Email (SMTP)
Email notifications let ChannelWatch send alerts to any inbox using your own SMTP server or a hosted provider. ChannelWatch uses Apprise under the hood, so any SMTP server that supports standard AUTH LOGIN or AUTH PLAIN over TLS works.
What you need
Section titled “What you need”- An SMTP server address, port, username, and password
- A sender address (the “From” address)
- A recipient address (the “To” address)
For Gmail and Outlook, you also need an App Password rather than your account password. See the provider-specific sections below.
Configure in the web UI
Section titled “Configure in the web UI”Open the web UI at http://your-server-ip:8501 and go to Settings > Notifications > Email.
Fill in the following fields:
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| SMTP Connection | Your SMTP credentials in user:password@smtp.host format |
| Recipient | The email address that receives alerts |
Save the settings, then send a test notification from Diagnostics > Alert Tests to confirm delivery.
Port and TLS selection
Section titled “Port and TLS selection”ChannelWatch always uses an encrypted connection. The port you choose determines which TLS mode is used:
| Port | Protocol | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| 465 | Implicit TLS (SMTPS) | Preferred. The connection is encrypted from the first byte. |
| 587 | STARTTLS | Use when your provider requires it. The connection starts plain and upgrades to TLS. |
| 25 | Plain SMTP | Not supported for outbound mail by most providers. Avoid. |
To specify a port, append it to the SMTP host in your connection string:
user:password@smtp.example.com:587If you omit the port, Apprise defaults to port 25. Always specify 465 or 587 explicitly.
Gmail setup
Section titled “Gmail setup”Gmail requires an App Password when two-factor authentication is enabled on your account (which Google now enforces for most accounts).
- Go to myaccount.google.com/apppasswords and sign in.
- Under “Select app”, choose Mail. Under “Select device”, choose Other and type
ChannelWatch. - Click Generate. Copy the 16-character password shown.
- In ChannelWatch, enter your SMTP connection as:
youraddress@gmail.com:your-app-password@smtp.gmail.com:465Replace youraddress@gmail.com with your Gmail address and your-app-password with the 16-character code from step 3.
Outlook / Microsoft 365 setup
Section titled “Outlook / Microsoft 365 setup”Microsoft deprecated basic SMTP AUTH for most consumer accounts in 2023. If your account is a personal @outlook.com or @hotmail.com address, you may need to enable SMTP AUTH explicitly:
- Sign in to account.microsoft.com and go to Security > Advanced security options.
- Enable Allow apps that use less secure sign-in (if available for your account type).
- Use your full Microsoft account email and password as the SMTP credentials:
youraddress@outlook.com:your-password@smtp.office365.com:587Generic SMTP setup
Section titled “Generic SMTP setup”For any other SMTP provider, the connection string format is:
username:password@smtp.your-provider.com:465Common examples:
| Provider | SMTP host | Port |
|---|---|---|
| Fastmail | smtp.fastmail.com | 465 |
| Zoho Mail | smtp.zoho.com | 465 |
| ProtonMail Bridge | 127.0.0.1 | 1025 |
| Self-hosted (Postfix, Exim) | your server IP or hostname | 465 or 587 |
For ProtonMail, the Bridge application must be running on the same machine as ChannelWatch (or reachable on your LAN). The Bridge handles encryption internally, so port 1025 is plain-text between ChannelWatch and the Bridge.
Environment variable (optional)
Section titled “Environment variable (optional)”You can also configure email via environment variable in your docker-compose.yml. This is useful for automated deployments where you want to avoid the first-run wizard:
environment: CW_APPRISE_EMAIL: "youraddress@gmail.com:your-app-password@smtp.gmail.com:465" CW_APPRISE_EMAIL_TO: "recipient@example.com"Settings entered in the web UI take precedence over environment variables once saved.
Troubleshooting
Section titled “Troubleshooting”Authentication failed. Double-check your username and password. For Gmail, confirm you are using an App Password, not your account password. For Outlook, verify SMTP AUTH is enabled on your account.
Connection timed out. Confirm the SMTP host and port are correct. Try port 587 if 465 does not connect. Some Docker network configurations block outbound port 465 — check your firewall rules.
TLS handshake error. Your SMTP server’s certificate may be self-signed or expired. Self-hosted mail servers with self-signed certificates are not supported by default. Use a certificate from a public CA, or switch to a hosted provider.
Emails arrive in spam. This is a sender reputation issue, not a ChannelWatch configuration problem. Ensure your SMTP server has valid SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. Using a transactional email service (Mailgun, Postmark) instead of a personal account usually resolves this.
No recipient set. If you configure the SMTP connection but leave the Recipient field empty, ChannelWatch will attempt to send to the sender address. Set an explicit recipient in the Recipient field to avoid this.
Related pages
Section titled “Related pages”- Notification Examples — see what email alerts look like
- Delivery Log — check whether notifications were sent and why they may have failed
- Gotify — self-hosted push notifications as an alternative to email