124 lines
7 KiB
Markdown
124 lines
7 KiB
Markdown
# SMTP Configuration – Concept
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**Status:** Implemented
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**Last updated:** 2026-03-12
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---
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## 1. Goal
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Enable configurable SMTP for sending transactional emails (join confirmation, user confirmation, password reset). Configuration via **environment variables** and **Admin Settings** (database), with the same precedence pattern as OIDC and Vereinfacht: **ENV overrides Settings**. Include a **test email** action in Settings (button + recipient field) with clear success/error feedback.
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---
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## 2. Scope
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- **In scope:** SMTP server configuration (host, port, credentials, TLS/SSL), sender identity (from-name, from-email), test email from Settings UI, warning when SMTP is not configured in production, specific error messages per failure category, graceful delivery errors in AshAuthentication senders.
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- **Out of scope:** Separate adapters per email type; retry queues.
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---
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## 3. Configuration Sources
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| Source | Priority | Use case |
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|----------|----------|-----------------------------------|
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| ENV | 1 | Production, Docker, 12-factor |
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| Settings | 2 | Admin UI, dev without ENV |
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When an ENV variable is set, the corresponding Settings field is read-only in the UI (with hint "Set by environment").
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---
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## 4. SMTP Parameters
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| Parameter | ENV | Settings attribute | Notes |
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|----------------|------------------------|---------------------|---------------------------------------------|
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| Host | `SMTP_HOST` | `smtp_host` | e.g. `smtp.example.com` |
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| Port | `SMTP_PORT` | `smtp_port` | Default 587 (TLS), 465 (SSL), 25 (plain) |
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| Username | `SMTP_USERNAME` | `smtp_username` | Optional if no auth |
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| Password | `SMTP_PASSWORD` | `smtp_password` | Sensitive, not shown when set |
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| Password file | `SMTP_PASSWORD_FILE` | — | Docker/Secrets: path to file with password |
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| TLS/SSL | `SMTP_SSL` | `smtp_ssl` | `tls` / `ssl` / `none` (default: tls) |
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| Sender name | `MAIL_FROM_NAME` | `smtp_from_name` | Display name in "From" header (default: Mila)|
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| Sender email | `MAIL_FROM_EMAIL` | `smtp_from_email` | Address in "From" header; must match SMTP user on most servers |
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**Important:** On most SMTP servers (e.g. Postfix with strict relay policies) the sender email (`smtp_from_email`) must be the same address as `smtp_username` or an alias that is owned by that account.
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---
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## 5. Password from File
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Support **SMTP_PASSWORD_FILE** (path to file containing the password), same pattern as `OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET_FILE` in `runtime.exs`. Read once at runtime; `SMTP_PASSWORD` ENV overrides file if both are set.
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---
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## 6. Behaviour When SMTP Is Not Configured
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- **Dev/Test:** Keep current adapters (`Swoosh.Adapters.Local`, `Swoosh.Adapters.Test`). No change.
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- **Production:** If neither ENV nor Settings provide SMTP (no host):
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- Show a warning in the Settings UI.
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- Delivery attempts silently fall back to the Local adapter (no crash).
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---
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## 7. Test Email (Settings UI)
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- **Location:** SMTP / E-Mail section in Global Settings.
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- **Elements:** Input for recipient, submit button inside a `phx-submit` form.
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- **Behaviour:** Sends one email using current SMTP config and `mail_from/0`. Returns `{:ok, _}` or `{:error, classified_reason}`.
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- **Error categories:** `:sender_rejected`, `:auth_failed`, `:recipient_rejected`, `:tls_failed`, `:connection_failed`, `{:smtp_error, message}` — each shows a specific human-readable message in the UI.
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- **Permission:** Reuses existing Settings page authorization (admin).
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---
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## 8. Sender Identity (`mail_from`)
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`Mv.Mailer.mail_from/0` returns `{name, email}`. Priority:
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1. `MAIL_FROM_NAME` / `MAIL_FROM_EMAIL` ENV variables
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2. `smtp_from_name` / `smtp_from_email` in Settings (DB)
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3. Hardcoded defaults: `{"Mila", "noreply@example.com"}`
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Provided by `Mv.Config.mail_from_name/0` and `Mv.Config.mail_from_email/0`.
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---
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## 9. AshAuthentication Senders
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Both `SendPasswordResetEmail` and `SendNewUserConfirmationEmail` use `Mv.Mailer.deliver/1` (not `deliver!/1`). Delivery failures are logged (`Logger.error`) and not re-raised, so they never crash the caller process. AshAuthentication ignores the return value of `send/3`.
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---
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## 10. TLS / SSL in OTP 27
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OTP 26+ enforces `verify_peer` by default, which fails for self-signed or internal SMTP server certificates.
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By default, TLS certificate verification is relaxed (`verify_none`) so self-signed or internal SMTP servers work. For public SMTP providers (Gmail, Mailgun, etc.) you can enable verification:
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- **ENV (prod):** Set `SMTP_VERIFY_PEER=true` (or `1`/`yes`) when configuring SMTP via environment variables in `config/runtime.exs`. This sets `config :mv, :smtp_verify_peer` and is used for both boot-time and per-send config.
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- **Default:** `false` (verify_none) for backward compatibility and internal/self-signed certs.
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Both `tls_options` (STARTTLS, port 587) and `sockopts` (direct SSL, port 465) use the same verify mode. The logic is duplicated in `config/runtime.exs` (boot) and `Mv.Mailer.smtp_config/0` (Settings-only); keep in sync.
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---
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## 11. Summary Checklist
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- [x] ENV: `SMTP_HOST`, `SMTP_PORT`, `SMTP_USERNAME`, `SMTP_PASSWORD`, `SMTP_PASSWORD_FILE`, `SMTP_SSL`.
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- [x] ENV: `MAIL_FROM_NAME`, `MAIL_FROM_EMAIL` for sender identity.
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- [x] Settings: attributes and UI for host, port, username, password, TLS/SSL, from-name, from-email.
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- [x] Password from file: `SMTP_PASSWORD_FILE` supported in `runtime.exs`.
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- [x] Mailer: Swoosh SMTP adapter configured from merged ENV + Settings when SMTP is configured.
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- [x] Per-request SMTP config via `Mv.Mailer.smtp_config/0` for Settings-only scenarios.
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- [x] TLS certificate validation relaxed for OTP 27 (tls_options + sockopts).
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- [x] Prod warning: clear message in Settings when SMTP is not configured.
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- [x] Test email: form with recipient field, translatable content, classified success/error messages.
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- [x] AshAuthentication senders: graceful error handling (no crash on delivery failure).
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- [x] Gettext for all new UI strings, translated to German.
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- [x] Docs and code guidelines updated.
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---
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## 12. Follow-up / Future Work
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- **SMTP password at-rest encryption:** The `smtp_password` attribute is currently stored in plaintext in the `settings` table. It is excluded from default reads (same pattern as `oidc_client_secret`); both are read only via explicit select when needed. For production systems at-rest encryption (e.g. with [Cloak](https://hexdocs.pm/cloak)) should be considered and tracked as a follow-up issue.
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- **Error classification:** SMTP error categorization currently uses substring matching on server messages (e.g. "535", "authentication"). A more robust approach would be to pattern-match on `gen_smtp` error tuples first where possible, and fall back to string analysis only when needed. Server wording varies; consider extending patterns as new providers are used.
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