> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.postqueen.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Email Notifications

> Send activation and password reset mail through Resend or your own SMTP server

Someone signs up and an activation mail is waiting in their inbox. She sends it through Resend
or through your own SMTP server, whichever you point her at.

<Warning>
  **Set this up before you invite anyone.** Without a working provider, password resets report
  success and send nothing, and there is no way for someone locked out to get back in. It is the
  most common thing self-hosters wish they had done on day one.
</Warning>

## What changes when you turn it on

Configuring a provider also switches on account activation. From that point, everyone you
invite has to click a link in their mail before they can sign in. Until then, new accounts are
active immediately and no mail is sent at all.

That makes the half-configured state the worst one to be in: accounts get created inactive, and
the mail that would let them in never arrives. Set the provider **and** its credentials, or set
neither.

## Pick a provider

<Steps>
  <Step title="Choose one and name it">
    `EMAIL_PROVIDER` has to be exactly `resend` or `nodemailer`. Any other value, including
    leaving it unset, selects a provider that quietly sends nothing.

    ```env theme={"system"}
    EMAIL_PROVIDER=resend
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set who the mail comes from">
    Both providers need these:

    ```env theme={"system"}
    EMAIL_FROM_NAME=PostQueen
    EMAIL_FROM_ADDRESS=hello@example.com
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add the credentials">
    <Tabs>
      <Tab title="Resend">
        Register at [Resend](https://resend.com) and verify the domain you want to send from.
        Copy the API key from their dashboard.

        ```env theme={"system"}
        EMAIL_PROVIDER=resend
        RESEND_API_KEY=re_your_key_here
        EMAIL_FROM_NAME=PostQueen
        EMAIL_FROM_ADDRESS=hello@example.com
        ```

        The address in `EMAIL_FROM_ADDRESS` has to be on a domain you verified with Resend, or
        they reject the send.
      </Tab>

      <Tab title="SMTP (Nodemailer)">
        Already run a mail server, or have credentials from your provider? Point her at it.
        Nodemailer is the SMTP library she uses.

        ```env theme={"system"}
        EMAIL_PROVIDER=nodemailer
        EMAIL_HOST=smtp.example.com
        EMAIL_PORT=465
        EMAIL_SECURE=true
        EMAIL_USER=your-smtp-username
        EMAIL_PASS=your-smtp-password
        EMAIL_FROM_NAME=PostQueen
        EMAIL_FROM_ADDRESS=hello@example.com
        ```

        `EMAIL_SECURE=true` goes with port 465, which is encrypted from the first byte. If your
        server uses port 587 with STARTTLS instead, set `EMAIL_SECURE=false`.
      </Tab>
    </Tabs>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Apply and test">
    ```bash theme={"system"}
    docker compose down && docker compose up -d
    ```

    Then use the password reset form with an address you can read. The mail should arrive within
    a minute. If it does not, the logs will say why:

    ```bash theme={"system"}
    docker compose logs postqueen | grep -i mail
    ```
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  The examples above use `KEY=value`, which is the syntax for an env file. If you are editing
  `docker-compose.yaml` directly, the same settings are written `KEY: 'value'` with a colon.
  [Docker Compose](/installation/docker-compose) covers both.
</Note>

## If mail does not arrive

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Nothing is sent and nothing is logged">
    `EMAIL_PROVIDER` is not exactly `resend` or `nodemailer`. A typo, a capital letter or an
    unset value all land on the provider that does nothing, and it does not complain.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Resend rejects the send">
    `EMAIL_FROM_ADDRESS` has to be on a domain verified in your Resend account. An unverified
    domain, or a generic one you do not own, is refused.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="SMTP times out">
    Many hosting providers block outbound port 25, and some block 465 and 587 by default until
    you ask. Test from the server itself with `nc -zv smtp.example.com 465`.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="New accounts are stuck as inactive">
    That is activation working while mail is not. Fix the provider, then have the person request
    a new activation mail. Activation links are short lived, so an old one will not help.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Passwordless sign-in" icon="key" href="/configuration/rate-limits">
    One-time codes by mail instead of passwords, which needs a working provider
  </Card>

  <Card title="Configuration reference" icon="sliders" href="/configuration/reference">
    Every mail variable and what it does
  </Card>
</CardGroup>