Describe the problem/error/question
I’m trying to send email invites using AWS SES via the built-in email functionality in n8n. While it works perfectly when I use the SMTP Email node, it fails when using invite emails (e.g. user management, sharing workflows, etc.) with the same SMTP environment config.
What is the error message (if any)?
Frontend error message:
Server Logs:
Please share your workflow
Not applicable here — the issue is not with a workflow, but with the invite emails or default system SMTP configuration.
Share the output returned by the last node
The SMTP Email node works fine and sends emails successfully with AWS SES. The problem only appears when the system tries to send default n8n emails (like invite emails).
Information on your n8n setup
- n8n version:
1.48.0 - Database (default: SQLite): Postgres
- n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting: main
- Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app): Docker
- Operating system: Linux (Docker container)
- CPU Arch: ARM64
Current Environment Variables
N8N_SMTP_SSL=false
N8N_SMTP_STARTTLS=false (tried true as well)
N8N_SMTP_SENDER="[email protected]"
N8N_SMTP_FROM="n8n <[email protected]>"
N8N_SMTP_HOST=email-smtp.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
N8N_SMTP_PORT=587
N8N_SMTP_USER=Axxx
N8N_SMTP_PASS=xxxx
Notes
- The SMTP Email node works fine with the same credentials.
- I’ve read all related posts in the community forum about AWS SES and STARTTLS/SSL but no solution has worked so far.
- I suspect the n8n system email function is not initiating STARTTLS correctly — or attempting a TLS handshake without it, which AWS SES rejects on port 587.
What I’m Looking For
Any ideas or verified working SMTP config for AWS SES for system emails (not just the SMTP node)?
Or is there a way to force STARTTLS properly or debug what exactly the internal mailer is doing differently from the node?
Thanks in advance!