SMTP Configuration

Before It's Gone can send email notifications through any SMTP server. This page covers settings for common providers and how to diagnose connection problems.

Quick reference

Port guide

If you are unsure, try port 587 with Use TLS on first.

Provider setup

Gmail

Google does not allow SMTP access with your regular login password. You must generate an App Password.

Requirements: Gmail account with 2-Step Verification enabled.

1. Go to myaccount.google.com/apppasswords.
2. Click Create app password, enter a name (e.g. "Before It's Gone"), and click Create.
3. Copy the 16-character password shown.

If you see "Username and Password not accepted", double-check that you are using the app password, not your Gmail login password. App passwords are only shown once; generate a new one if you lose it.

Outlook / Hotmail / Live

Microsoft 365 organizational accounts may require OAuth2 or per-app SMTP settings configured by your IT admin. Check with your administrator if standard SMTP authentication fails.

Fastmail

Fastmail requires an App Password for SMTP access.

1. Go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Third-party apps / integrations → New App Password.
2. Name it (e.g. "Before It's Gone"), select08-26 Email access, and generate.
3. Copy the password.

Yahoo Mail

Yahoo requires an App Password; your account password will not work.

1. Go to Account Security in your Yahoo account settings.
2. Turn on 2-Step Verification if not already enabled.
3. Scroll to App passwords → Generate app password, select Other app, name it, and generate.
4. Copy the password.

iCloud Mail

Apple requires an app-specific password for third-party SMTP clients.

1. Go to appleid.apple.com → Sign-In and Security → App-Specific Passwords → Generate an app-specific password.
2. Name it and copy the password.

Proton Mail (via Bridge)

Proton Mail's SMTP access requires the Proton Mail Bridge desktop app to be running alongside Before It's Gone. The Bridge decrypts mail locally and exposes a standard SMTP endpoint.

1. Install and run Proton Mail Bridge.
2. Sign in with your Proton account inside Bridge.
3. Find the local SMTP credentials in the Bridge UI.

Self-hosted (Postfix / Sendmail / Mailcow / etc.)

Settings vary by server configuration. Common setups:

If your server uses a self-signed certificate, TLS negotiation may fail. Use port 587 with TLS off only for local/private networks, or configure your server with a valid certificate (Let's Encrypt recommended).

Troubleshooting

"Connection refused" or timeout

• Verify the host and port are correct.
• Check that your mail server allows SMTP connections from your machine (firewall rules, ISP blocking of port 25).
• For self-hosted servers, confirm the SMTP daemon is running (systemctl status postfix etc.).

"Authentication failed" or "535"

• Wrong password. For Gmail, Yahoo, Fastmail, and iCloud you must use an app password, not your login password.
• Your account may require 2-factor authentication to be enabled before app passwords are available.
• Username must be your full email address, not just the local part (e.g. you@gmail.com, not you).

"Certificate error" or TLS handshake failure

• Your server's certificate may be expired or self-signed.
• Try disabling Use TLS if you are connecting to a local trusted server.
• For public servers, ensure the host matches the certificate's common name exactly.

Emails arrive in spam

• The sender address used by the app has no associated domain record, which may trigger spam filters.
• Configure SPF/DKIM records if you control the sending domain, or use Resend which handles deliverability automatically.
• Whitelist the sender address in your email client.

Test email works but digests don't arrive

• Confirm the Digest frequency is set to Daily or Weekly (not Never).
• The digest fires at the configured Send time only if the app is running and the system clock reaches that time.
• The digest does not fire if all items are fresh and no items are low-stock; nothing is sent when there is nothing to report.