": "https://example.com/track/456",
        },
    ))

import (
    "context"
    "os"

    novugo "github.com/novuhq/novu-go"
    "github.com/novuhq/novu-go/models/components"
)

s := novugo.New(novugo.WithSecurity(os.Getenv("NOVU_SECRET_KEY")))

_, err := s.Trigger(context.Background(), components.TriggerEventRequestDto{
    WorkflowID: "order-shipped",
    To: components.CreateToSubscriberPayloadDto(components.SubscriberPayloadDto{
        SubscriberID: "user_123",
    }),
    Payload: map[string]any{
        "orderId":     "ORD-456",
        "trackingUrl": "https://example.com/track/456",
    },
}, nil)

use novu;
use novu\Models\Components;

$sdk = novu\Novu::builder()
    ->setSecurity('<YOUR_SECRET_KEY_HERE>')
    ->build();

$sdk->trigger(
    triggerEventRequestDto: new Components\TriggerEventRequestDto(
        workflowId: 'order-shipped',
        to: new Components\SubscriberPayloadDto(subscriberId: 'user_123'),
        payload: [
            'orderId' => 'ORD-456',
            'trackingUrl' => 'https://example.com/track/456',
        ],
    ),
);

using Novu;
using Novu.Models.Components;
using System.Collections.Generic;

var sdk = new NovuSDK(secretKey: "<YOUR_SECRET_KEY_HERE>");

await sdk.TriggerAsync(triggerEventRequestDto: new TriggerEventRequestDto() {
    WorkflowId = "order-shipped",
    To = To.CreateSubscriberPayloadDto(new SubscriberPayloadDto() {
        SubscriberId = "user_123",
    }),
    Payload = new Dictionary<string, object>() {
        { "orderId", "ORD-456" },
        { "trackingUrl", "https://example.com/track/456" },
    },
});

import co.novu.Novu;
import co.novu.models.components.*;
import java.util.Map;

Novu novu = Novu.builder()
    .secretKey("<YOUR_SECRET_KEY_HERE>")
    .build();

novu.trigger()
    .body(TriggerEventRequestDto.builder()
        .workflowId("order-shipped")
        .to(To2.of(SubscriberPayloadDto.builder()
            .subscriberId("user_123")
            .build()))
        .payload(Map.ofEntries(
            Map.entry("orderId", "ORD-456"),
            Map.entry("trackingUrl", "https://example.com/track/456")))
        .build())
    .call();

curl -X POST 'https://api.novu.co/v1/events/trigger' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'Authorization: ApiKey <NOVU_SECRET_KEY>' \
-d '{
  "name": "order-shipped",
  "to": { "subscriberId": "user_123" },
  "payload": {
    "orderId": "ORD-456",
    "trackingUrl": "https://example.com/track/456"
  }
}'

What channels should I use for transactional messages?

Event type	Recommended channels
Order confirmation	Email + in-app
Shipping update	Email, SMS, or push
Payment failure	Email + in-app, with SMS fallback
Password reset	Email (see password reset guide)

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to create subscribers before sending notifications?

No. You can pass subscriber details inline when triggering a workflow. Novu creates or updates the subscriber automatically if the subscriberId does not exist yet.

Can I send transactional email through my existing ESP?

Yes. Connect providers such as SendGrid, Postmark, or Amazon SES in the Integrations store and use them in email workflow steps.

Use Cases

Guides

Inbound Webhooks

Recipes

Framework

Migrate to Novu

Transactional Notifications with Novu

How do I send a transactional notification?

What channels should I use for transactional messages?

Frequently asked questions

​How do I send a transactional notification?

​What channels should I use for transactional messages?

​Related guides

​Frequently asked questions

How do I send a transactional notification?

What channels should I use for transactional messages?

Related guides

Frequently asked questions