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Discourse + MailKite

Discourse is the leading open-source forum platform. Point its SMTP at MailKite and every notification, digest, and invite goes out over your own DKIM-signed domain.

What you need

A verified domain with SPF + DKIM published
Your API key (mk_live_…)
A Discourse instance (self-hosted or via a hosting provider)

Configure SMTP

Open the Discourse admin panel and go to Settings → Email. Enable SMTP and enter the MailKite connection details below.

SMTP Host	`smtp.mailkite.dev`
SMTP Port	`587`
Encryption	TLS (STARTTLS)
Username	`mailkite`
Password	Your API key (`mk_live_…`)
From Address	`hello@yourdomain.com` (on a verified domain)

Admin → Settings → Email

# Admin → Settings → Email

email_smtp_address:              smtp.mailkite.dev
email_smtp_port:                 587
email_smtp_user_name:            mailkite
email_smtp_password:             mk_live_...
email_smtp_enable_start_tls:     true
email_smtp_authentication:       plain
email_prefix:                    [Your Forum]
email_from:                      hello@yourdomain.com

Test it

Go to Admin → Email → Send test email and enter a recipient address. Discourse will confirm delivery status in the same panel.

Troubleshooting

Emails not sending — confirm the email_from address is on a verified domain.
535 Authentication failed — your password must be your mk_live_… API key, not a separate SMTP password.
Delivery status — check Admin → Email → Summary for delivery statistics and any error logs.
STARTTLS required — ensure email_smtp_enable_start_tls is set to true.

See the SMTP relay docs for the full connection reference, or all integrations for other platforms.