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Docs: document all SMTP_* and other undocumented env vars for self-hosting

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@notlakshitha is already working on this.

Since Oct 14, 2026.

  • #1083 by @notlakshitha — open

Assessment

Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Newbie friendliness
82/100
Issue type
Documentation
Clarity
Clearly specified
Activity status
Active
Tech stack
typescript
Domain
documentation

Research direction

Start by comparing .env.example with the environment variables read in packages/backend/src/settings/email.service.ts, knowledge-graph/identifier.ts, and the other locations named in the issue. Then check docs/deployment.md against those settings. Done means the SMTP variables and the five other undocumented variables are listed with their defaults or behavior in .env.example, all seven SMTP variables are documented in the deployment guide, and the misleading comment is corrected.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

enhancement
Problem

When self-hosting, I couldn't find a complete list of environment variables:

  • .env.example L269 says the cloud jobs "mail through the SMTP_* settings above", but .env.example doesn't define any SMTP_* variables.
  • packages/backend/src/settings/email.service.ts (L166–178) reads SMTP_HOST, SMTP_PORT (default 587), SMTP_USER, SMTP_PASS, SMTP_FROM, SMTP_SECURE and SMTP_REPLY_TO. docs/deployment.md L427 lists only the first four.
  • These are read in code but not documented anywhere: KG_HASH_SECRET (knowledge-graph/identifier.ts L122; falls back to ENCRYPTION_KEY, then JWT_SECRET, then a hardcoded 'anythingmcp-kg-dev-secret'), KG_MCP_TOOL (off disables it), KG_OBSERVE_COOLDOWN_SEC (default 45), SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT_MS (default 20000), SENTRY_MCP_TRACES_SAMPLE_RATE (default: base rate / 5).
Proposed Solution

Add a commented SMTP block (plus the variables above) to .env.example, and list all seven SMTP variables in docs/deployment.md. I'm happy to send a PR.

Alternatives Considered

At minimum, reword the L269 comment so it doesn't refer to settings "above".

Area

Documentation

Additional Context

No response

Dominant language
TypeScript
Stars
856
Forks
82
Avg merge
6h 49m
Merged PRs (30d)
152

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