Send email from your apps

Some apps need to send email: a password reset, an invitation to share a file, a calendar notice, a “your import finished” note. My Own Suite does not run a mail server of its own — a server the rest of the internet will trust not to be a source of spam is genuinely hard to operate, and getting it wrong means your apps’ mail quietly lands in people’s spam folders. Instead, you point MOS at one outgoing mail server you already have, and every app that sends mail uses it.

This is entirely optional and off by default. With no mail server set, nothing sends, and your suite behaves exactly as it did before.

What it means for your privacy

MOS treats email the way it treats everything else: you decide, and nothing leaves until you do.

It’s a door you open yourself. By default there is no relay and your apps send no mail. Setting one up is a deliberate choice — and the app privacy grades in the catalog don’t change because of it, since MOS still sends nothing on its own.
You choose the provider, on your own account. Apps send through the server you entered — your mailbox provider, or a sending service such as Resend, Fastmail or Mailgun. MOS never picks a third party for you.
That provider handles the mail. Whoever runs the mail server can see the messages your apps send through it, exactly as they can see any other mail you send — because it is your account with them. That is the third party you are integrating with, and it is one you already trust with your email.
MOS never uses it for itself. There is no MOS newsletter, no telemetry email, no “phone home.” The relay exists only so your apps can reach your people.

In short: MOS is not opening a door for anyone. It is letting you open one yourself, to a provider you control, if and when you need it.

What you need

An outgoing mail (SMTP) server you can send through. Two common choices:
- your mailbox provider’s SMTP settings — look for “outgoing mail” or “SMTP” in their help pages, or
- a sending service such as Resend, Fastmail or Mailgun, which are built for application email and tend to reach inboxes more reliably.
Its host and port, a username and password (often an app-specific password or API key rather than your main login), and a From address you are allowed to send as. Sending services usually require you to verify your domain first.

Set it up

Get your provider’s SMTP details. You need the server host (for example smtp.yourprovider.example), the port, your username, and the password or API key. Providers list these under “SMTP” or “outgoing mail.”
Enter them in Suite Manager. Go to Settings → Email relay and fill in the host, port, username, password, and the From address (plus an optional From name your recipients will see). Leave encryption on Automatic — MOS matches it to the port your provider gave you, so there is nothing to look up.
Save. MOS connects to the server and checks the login before storing anything. The password is kept like any app secret — in a root-only file on your server, and never shown again.
Send a test message. Use Send test email to mail yourself, and confirm it arrives (check the spam folder the first time). If it does not, the screen shows what the server reported.

That’s it — apps that send mail now use this server.

Which apps use it, and for what

Setting a relay does not make apps start emailing on their own; each only sends when its own features call for it:

Vaultwarden — invitations, address verification, and two-factor codes.
Immich — album invitations and notifications.
Paperless-ngx — password resets, share links, and workflow notifications.
Seafile — password resets, invitations, share links, and notices.
Radicale — notices to the attendees of a calendar event.

Good to know

Remove it any time. Clear the relay and every app stops sending — nothing is left behind.
A running app picks up a change on its next restart or update. If you set the relay after an app is already installed, restart or update that app for it to start using it; newly installed apps use whatever relay is set at the time.
From address. Most providers only let you send “from” an address you own or have verified — especially sending services, which verify the whole domain.
Encryption is automatic. Port 465 uses TLS from the first moment; 587 and most others start plain and upgrade to TLS as they connect. You do not need to know which — just enter the port your provider gave you.