# Sequences (https://www.getfounderhq.com/docs/sequences)

You build sequences inside FounderHQ: the steps, the waits, the branches,
and the message templates. FounderHQ still needs a way to put each message
on the wire. That is what a connection does.

## Bring your own provider

FounderHQ does not resell sending. You connect your own provider account,
so messages leave from your domain, your number, or your WhatsApp sender.
You keep your provider's pricing, your sending reputation, and your
compliance paperwork.

Connecting a provider gives you three things:

- **Delivery.** Sequence steps on that channel start sending.
- **Status back.** Delivery receipts, opens, and replies flow into
  FounderHQ, so a later step can branch on what happened. How much you get
  depends on the provider.
- **A choice per step.** When a brand has more than one connection for a
  channel, a sequence step can name which one to send through.

To add one, open Sequences in FounderHQ and go to its connections area.

## Channels and providers

| Channel | Providers |
| --- | --- |
| Email | Resend, Postmark, Amazon SES, any SMTP server |
| SMS | Twilio, and ready-made recipes for Telnyx, Plivo, Sinch, Exotel, and MSG91 |
| WhatsApp | Meta Cloud API, Twilio, and ready-made recipes for 360dialog, Gupshup, icpaas, and Interakt |
| Push | Firebase Cloud Messaging |
| Anything else | A custom HTTP integration you define yourself |

## Two kinds of connection

**Built-in providers** — Resend, Postmark, SES, SMTP, Twilio, Meta
WhatsApp, and FCM. FounderHQ speaks each API directly. You paste
credentials and a couple of settings.

**HTTP integrations** — everything else. FounderHQ builds the HTTP request
for each message from a template you control. A *recipe* fills that
template in for a provider FounderHQ already knows: you type a few fields
and the request, the response mapping, and the delivery callback are set up
for you. A recipe connection runs on exactly the same machinery as one you
build by hand, so you can always inspect what it sends.

## What FounderHQ can report per channel

| Channel | Sent | Delivered | Opened / read | Clicked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Email | Always | From the provider's feedback. Plain SMTP has none. | Yes — FounderHQ tracks opens itself | Yes — FounderHQ wraps links itself |
| SMS | Always | Where the provider reports delivery receipts | No | No |
| WhatsApp | Always | Where a status webhook is wired | Yes, with that same webhook | No |
| Push | Always | No | No | No |

A step that waits on "delivered" only works when the connection can report
it. FounderHQ checks this when you publish a sequence and tells you which
states this connection can actually reach.

## Pick your channel

- [Email (Postmark, Resend, SES, SMTP)](/sequences/email)
- [SMS (Twilio, Telnyx, Plivo, Sinch, Exotel, MSG91)](/sequences/sms)
- [India DLT](/sequences/india-dlt)
- [WhatsApp (Meta, Twilio, 360dialog, icpaas, interakt)](/sequences/whatsapp)
- [Push (FCM)](/sequences/push)
- [Custom HTTP integration](/sequences/custom-http-integration)