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Configuration Methods

Teable supports two ways to configure email service:

System Admin (Recommended)

Visual configuration with live testing. No restart required.

Environment Variables

Traditional configuration via .env file. Requires container restart.
The easiest way to configure email is through System Admin:
  1. Log in as an administrator (the first registered user)
  2. Go to System Admin → Instance settings
  3. Find the Email config section
  4. Configure Notify email and Automation email as needed: click the button on the right of the row, enter the SMTP details in the dialog, and save
Email config in Instance settings, with Notify email and Automation email
The configuration dialog supports live testing: before saving, enter a test email address and click Send to check that your SMTP settings work.
  • Notify email: Used for user verification, password reset, invitations, system notifications, and similar emails. It is also what makes Sign in with email code available on the login page.
  • Automation email: Used as the default mail service for automation Send Email actions. A single Send Email action can also configure its own custom SMTP server.

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Configuration sources and priority

We recommend configuring mail service in System Admin → Instance settings → Email config first. The effective priority is:
  1. Custom mail server inside the Send Email action: Applies only to that specific Send Email action in the current automation.
  2. System Admin → Instance settings → Email config → Automation email: Used by automation emails when the Send Email action does not configure its own mail server.
  3. System Admin → Instance settings → Email config → Notify email: Used for user verification, password reset, invitations, system notifications, and similar emails. It is also used as the fallback for automation emails if Automation email is not configured.
  4. BACKEND_MAIL_* environment variables: Deployment-level default mail configuration. Used only as a fallback when the corresponding mailbox is not configured in System Admin.

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Configuration Fields

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Option 2: Environment Variables

For deployments where you prefer file-based configuration, use environment variables:
We recommend configuring Notify email and Automation email in System Admin → Instance settings → Email config first. Environment variables are mainly used as deployment-level defaults and fallback configuration.
After changing environment variables, you must restart the Teable container for changes to take effect.

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SMTP Provider Examples

Last modified on October 21, 2026