The error
Email sending is disabled for your entire Amazon SES account.AWS exception AccountSendingPausedException. The Wraps CLI reports it as SES_ACCOUNT_SENDING_PAUSED.
Why this happens
AWS has switched off sending for the whole account. This is not a quota and not a transient failure. It is an account-state decision AWS made, usually because bounce or complaint rates crossed the threshold AWS enforces across every SES user, or because a review is open on the account.
- A high bounce or complaint rate.
- An AWS-initiated review of the account.
How to fix it
1. Open the Reputation Dashboard first
The SES console's Reputation Dashboard says which metric triggered the pause and where it currently sits. Everything else is guesswork until you have read it.
2. Stop sending to the addresses that caused it
Suppress every hard bounce and every complaint before asking for the pause to be lifted. Resuming into the same list reproduces the pause and makes the next conversation with AWS harder.
3. Fix the acquisition path, not just the list
A bounce rate above the threshold usually means addresses are entering the list without confirmation. Double opt-in and dropping purchased or scraped segments address the cause. Deleting the bad rows only addresses the symptom.
4. Reply to AWS with what changed
AWS reinstates on evidence. Say where the bad addresses came from, what you removed, and what now prevents it, rather than asking for the pause to be lifted.
How to stop it recurring
Watch bounce and complaint rates weekly
AWS enforces roughly 5 percent for bounces and 0.1 percent for complaints across all SES accounts. Those are numbers to keep on a dashboard, not to look up after a pause.
Suppress automatically, not manually
A bounce or complaint that does not immediately remove the address will be sent to again. Wire suppression into the send path so it cannot be skipped.
Common questions
How long does an SES account-level sending pause last?
Until AWS lifts it. There is no timer. AWS reinstates once the underlying bounce or complaint problem is resolved and you have told them what changed.
What bounce and complaint rates does AWS enforce on SES accounts?
Two levels, not one. A bounce rate of 5 percent or a complaint rate of 0.1 percent places the account under review, and sending continues during that review. AWS says it might pause sending at 10 percent bounces or 0.5 percent complaints. Aim below 2 percent and 0.1 percent respectively.
Can I send from a different AWS account while paused?
Technically yes, and it is a bad idea. Moving bad list hygiene to a fresh account reproduces the problem there and reads to AWS as evasion.
Does a paused account still accept API calls?
The API answers and the send is refused with AccountSendingPausedException. Retrying does not help, because nothing about the request is wrong.
What Wraps does about this
The Wraps CLI maps this exception to SES_ACCOUNT_SENDING_PAUSED and sends you to the Reputation Dashboard rather than to a retry. Wraps tracks bounce and complaint rates and suppresses addresses that bounce or complain, which is the part you control. It cannot override an AWS pause. If AWS shuts off your SES, sending stops until AWS reinstates it.