DextelDocs

Connect SMTP

Send through any mail server — Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Zoho or your hosting provider — with a server address and a login. Outbound only: no delivery events, no inbound.

Where this lives in Dextel

Agency: Agency → Integrations → Email Service (outbound only). Sub-account: Settings → Integrations → Email Integration (outbound + inbound). The modal shows the exact webhook URLs to paste into SMTP; this page explains what to do with them.

Prerequisites

  • A SMTP account and a domain you control (you'll add DNS records).
  • Owner or admin access to the Dextel agency or sub-account.
  • Credentials you'll enter in Dextel: SMTP server, Connection security, Port, Username, Password.

1. Create the API credentials

  1. Find your provider's outgoing (SMTP) server settings: host name, port and whether it uses STARTTLS (usually port 587) or SSL/TLS (port 465).
  2. Google Workspace: turn on 2-Step Verification for the mailbox, then create an App password (Google Account → Security → App passwords). Use smtp.gmail.com, STARTTLS, 587, the mailbox address as the username and the app password as the password.
  3. Microsoft 365: enable SMTP AUTH for the mailbox (Microsoft 365 admin center → Users → Mail → Manage email apps → Authenticated SMTP). Use smtp.office365.com, STARTTLS, 587.
  4. Zoho Mail: create an app-specific password and use smtp.zoho.com, SSL/TLS, 465.
  5. In Dextel pick SMTP, enter the server, security, port (optional), username and password.

SMTP docs: API keys

2. Verify your sending domain

  1. Use a From address the login is allowed to send as: the mailbox itself, or an alias your provider has set up on it. Most servers reject other addresses.
  2. Make sure the domain's SPF and DKIM records are set up with your mail provider; they decide whether recipients trust the mail, and the provider's own guide covers them.
  3. Click Validate & Connect. Dextel connects to the server and logs in before saving, so a wrong host, port or password is caught immediately.

Then in Dextel enter a From email on that domain (for example hello@yourdomain.com) and a From name, and click Validate & Connect. Dextel checks the credentials against SMTP before saving.

SMTP docs: domains

3. Delivery events

Delivered, opened, clicked, bounced and spam events come from a provider's webhook, and an SMTP server has none. Mail sent this way stays at sent in Dextel, and the Email Event workflow trigger does not fire for it. The Events tab is hidden for SMTP integrations.

SMTP servers don't report delivery events, so there is nothing to set up here.

4. Inbound email

Not available over SMTP: the protocol only sends. Replies from contacts go to the mailbox you send from, not to the Dextel Inbox, and the Contact Replied — Email trigger does not fire. If you need replies in Dextel, connect one of the API providers instead.

Limits

  • No delivery events: the Email Event trigger never fires for SMTP mail and deliveries stay at "sent".
  • No inbound: replies land in the mailbox you send from, not in the Dextel Inbox. Use an API provider if you need replies in Dextel.
  • Mailbox providers cap sending (Google Workspace about 2,000 messages a day, Microsoft 365 about 10,000 recipients a day).

Troubleshooting

  • "Invalid login" / 535 — Google and Microsoft reject normal passwords for SMTP; create an app password, and on Microsoft 365 confirm SMTP AUTH is enabled for that mailbox.
  • Connection times out — the port is blocked or wrong: try STARTTLS on 587, or SSL/TLS on 465, and check the server host name.
  • "Sender address rejected" — the From email must be the mailbox you logged in with or an alias of it.
  • Mail lands in spam — set up SPF and DKIM for the domain with your mail provider.
  • Still stuck? Compare with another provider on the Email Providers overview.