Setting up AWS Simple Email Service (SES) as your outgoing mail provider gives Articles reliable, high-volume email delivery. The process has three stages: creating SMTP credentials in AWS, verifying your sending domain, and entering the details into Articles' email settings.
A note on the AWS Console
The AWS Management Console is a powerful but complex environment. If you do not work in it regularly, it can be difficult to navigate; settings are spread across many services, terminology is technical, and it is easy to misconfigure something without realising it. Small mistakes such as selecting the wrong region or creating credentials with insufficient permissions can result in hours of frustrating troubleshooting.
Unless you are comfortable working in AWS, we strongly recommend handing this setup off to your IT department or a colleague who works with AWS regularly. Provide them with this guide and ask them to supply you with the completed SMTP credentials and confirmation that the domain is verified. You can then enter those details into Articles yourself without needing to touch the AWS Console at all.
Before you begin
You will need an AWS account and access to your domain's DNS settings (through your registrar or hosting control panel). If you are not sure who manages your DNS, contact your IT administrator.
Step 1 - Verify your sending domain
Log in to the AWS Console and navigate to Simple Email Service → Verified Identities → Create Identity.
Choose Domain and enter your domain (for example, yourdomain.com). AWS will display a set of CNAME records. Add these records to your domain's DNS. Verification usually completes within a few minutes, but can take up to 48 hours.
Once verified, any email address at that domain can be used as a sender; you do not need to verify individual addresses separately.
Step 2 - Create SMTP credentials
In the AWS Console go to Simple Email Service → SMTP Settings and click Create SMTP Credentials. AWS will create a dedicated IAM user and display a username and password.
Important: Copy the password immediately, AWS will not show it again. Store both values somewhere secure before closing the page.
Your SMTP credentials will look like this:
- Server:
email-smtp.us-east-1.amazonaws.com - Port:
587 - Username: a string beginning with
AKIA... - Password: a long mixed-character string
Step 3 - Request production access
New AWS accounts start in sandbox mode, which means email can only be sent to addresses you have individually verified. This is not suitable for sending reports to customers.
Go to Simple Email Service → Account Dashboard and click Request production access. Fill in the short form describing your use case (for example: "Sending scheduled business reports to licensed customers"). AWS typically approves requests within 24 hours.
You can configure Articles while waiting for approval; sandbox mode is fine for testing.
Step 4 — Enter settings in Articles
Open Articles and go to Settings → Email. Enter the following values:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| SMTP Server | email-smtp.us-east-1.amazonaws.com |
| Port | 587 |
| Username | Your SES SMTP username |
| Password | Your SES SMTP password |
| From Address | The address you want emails sent from (must be on your verified domain) |
| From Name | The display name recipients will see |
Click Test Email to send a test message and confirm everything is working.
Troubleshooting
Email address is not verified: Your From Address is not on a verified domain. Check that the domain verification in Step 1 completed successfully, and that the From Address matches that domain exactly.
Authentication failed: Double-check the SMTP username and password. These are different from your AWS Console login credentials — they are only generated through the SMTP Settings page.
Messages delivered in sandbox but not in production: Your production access request may still be pending. Check the Account Dashboard for status.
Connection timeout: Confirm port 587 is not blocked by your firewall or network. Contact your IT administrator if unsure.