Email (SMTP)

Note

Email is optional. Without it everything else keeps working.

BoardGameTracker can send emails for two features:

• Game-night invites — email an RSVP link to the players you invite to a game night.
• Password reset — let users request a password-reset link by email.

Email is enabled only when both SMTP_HOST and SMTP_FROM_ADDRESS are set. Until then Forgot password? is hidden on the login page and Email invites is disabled with the reason. Restart the container after changing any SMTP_* variable.

Both emails contain a link back to the app, built from the Public URL under Settings → General (or PUBLIC_URL). Set it as well: while it is empty, invitations are refused with a message and reset emails are skipped.

Configuration

Configuration	Variable	Default	Info
SMTP host	SMTP_HOST		Hostname of your SMTP server. Leave empty to keep email disabled.
SMTP port	SMTP_PORT	587	Port of your SMTP server. Port 465 always uses implicit TLS.
SMTP username	SMTP_USERNAME		Username to authenticate with. Leave empty for a server that needs no authentication.
SMTP password	SMTP_PASSWORD		Password to authenticate with.
Use TLS	SMTP_USE_SSL	true	Set to false for a server without TLS, such as a local mail catcher.
From address	SMTP_FROM_ADDRESS		Address emails are sent from. Required to enable email.
From name	SMTP_FROM_NAME	(the from address)	Display name shown as the sender, for example BoardGameTracker.

Ports and TLS

For most providers, use port 587 with SMTP_USE_SSL=true (STARTTLS). Port 465 (SMTPS) always uses implicit TLS, whatever SMTP_USE_SSL says. For a local mail catcher such as Mailpit or smtp4dev, set SMTP_USE_SSL=false.

Example

.env

SMTP_HOST=smtp.your-provider.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USERNAME=your-user
SMTP_PASSWORD=<your-smtp-password>
SMTP_USE_SSL=true
SMTP_FROM_ADDRESS=noreply@your-domain.com
SMTP_FROM_NAME=BoardGameTracker

With the provided compose files a .env next to docker-compose.yml is forwarded to the container; with your own compose file put the variables under environment:.