Library email configuration
Library email settings define default sender and reply addresses, and—where email identities are available—verify domains used by the Send email action. Configure and test email separately in QA and Production.
Open Library settings, then Govforms emails. The exact screen depends on the email capability enabled for the library.
Set default sender addresses
Email ‘From’ address is the default sender shown on messages sent by services in the library. Email ‘Reply-To’ address is where replies are directed. They can be the same address, but their purposes are different.
Use role-based addresses such as no-reply@example.org or applications@example.org, not an employee’s mailbox. Confirm who monitors replies and what happens when the sender address is intentionally non-replying.
The sending domain or exact address must be verified before it is used. If no custom value is active, the platform default applies.
Verify an email domain
Where Email identities is shown, adding a domain generates three DKIM CNAME records. A DNS administrator must publish the displayed host names and target values with the domain’s DNS provider.
flowchart LR
A[Add sending domain] --> B[Copy generated DKIM CNAME records]
B --> C[Publish records in DNS]
C --> D[Refresh verification status]
D -->|Verified| E[Apply identities to QA]
E --> F[Test delivery and alignment]
F --> G[Apply identities to Production]
D -->|Still pending| H[Check exact host and target values]The domain card shows Awaiting DNS verification, Verified or Verification failed, plus the last check time. DNS propagation can be quick but may take considerably longer. Do not repeatedly remove and recreate the same domain while records are propagating, because this can generate a new set of values.
After verification, any approved sender address on that domain can be used by the email action. This makes domain ownership important: verify only a domain the organisation controls and intends this library to use.
Apply identities to environments
Verification at the email provider is not the final step. Select Apply to QA environment or Apply to Production environment to make the library identity settings active there. The screen records who last applied them and when.
Default sender-address settings also have separate QA and Production apply controls. Coordinate the two screens so that an address is not applied before its domain is ready.
Test email behaviour
In QA, send to controlled test mailboxes and check:
- the displayed From name and address;
- Reply-To behaviour;
- DKIM and provider authentication results in message headers;
- subject and body rendering in common clients;
- links, attachments and plain-text fallback;
- bounce and failure handling;
- that no real customer is contacted.
Deliverability is not proved by one message reaching one inbox. Test the message types and recipient domains that matter to the service.
Rotate or remove a domain
Removing a verified domain causes actions using its From addresses to stop working. Before removal, search dependent services and move them to another verified sender. Apply the changed identity set to both environments as required, then remove obsolete DNS records according to the email owner’s process.
Changing a default address does not rewrite an action that explicitly sets its own sender. Review service-level email settings as part of the change.