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Prerequisites

If you have any questions join #self-host on discord.

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Step 1: Environment variables

useSend depends on AWS SES to send emails and SNS to receive email status. Along with that it also depends on Postgres as a database and Redis for queue. Copy the .env.selfhost.example file to .env and fill in the values.
1

AWS credentials

tl;dr: Login to your AWS console and create a new user with programmatic access. Attach the AmazonSNSFullAccess and AmazonSESFullAccess policies to the user. Then create a new access key for the user.Add the following environment variables.
AWS_ACCESS_KEY=<access-key-id>
AWS_SECRET_KEY=<secret-access-key>
Follow this for detailed steps: Create AWS credentials
2

GitHub app credentials for login

useSend uses GitHub authentication for login.Use this link to create an github appCallback URL : https://<your-usesend-instance>/api/auth/callback/githubgithub appAdd the following environment variables.
GITHUB_ID="<your-github-client-id>"
GITHUB_SECRET="<your-github-client-secret>"
If you want email/password login, please help us out with the code
3

Database & Redis

useSend uses Postgres as a database and Redis as a queue. You need to create a new database and add the following environment variables.If you’re using docker-compose, it’s all automatically done for you.
DATABASE_URL="postgres://<username>:<password>@<host>:<port>/<database-name>"
REDIS_URL="redis://<username>:<password>@<host>:<port>"
4

Next auth url and secret

Url is the app url you’re going to use and secret is random string. You can generate a random secret using this command.
openssl rand -base64 32
Add the following environment variables.
  NEXTAUTH_URL="https://<your-usesend-instance>"
  NEXTAUTH_SECRET="<your-usesend-secret>"

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Step 2: Setting up the app

You can use any platform that supports Docker to host useSend. If you have any questions drop in the discord channel and we’ll try to help you out.

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Docker

Follow this guide to setup your docker instance: Set up docker Docker image

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Step 3: Setting up a region

In order to send emails, you need to select a region in AWS. Use a region where your users are located / where useSend is hosted. If you’re confused just use us-east-1. You can check available regions here Once you log in to useSend, it will prompt you add SES configuration.
  • Add the region
  • Add the callback url, which is basically the app url. Note this should be accesible from internet. This is how you get the delivery status of the emails.
  • You don’t need to update the send rate, it’s automatically based on your account.
github app

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Step 4: Getting out of sandbox mode

Don’t forget to get the SES account out of sandbox mode.
github app

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Step 5: SMTP Proxy Server (Optional)

The SMTP proxy server is an optional component that allows applications to send emails through useSend using standard SMTP protocol instead of the REST API. This is useful for legacy applications, email clients, or any software that needs to send emails via SMTP.
The complete source code for the SMTP proxy server is available at: usesend/usesend/tree/main/apps/smtp-server

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When to use the SMTP proxy:

  • Legacy applications that only support SMTP
  • Email clients like Thunderbird, Outlook, Apple Mail
  • Applications that can’t easily integrate with REST APIs
  • Third-party software that requires SMTP configuration

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Docker Compose Setup

Create a docker-compose.yml file for the SMTP server: 
name: usesend-smtp-server

services:
  smtp-server:
    container_name: usesend-smtp-server
    image: usesend/smtp-proxy:latest
    environment:
      SMTP_AUTH_USERNAME: "usesend" # Username for SMTP authentication
      USESEND_BASE_URL: "https://your-usesend-instance.com" # Your useSend instance URL

      # Optional: SSL certificate paths for secure connections
      # USESEND_API_KEY_PATH: "/certs/server.key"
      # USESEND_API_CERT_PATH: "/certs/server.crt"

    # Optional: Mount SSL certificates
    # volumes:
    #   - ./certs/server.key:/certs/server.key:ro
    #   - ./certs/server.crt:/certs/server.crt:ro

    ports:
      - "25:25" # Standard SMTP
      - "587:587" # SMTP with STARTTLS
      - "2587:2587" # Alternative SMTP port
      - "465:465" # SMTP over SSL/TLS
      - "2465:2465" # Alternative SMTPS port

    restart: unless-stopped
Run the SMTP server: 
docker-compose up -d

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SMTP Configuration

To send emails through the proxy, configure your application with these SMTP settings:
  • Host: Your server’s IP address or domain
  • Ports: 25, 587 (STARTTLS), 465 (SSL/TLS), 2587, or 2465
  • Username: usesend (or your custom SMTP_AUTH_USERNAME)
  • Password: Your useSend API key
  • Encryption: STARTTLS (ports 25, 587, 2587) or SSL/TLS (ports 465, 2465)
The SMTP proxy forwards all emails to your useSend instance, so make sure your main useSend application is running and accessible.
Ensure your firewall allows traffic on the SMTP ports you’re using. For production deployments, consider using non-standard ports (2587, 2465) to avoid conflicts.

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Next steps

You’re all set up now.
  • Setup a domain.
  • Create an API key.
  • Start sending emails.
If you have any questions, please join #self-host on discord.
A community member shared a short write-up on hosting useSend with Coolify. Give it a read if you need another reference.