AERC-SMTP(5)

🎀 AERC-SMTP 💌

okay bestie, so this is the aerc-smtp page — it's a File Formats Manual entry, and it's literally all about how you point aerc(1) at your SMTP server so your mail actually goes out. no cap, it's the glow-up guide for your outgoing mail ✨

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

aerc implements the SMTP protocol as specified by RFC 5321. that's it, that's the whole vibe 💅

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🌸 CONFIGURATION 🌸

so the basic SMTP setup can be done interactively with the :new-account command — like, the app literally walks you through it, super cute 🫶

in accounts.conf (peep aerc-accounts(5) for the deets), these SMTP-specific options are available:

• outgoing =

<scheme>[+<auth>]://<username>[:<password>]@<hostname>[:<port>]?[<oauth2_params>]

bestie. remember that all fields must be URL encoded. the @ symbol, when URL encoded, is %40. don't forget or it's giving broken config 😭

the value of <scheme> can be:

• smtp — SMTP with STARTTLS 🔥
• smtp+insecure — SMTP without STARTTLS 🙈
• smtps — SMTP with TLS/SSL 🔒
• smtps+insecure — SMTP with TLS/SSL, skipping certificate verification. (iykyk, that's a spicy one 💀)

additionally, you can specify an authentication mechanism like so:

• none — no authentication is required to use this SMTP server. you may omit the username and password in this case. slay, minimal effort 👑
• plain — authenticate with a username and password using AUTH PLAIN. this is the default behavior. periodt.
• login — authenticate with a username and password using AUTH LOGIN. this is an obsolete protocol, but is required for some common webmail providers. it's giving legacy but we still love her 🎀
• oauthbearer — SMTP with TLS/SSL using OAUTHBEARER Authentication. see documentation in aerc-imap(5) for usage 🦋
• xoauth2 — SMTP with TLS/SSL using XOAUTH2 Authentication. see documentation in aerc-imap(5) for usage 🧚

• outgoing-cred-cmd = <command> — specifies the command to run to get the password for the SMTP account. this command will be run using sh -c [command]. if a password is specified in the outgoing option, the password will take precedence over this command. lowkey important 👀

example:

outgoing-cred-cmd = pass hostname/username

• smtp-domain = <domain> — local domain name to use in the HELO/EHLO SMTP command. set this to a fully qualified domain name if the server requires it as an antispam measure. (some servers are so picky, honestly 💅)

Default: localhost

ngl, that smtp-domain one gets people tripped up all the time — if your server's being a hater about antispam checks, this is your girl 🌈

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

aerc(1) aerc-accounts(5)

like, go read those too, they're the main characters of this friend group 💖

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🌟 AUTHORS 🌟

originally created by Drew DeVault and maintained by Robin Jarry who is assisted by other open source contributors. for more information about aerc development, see https://sr.ht/~rjarry/aerc/. obsessed with them fr fr 👑

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💌 and that's the tea, bestie — this page dropped 2026-09-07 and it's AERC-SMTP(5) all day, every day. go send some mail, you icon ✨🎀