What exact email address do I use for “Custom Incoming email address”?

Product Support

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In a support thread titled ‘What exact email address do I use for “Custom Incoming email address”?’, learningmore asks for clarification on configuring the ‘Custom Incoming email address’ to allow users to create new topics via email. They confirm having the email_in setting enabled but are unsure whether they must create separate email accounts (e.g., Gmail) per category or if Discourse provides a built-in email system like [mycategoryname@discourse.mydiscoursename.org](mailto:mycategoryname@discourse.mydiscoursename.org). RGJ replies by directing them to a guide on configuring direct delivery incoming email for self-hosted sites, which enables the use of such Discourse-generated email addresses. The key takeaway is that Discourse does not automatically provide email addresses — they must be configured via direct delivery or forwarding setup, allowing custom addresses like category-based ones to function correctly for email-to-topic creation.

1

I want users to be able to start new topics via email. I DO have the email_in setting set up in Admin panel.

Excuse my ignorance, and I’ve read many configuration articles like Configuring incoming email to create new topics or group messages and searched thru the forum, but I still don’t understand what EXACT email address I’m supposed to put in the “Custom Incoming email address” box.

Do I have to create a new separate email account (e.g., a gmail acct) for each Category OR is there a discourse email “system” where the email address is something like “mycategoryname@discourse.mydiscoursename.org”? Thanks for your help.

2

You have to set up this and then you get that