A **layout** wraps every email you [write in SendOps](/sending-email/writing-a-broadcast): your logo, colours and footer around the message. You write the message; the layout supplies everything around it, so every broadcast looks like it came from you without rebuilding the design each time.

Layouts are only for broadcasts you write in SendOps. A broadcast that uses a stored [email template](/templates/template-management) is sent as that template, with no layout.

## The SendOps default

Every workspace starts with a built-in layout called **SendOps default**. It's a simple, mobile-friendly design, 600 px wide, that works in every major mail client, Outlook included:

- **Header** — your workspace logo (set under **Logo** on **Workspace → Workspace**), scaled down to fit. If you have no logo, or it can't be read, your workspace name is shown in your brand colour instead.
- **Brand colour** — the **Brand color** from your [Unsubscribe Page](/sending-email/unsubscribe-page#branding) settings, used for the name and for buttons and links in the editor. Without one, it's a dark grey.
- **Footer** — none in the layout itself. The unsubscribe link and postal address are added for you ([see below](#the-unsubscribe-link-and-postal-address)).

The built-in picks up a new logo or colour straight away. You can't edit it directly; to change it, customize a copy.

## Where to find layouts

Open **Templates** and choose the **Layouts** tab. The list shows the built-in **SendOps default** (marked **Built-in**) and any custom layouts you've made. The one your new broadcasts use is marked **Default**, and each custom layout shows how many unsent broadcasts use it.



On the built-in row, **Preview** shows it with a placeholder message where your content goes.

## Create a layout

Click **New layout**, or **Customize** on the built-in row. Both make a copy of the built-in, named **Custom layout**, and open it in the editor. Rename it and make your changes from there.

### The layout editor

The editor has the layout's **Name** and its HTML on the left, and a live preview on the right that updates as you type. The preview fills the layout with a sample message (a heading, a paragraph and a button) and can switch between **Desktop** and **Mobile**.



Problems are listed under the editor as *Line X, column Y: message*, and **Save changes** stays disabled until they're fixed. If someone else saved the layout while you were editing, SendOps asks whether to **Reload** their version or **Overwrite** it with yours.

### The content slot

A layout marks where the message goes with `{{> content}}`. It must appear **exactly once**, and **inside** ``. If it doesn't, the editor tells you why:

| Problem | Message starts with |
|---|---|
| No slot | *Layout has no `{{> content}}` slot.* |
| More than one | *Layout has 2 `{{> content}}` slots.* |
| Outside the body | *The `{{> content}}` slot is outside `<body>…`.* |
| Any other `{{> …}}` | *Partial … is not supported.* |

The slot only belongs in a layout. An email template that contains it is refused.

```html

  <table role="presentation" width="600" align="center">
    <tr><td><img src="https://cdn.example.com/logo.png" alt="Acme" width="120"></td></tr>
    <tr><td>{{> content}}</td></tr>
  </table>

```

## Set the default layout

New broadcasts start on the default layout. To change it, click **Set as default** on a layout's row in the list. (On the built-in row, the option appears only when a custom layout is the default.)

Changing the default only affects broadcasts written from then on. Each broadcast keeps the layout it had when it was saved, and you can still pick a different one per broadcast.

## Versions and restore

Every save is kept. Click **Versions** in the editor to open **Version history**, preview any earlier version, and **Restore** it. Restoring saves the current version first, so you can undo a restore.

## Delete a layout

Use **Delete** on the layout's row. Its version history is deleted with it. A few rules apply:

- **The default layout can't be deleted.** Make another layout the default first.
- **A layout used by unsent broadcasts can't be deleted.** SendOps lists those broadcasts (drafts, scheduled, sending or failed) with links. Switch them to another layout, then delete.
- **Sent broadcasts don't block a delete.** What they sent is kept as it was.
- The built-in **SendOps default** can never be deleted.

## The unsubscribe link and postal address

Don't put an unsubscribe link or postal address in your layout. SendOps adds them to every email you write, at the bottom of the body, so there's one place they come from and they can't go missing:

- The **Unsubscribe** link is added when you've set an **Unsubscribe base URL**.
- Your **postal address** is added below it when you've set a **Postal address**.

Both are set in the **Email compliance** card on **Workspace → Workspace**. Leave a field blank and nothing is added for it. If you also put your own unsubscribe link in the layout while the base URL is set, recipients see two.

Whatever you set there, every broadcast still carries the `List-Unsubscribe` header that draws the inbox's own unsubscribe button. See [Unsubscribe Page](/sending-email/unsubscribe-page#linking-to-the-page-from-your-emails).

## Layouts and your plan

Layouts **don't count** towards your plan's template limit, and they're **never deployed to SES**. SendOps places your message into the layout when it builds each broadcast, so there's nothing to deploy and nothing to wait for.

## Layouts over the API and AI agents

Layouts are templates with `kind: layout`, so you can also create and update them over the [Templates API](https://developers.sendops.dev/api-reference/templates) or through an [AI agent](/ai-agents/mcp-server). A layout has no subject and is never sent on its own. Choosing the default layout is a dashboard setting, which an agent can also change; the Public API can't.

## What's next?

- [Write a broadcast](/sending-email/writing-a-broadcast) — write an email inside your layout.
- [Template Management](/templates/template-management) — stored email templates, for when you'd rather send a complete email.