> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://coldbox-mailservices.ortusbooks.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://coldbox-mailservices.ortusbooks.com/advanced/building-protocols.md).

# Building Protocols

If you want to build your own protocol you will have to do the following

1. Create a class that inherits from `cbmailservices.models.AbstractProtocol`
2. Create the `init()` and `send()` methods
3. Give your protocol a name in the `init()` via the `variables.name` variable.
4. Register it in the `mailers` section of the [configuration](/essentials/configuration.md)

Here are the method signatures of the two methods to implement:

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="BoxLang (.bx)" %}

```java
/**
 * Constructor
 *
 * @properties The protocol properties to instantiate
 */
function init( struct properties = {} ){
    variables.properties = arguments.properties;
    variables.name = "MyProtocol";
    return this;
}

/**
 * Implemented by concrete protocols to send a message.
 *
 * The return is a struct with a minimum of the following two keys
 * - `error` - A boolean flag if the message was sent or not
 * - `messages` - An array of messages the protocol stored if any when sending the payload
 *
 * @payload The paylod object to send the message with
 * @payload.doc_generic cbmailservices.models.Mail
 *
 * @return struct of { "error" : boolean, "messages" : [] }
 */
struct function send( required cbmailservices.models.Mail payload ){

}
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="CFML (.cfc)" %}

```javascript
/**
 * Constructor
 *
 * @properties The protocol properties to instantiate
 */
function init( struct properties = {} ){
    variables.properties = arguments.properties;
    variables.name = "MyProtocol";
    return this;
}

/**
 * Implemented by concrete protocols to send a message.
 *
 * The return is a struct with a minimum of the following two keys
 * - `error` - A boolean flag if the message was sent or not
 * - `messages` - An array of messages the protocol stored if any when sending the payload
 *
 * @payload The paylod object to send the message with
 * @payload.doc_generic cbmailservices.models.Mail
 *
 * @return struct of { "error" : boolean, "messages" : [] }
 */
struct function send( required cbmailservices.models.Mail payload ){

}
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

{% hint style="info" %}
The module ships with the `BXMail` protocol (BoxLang's `bx:mail`) and `CFMail` protocol (CFML's `cfmail`). If you're using BoxLang, extend from a `.bx` class file; for CFML engines, use a `.cfc` component file.
{% endhint %}


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