Discourse is an open source discussion platform used as a mailing list, discussion forum, long-form chat room, and more.

Brevo SMTP is the SMTP relay of Brevo. It integrates with any website or email client to both trigger the email and incorporate data stored outside of Brevo, such as shipping information or the total price of an order. Brevo SMTP allows you to send transactional emails through your website, email client, or automation after a user performs a specific action.

Authenticate your domain with Brevo (Brevo code, DKIM record, DMARC record).

In compliance with Gmail and Yahoo’s new requirements, domain authentication is now mandatory for all email senders. In this article, we’ll explain how to authenticate your domain, either automatically or manually.

Before you start

If you don’t know what domain authentication is, check our dedicated article What is domain authentication? (Brevo code, DKIM record, DMARC record).
Ensure you have access to your domain host’s account credentials, as you will need to log into your domain host account during this process, whether you choose to do it automatically or manually.

Step 1. Add your domain to Brevo

To authenticate your domain, you first need to add your domain to Brevo:

In Brevo, click the account dropdown and go to Senders, Domains, and Dedicated IPs > Domains.
Click Add a domain. If your domain already appears on the page, click Authenticate below it instead.
In the Enter your email domain field, enter the domain you want to use to sign your emails. Typically, this is the domain associated with your website.
Click Save this email domain.

Step 2. Authenticate your domain (Brevo code, DKIM record, DMARC record)

If your domain host is supported, you can automatically authenticate your domain in less than two minutes by logging into your domain host directly from Brevo. If not, you will need to manually authenticate your domain.

Use the tabs below to view instructions on how to automatically or manually authenticate your domain ⬇️.

If automatic domain authentication is available, we’ll simply ask you to log into your domain host from Brevo. You can watch a short video below to see how it works:

https://www.veed.io/embed/dffea805-104e-4d97-8801-c0b21ade7862?watermark=0&color=green&sharing=0&title=0

Click Authenticate automatically.
A pop-up window will appear. Click Continue.
Enter your domain host credentials.
Click Continue. The DNS records needed to authenticate your domain will be automatically added to your domain host.
Optional: If you already have a DMARC record on your domain, you’ll be asked if you want to replace it with Brevo’s DMARC record. Click Okay, continue to replace it.
💡 Good to knowIf you don’t want to replace your DMARC record, you’ll need to cancel the action and manually authenticate your domain instead.
From the confirmation page, click Go to Domains page.
Your domain will appear as Authenticated. You’re done!
💡 Good to know
Some steps of this process occur directly within your domain host account, separate from Brevo.
If automatic authentication is not available for your domain host or if you’d prefer to do it manually, you’ll need to copy and paste the values that are displayed in your Brevo account (Brevo code, DKIM record, DMARC record ➡️ ) into your domain host account.
Make sure you keep this page open, as you will need to refer back to it several times during this process.

Use the dropdowns below to find step-by-step instructions on adding these values to your domain host.

Step 3. Verify if your domain is authenticated

In Brevo, click Authenticate this email domain at the bottom of the page.
You will see a green checkmark ✅ with the message Value matched next to the Brevo code, DKIM record, and DMARC record. You’re done!

Once done lets move over to configuration:

Configure Brevo SMTP

To get transactional emails up and running for your website or app using Brevo SMTP, you have 2 options:

Option 1: Configure Brevo SMTP with a plugin

A plugin is the easiest way to set up Brevo SMTP on your website. Our plugins override the default email settings of your website to automatically send your transactional emails over Brevo SMTP. All it takes is a few simple clicks, no coding is required.

Brevo and other apps provide plugins that allow you to route your website’s emails through Brevo SMTP. To find the list of plugins available in Brevo, check our dedicated section Plugins & Integrations.

Option 2: Manually configure Brevo SMTP

💡 Good to know

If you’re already sending transactional emails for your website or email client through SMTP, you can simply update your current SMTP configuration with your Brevo SMTP credentials to begin sending immediately.

If no plugin is available, you can manually configure your SMTP settings. Depending on your use case, you might be setting up SMTP for your email client (e.g., Outlook, Thunderbird) or integrating it into your website. Use the provided Brevo SMTP credentials to configure the SMTP settings in your application. Once done, you will be able to send transactional messages over our SMTP server.

Retrieve your SMTP credentials from the SMTP & API page.
Configure your SMTP settings in your email client or website:
- SMTP server: the host for all accounts is smtp-relay.sendinblue.com.
- SMTP user: your SMTP login email address (case-sensitive).
- SMTP password: your SMTP key.
  ❗️ ImportantMake sure you are using an SMTP key and not an API key.
- Port:
  - For non-encrypted connections between your website and Brevo SMTP, use ports 587 or 2525.
  - For encrypted connections, use port 465 with SSL or TLS encryption.
- Encryption: leave this field empty unless you’re using port 465, for which you should select SSL or TLS encryption.

💡 Good to know

If you are not able to authorize the domains, add the following Brevo IPs to your whitelist: Brevo IP ranges: improve the deliverability of B2B emails

📨 Send transactional emails using Brevo SMTP

Once you have configured Brevo SMTP, you can start sending your transactional emails. You have two options to send transactional emails through Brevo SMTP:

Option 1: Send transactional emails through your plugin

If you used a plugin to configure Brevo SMTP, you simply need to enable Brevo to send your website or app’s emails and select which email templates should be sent. To learn more, check the dedicated article of your plugin.

Option 2: Send transactional emails through an automation

All emails sent through an automation are sent through Brevo SMTP. Using the Automations app, you can create customized customer journeys based on specific triggers, actions, and conditions of your choice. Once a user performs a specific action, the app automatically sends the appropriate transactional email at optimal times. This allows you to focus on other aspects of your business while ensuring that your customers receive timely and relevant information.

Option 3: Send transactional emails with your programming language of choice

If you are developing your application using a framework or a set of third-party dependencies, the method for sending via SMTP in your language of choice will vary depending on what your language or framework supports. To get started, you can check our developer documentation for SMTP relay integration, Connecting Postfix to the SMTP relay, and our NodeJS SMTP relay example. For more information, we recommend you check the documentation of your third-party tools.

🔎 Track the performance of your transactional emails

You can easily track the performance of your transactional emails with detailed reporting and analytics from the Transactional > Statistics or Logs pages. This provides valuable insights into open rates, click-through rates, and other important metrics and ensures that your transactional emails perform effectively. To learn more, check our dedicated article Reviewing your transactional email reports.

Additionally, you can also create webhooks to receive notifications about your transactional emails. To learn more, check our dedicated article Create webhooks to receive real-time updates about your emails and contacts.

Main configuration with discourse in app yml or in discourse setup.

DISCOURSE_SMTP_HOST=smtp-relay.brevo.com
DISCOURSE_SMTP_PORT=587
DISCOURSE_SMTP_AUTH=plain
DISCOURSE_SMTP_USER=LOGIN FROM BREVO
DISCOURSE_SMTP_PASSWORD= SMTP KEY FROM BREVO