---
title: "Test welcome series and drip emails with test accounts · Proxy Mail QA"
description: "Check each email of a welcome series or drip campaign arrives in order and on time, with a timeline of the gaps and a check your tests can run."
url: https://proxymail.qa/use-cases/drip-and-welcome-series
---

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# Testing welcome series and drip emails

A welcome series is several emails on a schedule: a welcome at sign-up, tips a day later, an offer after a week. Each one is easy to break without anyone noticing. Sign up a new test account, and the inbox shows every email in order with the time between them.

Updated 21 October 2026

## The accounts you need

| Account        | Part in the test                   | What it checks                                                             |
| -------------- | ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| New subscriber | Signs up and does nothing else     | Every email of the series arrives, in order and on time                    |
| Quick buyer    | Signs up and orders on day one     | Emails meant for people who haven’t bought stop, and receipts still arrive |
| Unsubscriber   | Unsubscribes after the first email | The rest of the series never comes                                         |

## Set them up

1. **Shorten the delays on staging** if your email tool allows it, so a week-long series runs in an hour.
2. **Create one account per path** with **Add account**, long enough for the series (up to 30 days), and label each, for example “Welcome series · buys on day 1”.
3. **Sign each one up** and note the time.
4. **For the unsubscriber**, open the unsubscribe link from the first email, then choose **Mark as unsubscribed** in its inbox, so any later marketing is flagged.

## What to check

- **Order:** open the inbox and switch to **Timeline**. It lists every email oldest first, from the moment the address was made, with the gap before each one (“1 day 2 hr later”).
- **Timing:** each gap matches the schedule. Filter by sender to see one series at a time.
- **Stops when it should:** the quick buyer’s “you haven’t ordered yet” email never comes, and nothing marketing arrives after an unsubscribe.
- **Each email on its own:** select it to see its checks, such as the unsubscribe header, the preview text and its links.

## In a test or with an agent

`check_sequence` checks a series in one call. Give it when the account signed up and a step for each email: a phrase from its subject, its type, when it should come (`after`, such as `1d`) and how far off still passes (`within`, by default a tenth of the delay, at least 10 minutes).

| Answer       | What it means                                         |
| ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| pass         | It came within the window                             |
| early / late | It came, but outside the window, and says by how much |
| missing      | Its time has passed and nothing fitting came          |
| waiting      | It isn’t due yet: check again later                   |

It never returns the emails’ subjects or text, only which email matched and when. It’s in the MCP server, the REST API (`POST /v1/addresses/{address}/sequence`), the npm client and the Python helper.

## Automating this?

Make it a test: note when the account signed up, then checkSequence (npm) or check\_sequence (Python) with each step's subject phrase and when it should come. Each step answers pass, early, late, missing or waiting.

[Node.js client](https://proxymail.qa/docs/node) [Python](https://proxymail.qa/docs/python) [Set up your coding agent](https://proxymail.qa/docs/api#agent-setup)

## Try it on your next sign-up test

Free plan, no credit card. Create an address and watch the code or link arrive.

[Create a free account](https://app.proxymail.qa/?mode=signup&from=site-use-cases-drip-and-welcome-series)

## Questions

### Do I need to switch anything on?

Yes, for now. Marketing and offer emails is in Labs: switch it on in the app under **Account settings → Labs**. It applies to your API keys and agents too; until then their marketing tools answer with an error that says so.

### My series takes weeks. Does the address last that long?

Choose how long an address lasts when you create it, up to 30 days, so a series of up to a month fits. For longer ones, shorten the delays on your staging site.

### Does Proxy Mail QA open the links in these emails?

No. It shows each email's links with Open link and Copy, and leaves clicking to you, your test or your agent.

### Can a test wait for a whole week?

A test shouldn't. Run check\_sequence once the series should be over: steps that aren't due yet answer waiting, so you can also check part of a series and run it again later.

## Related guides

- [Test age gates and age-restricted contentOne account per age band, from under 13 to turning 18 tomorrow, with parental consent emails and each date of birth noted.](https://proxymail.qa/use-cases/age-restricted-content)
- [Test content that depends on locationAn account per country for geo-blocked content, regional prices, tax and consent, and a traveller who crosses a border.](https://proxymail.qa/use-cases/location-based-content)
- [Test predictor game scoringA player for every scoring rule, with picks and expected points in the notes, so the leaderboard proves the rules work.](https://proxymail.qa/use-cases/predictor-games)
- [Test membership tiers and paywallsFree, trial, paid, top-tier and lapsed accounts, and every subscription email from welcome to payment failed.](https://proxymail.qa/use-cases/membership-tiers)
- [Test roles and permissionsOwner, admin, editor, viewer, removed user and another customer’s admin, each invited by email and signed in for real.](https://proxymail.qa/use-cases/roles-and-permissions)
- [Test ticket ballots and prize drawsEnough entrants for some to win and some to lose, with priority members, duplicates, and a winner who never pays.](https://proxymail.qa/use-cases/ballots-and-prize-draws)
- [Test referral rewards and welcome offersReferrer, friends and first-time customers, plus the self-referral and repeat claims your rules should refuse.](https://proxymail.qa/use-cases/referrals-and-welcome-offers)
- [Test both sides of a marketplaceBuyer, seller, a second buyer and a moderator, so every order, message, refund and review email is checked from both ends.](https://proxymail.qa/use-cases/marketplaces)
- [Test email changes, lockouts and account deletionAn old and a new address for change of email, plus accounts to lock out, reset, protect with codes and delete.](https://proxymail.qa/use-cases/account-changes)
- [Test email preferences and unsubscribeAn account per preference setting, to prove opted-out users get nothing and unsubscribe works in one click.](https://proxymail.qa/use-cases/email-preferences)
- [Test marketing email rules by countryAn account per country and consent choice, so each marketing email is checked against the rules where the person lives, with sources.](https://proxymail.qa/use-cases/marketing-rules-by-country)

[See every email testing problem we solve](https://proxymail.qa/solve)