Beyond anything the Staff writes themselves, Permits sends emails automatically at key points in a permit's life. These are triggered by the system whenever a permit changes state. They're not something Staff can draft or send individually, and they can't be turned off or reworded. This article covers what those automated emails are and when they fire.
Individual permit emails
Application submitted, permit type requires approval: a confirmation email right away, before any decision is made. When the admin later approves or rejects it, that decision sends its own email, and if approved, a payment status email (success or failure) follows right behind it.
Application submitted, permit type does not require approval: no separate submission email. The permit approves automatically, so the holder gets the approval email and the payment status email back to back at the same moment.
Renewal and expiration: an upcoming renewal reminder, an upcoming expiration reminder, and, if the permit lapses, a reminder to reapply.
Auto-renew: notified when auto-renew is turned on or off, if an auto-renew payment fails, or if auto-renew is blocked because of an unpaid citation.
Waitlist: notified when an offer goes out, if they decline an offer, when their waitlist position is about to expire, if a waitlisted permit is cancelled, or if their position is extended or renewed.
Other status changes: suspension, cancellation, and the link code email used to connect a permit to a CMRpay account.
Change requests: notified when one is submitted, approved, or rejected.
Commercial permit (group) emails
Configuration paid: a purchase confirmation once the configuration is paid, whether that's staff completing payment at setup or the group admin paying later in CMRpay manually or via auto-renew.
Auto-renew fail: notified if an auto-renew payment fails.
Renewal and expiration: an upcoming configuration expiration reminder, and an upcoming configuration renewal reminder.
Group admin access: notified when invited to a group, or when removed as an admin.
What can't be changed
All of the above are hardcoded to specific lifecycle events. They fire the same way for every client and can't be suppressed for one client without affecting others, and changing the wording is not generally available.
Sending your own messages
For anything outside these automated triggers, lot closures, rule changes, one-off announcements, Staff can use Message Permit Holders directly (Permits → Message Permit Holders). It's a separate tool for ad hoc communication, plain text only, sends immediately with no scheduling or drafts, and has no delivery confirmation or open tracking. Reach out to Passport Support for more info.