> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.helohq.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Create your SMTP user for authentication

> Create and scope your SMTP user to authenticate when sending with Helo via SMTP.

export const CopyText = ({text, icon}) => {
  const [copied, setCopied] = useState(false);
  const copyToClipboard = () => {
    navigator.clipboard.writeText(text);
    setCopied(true);
    setTimeout(() => {
      setCopied(false);
    }, 5000);
  };
  return <>
      <span>{text}</span>{" "}
      <span aria-label="Copy" style={{
    cursor: "pointer"
  }} onClick={copyToClipboard}>
        {icon}
      </span>{" "}
      {copied ? "Copied!" : ""}
    </>;
};

An SMTP user provides you with the credentials you need to authenticate when sending email with Helo via SMTP.

* **Host**: <CopyText text="smtp.helohq.com" icon={<Icon icon="copy"/>} />
* **Port**: 587 (recommended), 25, 2525, or 465.
* **Username**: `YOUR_SMTP_USER_ID`
* **Password**: `YOUR_SMTP_USER_PASSWORD`

## Create a new SMTP user

You can create, edit, and delete your SMTP users in the `SMTP users` section in your Helo account.

There's no limit to how many SMTP users you can create.

<Info>
  **Tip: Create dedicated credentials for your testing environment.** If you're using a [Sandbox Channel](/core/channels-sandbox) to test your email integration, set up a dedicated SMTP user to work with that Channel only. That way, you can neatly separate testing credentials from any production credentials.
</Info>

## Mail type settings

When you create a new SMTP user, you need to specify the mail type you'd like to send via this SMTP user. Select either Transactional or Broadcast based on your sending needs.

A SMTP user can only send one type of mail. If you need to send broadcast and transactional mail, set up a dedicated SMTP user for each of those mail types.

[Learn more about the difference between broadcast and transactional mail](/core/sending-overview).

## Scoping to a Channel

You must also select which Channel your SMTP user can send through. An SMTP user can only be scoped to a single Channel. If you need to send mail through multiple Channels, create a dedicated SMTP user for each one.

## Good to know

* For security, Helo only shows the SMTP user password once, at creation time. If you lose it, you'll need to create a new SMTP user.
* You can delete an SMTP user at any time from the `SMTP users` section — this immediately revokes it, and any requests made with it will begin failing after a short time.