> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://lightdash-refactor-full-audit-reorg.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Configure SMTP for Lightdash email notifications

<Note>
  🛠 This page is for engineering teams self-hosting their own Lightdash instance. If you want to set up scheduled deliveries and alerts, go to the [Scheduled deliveries](/explore/create-scheduled-deliveries) guide.
</Note>

This is a reference to all the SMTP environment variables that can be used to configure a Lightdash email client.

| Variable                        | Description                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| :------------------------------ | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `EMAIL_SMTP_HOST`               | **(Required)** Hostname of email server                                                                                                                                                                 |
| `EMAIL_SMTP_PORT`               | Port of email server (default=587)                                                                                                                                                                      |
| `EMAIL_SMTP_SECURE`             | Secure connection (default=true)                                                                                                                                                                        |
| `EMAIL_SMTP_USER`               | **(Required)** Auth user                                                                                                                                                                                |
| `EMAIL_SMTP_PASSWORD`           | Auth password \[1]                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| `EMAIL_SMTP_ACCESS_TOKEN`       | Auth access token for Oauth2 authentication \[1]                                                                                                                                                        |
| `EMAIL_SMTP_ALLOW_INVALID_CERT` | Allow connection to TLS server with self-signed or invalid TLS certificate (default=false)                                                                                                              |
| `EMAIL_SMTP_SENDER_EMAIL`       | **(Required)** The email address that sends emails                                                                                                                                                      |
| `EMAIL_SMTP_SENDER_NAME`        | The name of the email address that sends emails (default=Lightdash)                                                                                                                                     |
| `EMAIL_SMTP_IMAGE_INLINE_CID`   | Embed images directly into emails as CID attachments instead of referencing external URLs. Useful for deployments behind firewalls where email clients cannot reach internal image URLs (default=false) |
| `EMAIL_SMTP_USE_AUTH`           | Whether to authenticate with the SMTP server. Set to `false` for open relays inside a trusted network. (default=true)                                                                                   |

\[1] `EMAIL_SMTP_PASSWORD` or `EMAIL_SMTP_ACCESS_TOKEN` needs to be provided