What happens if my send would go over the limit?

The whole send is held — bernard never sends half and stops. You'll see how many the send needs and how many you have left, so you can wait for next month, trim who you're writing to, or ask for a higher limit. And like every message bernard sends for you, a broadcast still waits for your approval before it goes out — the monthly limit is a second safety net on top of that.

Do receipts and automatic emails count against it?

No. The limit is only for one-off broadcasts — writing to your whole audience at once. The emails that send themselves — a welcome when someone signs up, a thank-you after a purchase, a course check-in — don't count, because they already go to one person at a time when something real happens. Receipts and sign-in emails don't count either.

What if I genuinely need to send more this month?

Just ask — the limit can be raised for your account. It starts as a sensible default to protect you (and everyone your name reaches) from an accidental or runaway send, not as a hard ceiling on real, wanted mail. Tell bernard how many you need to reach and it can be lifted.

How many emails can I send to my people?

When you write to your people all at once — a sale, a new collection, a note to say what you've been up to — that's a broadcast. It goes to everyone in the audience you choose, in one go. Broadcasts have a monthly allowance, and it's there to protect you.

Why there's a limit at all

One button that emails your whole list is powerful, and power cuts both ways. A mistake, a double-click, or an account that fell into the wrong hands could fire thousands of emails you never meant to send — and once mail is out, it can't be pulled back. Sending far more than usual, all at once, is also the fastest way to get your name marked as spam, which quietly hurts every email you send afterwards. The allowance is the seatbelt: you'll almost never feel it, and you're very glad it's there the day something goes wrong.

How much you can send

By default that's 2,000 emails a month to your audience. It's a per-month figure that resets, not a running-down bucket you can never refill — and it's a default, not a fixed number: your plan or your limit may be set higher, and it can be raised for your account whenever you have a real reason (see the FAQ). If you're not sure where you stand, just ask bernard how many you have left this month.

You always see the number first

Before a broadcast goes out, bernard tells you exactly how many people it will reach and how many that leaves for the rest of the month — "this will email 340 of your people, and you'll have 1,660 left." Nothing is sent on that first step; you confirm the number, and only then does it go. If the audience changed while you were deciding, bernard re-checks and asks again rather than guessing.

If a send would go over

bernard holds the whole send — it never sends part of your list and stops halfway, because a half-finished broadcast is worse than none. You'll be told the send needs more than you have left, and you can wait for the month to reset, write to a smaller group, or ask for a higher limit. If bernard can't even check your allowance for some reason, it plays safe and holds the send rather than risk sending too much.

The allowance sits alongside the other things that keep your list honest: it only counts broadcasts, never the What emails does bernard send, and who gets them? that go out one at a time, and it never overrides who you're actually allowed to email in the first place — that's a separate question bernard tracks per person (see When do I need someone's permission to email them?).

The prompt

“Tell me how many emails I can still send to my people this month, and how many people are in [the audience I want to write to].”

The [bracketed] parts are yours to fill in. First time? Connect bernard to your AI over MCP — a one-time setup in bernard → your site → Use your own AI — then paste the prompt above.

Questions people ask

What happens if my send would go over the limit?: The whole send is held — bernard never sends half and stops. You'll see how many the send needs and how many you have left, so you can wait for next month, trim who you're writing to, or ask for a higher limit. And like every message bernard sends for you, a broadcast still waits for your approval before it goes out — the monthly limit is a second safety net on top of that.
Do receipts and automatic emails count against it?: No. The limit is only for one-off broadcasts — writing to your whole audience at once. The emails that send themselves — a welcome when someone signs up, a thank-you after a purchase, a course check-in — don't count, because they already go to one person at a time when something real happens. Receipts and sign-in emails don't count either.
What if I genuinely need to send more this month?: Just ask — the limit can be raised for your account. It starts as a sensible default to protect you (and everyone your name reaches) from an accidental or runaway send, not as a hard ceiling on real, wanted mail. Tell bernard how many you need to reach and it can be lifted.