diff --git a/dev/README.md b/dev/README.md
index bcea813..5e7f8e2 100644
--- a/dev/README.md
+++ b/dev/README.md
@@ -184,25 +184,43 @@ The plugin automatically processes the outbox every 5 minutes and retries failed
 ## Plugin API Usage
 
 ```javascript
-import { sendEmail, scheduleEmail } from '@xtr-dev/payload-mailing'
+import { sendEmail } from '@xtr-dev/payload-mailing'
 
-// Send immediate email
-const emailId = await sendEmail(payload, {
-  templateId: 'welcome-template-id',
-  to: 'user@example.com',
-  variables: {
-    firstName: 'John',
-    siteName: 'My App'
+// Send immediate email with template
+const email = await sendEmail(payload, {
+  template: {
+    slug: 'welcome-email',
+    variables: {
+      firstName: 'John',
+      siteName: 'My App'
+    }
+  },
+  data: {
+    to: 'user@example.com',
   }
 })
 
-// Schedule email
-const scheduledId = await scheduleEmail(payload, {
-  templateId: 'reminder-template-id', 
-  to: 'user@example.com',
-  scheduledAt: new Date(Date.now() + 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000), // 24 hours
-  variables: {
-    eventName: 'Product Launch'
+// Schedule email for later
+const scheduledEmail = await sendEmail(payload, {
+  template: {
+    slug: 'reminder',
+    variables: {
+      eventName: 'Product Launch'
+    }
+  },
+  data: {
+    to: 'user@example.com',
+    scheduledAt: new Date(Date.now() + 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000), // 24 hours
+  }
+})
+
+// Send direct HTML email (no template)
+const directEmail = await sendEmail(payload, {
+  data: {
+    to: 'user@example.com',
+    subject: 'Direct Email',
+    html: '<h1>Hello World</h1>',
+    text: 'Hello World'
   }
 })
 ```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/dev/app/api/test-email/route.ts b/dev/app/api/test-email/route.ts
index 3572ca4..bf16533 100644
--- a/dev/app/api/test-email/route.ts
+++ b/dev/app/api/test-email/route.ts
@@ -1,37 +1,50 @@
 import { getPayload } from 'payload'
 import config from '@payload-config'
-import { sendEmail, scheduleEmail } from '@xtr-dev/payload-mailing'
+import { sendEmail } from '@xtr-dev/payload-mailing'
 
 export async function POST(request: Request) {
   try {
     const payload = await getPayload({ config })
     const body = await request.json()
-    const { type = 'send', templateSlug, to, variables, scheduledAt } = body
+    const { type = 'send', templateSlug, to, variables, scheduledAt, subject, html, text } = body
 
-    let result
-    if (type === 'send') {
-      // Send immediately
-      result = await sendEmail(payload, {
-        templateSlug,
+    // Use the new sendEmail API
+    const emailOptions: any = {
+      data: {
         to,
-        variables,
-      })
-    } else if (type === 'schedule') {
-      // Schedule for later
-      result = await scheduleEmail(payload, {
-        templateSlug,
-        to,
-        variables,
-        scheduledAt: scheduledAt ? new Date(scheduledAt) : new Date(Date.now() + 60000), // Default to 1 minute
-      })
-    } else {
-      return Response.json({ error: 'Invalid type. Use "send" or "schedule"' }, { status: 400 })
+      }
     }
 
+    // Add template if provided
+    if (templateSlug) {
+      emailOptions.template = {
+        slug: templateSlug,
+        variables: variables || {}
+      }
+    } else if (subject && html) {
+      // Direct email without template
+      emailOptions.data.subject = subject
+      emailOptions.data.html = html
+      if (text) {
+        emailOptions.data.text = text
+      }
+    } else {
+      return Response.json({
+        error: 'Either templateSlug or subject+html must be provided'
+      }, { status: 400 })
+    }
+
+    // Add scheduling if needed
+    if (type === 'schedule' || scheduledAt) {
+      emailOptions.data.scheduledAt = scheduledAt ? new Date(scheduledAt) : new Date(Date.now() + 60000)
+    }
+
+    const result = await sendEmail(payload, emailOptions)
+
     return Response.json({
       success: true,
-      emailId: result,
-      message: type === 'send' ? 'Email sent successfully' : 'Email scheduled successfully',
+      emailId: result.id,
+      message: scheduledAt ? 'Email scheduled successfully' : 'Email queued successfully',
     })
   } catch (error) {
     console.error('Test email error:', error)
diff --git a/dev/test-plugin.mjs b/dev/test-plugin.mjs
index 6d7cf34..0fe1382 100644
--- a/dev/test-plugin.mjs
+++ b/dev/test-plugin.mjs
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 // Simple test to verify plugin can be imported and initialized
-import { mailingPlugin, sendEmail, scheduleEmail } from '@xtr-dev/payload-mailing'
+import { mailingPlugin, sendEmail, renderTemplate } from '@xtr-dev/payload-mailing'
 
 console.log('✅ Plugin imports successfully')
 console.log('✅ mailingPlugin:', typeof mailingPlugin)
-console.log('✅ sendEmail:', typeof sendEmail) 
-console.log('✅ scheduleEmail:', typeof scheduleEmail)
+console.log('✅ sendEmail:', typeof sendEmail)
+console.log('✅ renderTemplate:', typeof renderTemplate)
 
 // Test plugin configuration
 try {