Summary
Bulk adding email addresses to a group appears to send invitation emails even when “Notify users” is unchecked.
Expected behaviour
When “Notify users” is unchecked, no emails should be sent.
Actual behaviour
Discourse sends invitation emails with subject:
“[Name] invited you to join [forum]”
Brevo transactional logs confirm delivery and classify them as invitation emails.
Environment
- Discourse version: latest branch (self-hosted Docker, up to date via git pull and rebuild)
- Hosting: self-hosted Docker
- SMTP provider: Brevo
- Action performed:
Admin → Groups → Add members → bulk add email addresses → “Notify users” unchecked
Question
Is this expected behaviour because the email addresses did not yet correspond to existing users (invite flow), or is this unintended?
Related older discussion
My experience suggests invitation emails are still sent even when “Notify users” is unticked.
Evidence
Brevo transactional logs show:
- Event: Delivered
- Event: Opened by proxy
- Subject: “[Name] invited you to join [forum]”
These emails were triggered immediately after the bulk add action.
Goal
Clarify whether this is expected design behaviour for staged / non-existing users, or a regression / UX ambiguity in newer Discourse versions.