Configure email notifications

We'll use Google/Gmail as our example throughout this guide, since it's the option most people already have an account for. If you don't already have an email account with SMTP access set up, we'd recommend just creating a dedicated Google account for Quantstrip's outgoing notifications rather than reusing your everyday inbox — it's free, takes a couple of minutes, and keeps this one clearly-scoped credential easy to revoke or rotate later without touching your main email.

What "Google API access" actually means here

A quick bit of lingo, since it trips people up: Google no longer lets third-party apps sign in with just your normal Gmail password — that door ("less secure app access") was closed a few years back. Instead there are two ways an app like Quantstrip can send mail through your Google account:

• An App Password (what Quantstrip uses) — a separate, 16-character password you generate specifically for this one connection. It only works for this purpose, doesn't expose your real password, and you can revoke it any time without affecting your normal Google sign-in. Requires 2-Step Verification to be turned on first.
• Full OAuth ("Sign in with Google") — the heavier mechanism apps use when they want to act on your account through a proper Google Cloud project with a reviewed consent screen. This is what you'd use for something like a public "Login with Google" button — overkill for sending your own notification emails.

Quantstrip's Notifications page talks to Gmail over SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol — the standard, decades-old protocol almost every mail provider supports for sending mail programmatically) authenticated with an App Password. So "giving Quantstrip API access to your Gmail" really means: generate an App Password and hand that to Quantstrip, not your real password.

Prerequisites

• A Google Account (personal Gmail or a Google Workspace account).
• 2-Step Verification enabled on that account — App Passwords don't exist as an option until this is on.

Generating a Gmail App Password

1. Go to your Google Account's security settings: myaccount.google.com → Security.

   

   assets/screenshots/google_account_security.png Screenshot not yet added — drop the file above into docs/assets/screenshots/ and it will appear here automatically.

2. Under "How you sign in to Google," turn on 2-Step Verification if it isn't already (you'll verify via your phone).

   

   assets/screenshots/google_2fa_toggle.png Screenshot not yet added — drop the file above into docs/assets/screenshots/ and it will appear here automatically.

3. Once that's on, search "App passwords" in the Google Account search bar at the top (Google reshuffles this menu periodically, so searching is more reliable than a fixed click-path).

   

   assets/screenshots/google_app_passwords_search.png Screenshot not yet added — drop the file above into docs/assets/screenshots/ and it will appear here automatically.

4. Create a new app password and give it a name you'll recognize later, e.g. Quantstrip.

   

   assets/screenshots/google_app_password_name.png Screenshot not yet added — drop the file above into docs/assets/screenshots/ and it will appear here automatically.

5. Google shows you a 16-character password once, as four groups of four letters (e.g. abcd efgh ijkl mnop). Copy it now — you can't view it again later, only revoke and regenerate.

   

   assets/screenshots/google_app_password_generated.png Screenshot not yet added — drop the file above into docs/assets/screenshots/ and it will appear here automatically.

Adding the account in Quantstrip

In Notifications, add a new account and pick the Gmail preset — this auto-fills the SMTP server, port, and TLS setting for you.

assets/screenshots/notifications_add_account.png Screenshot not yet added — drop the file above into docs/assets/screenshots/ and it will appear here automatically.

Fill in:

• Name — anything you'll recognize, e.g. Quantstrip Alerts.
• Username / from-address — your full Gmail address.
• Password — paste the 16-character App Password from above. Not your normal Google password.
• Server / Port / TLS — already filled in by the Gmail preset (smtp.gmail.com, port 587, TLS on).
• Default — mark this account default if it's your only one. The default account is shown with a star badge and is what send_email() uses when a script doesn't name one explicitly.

assets/screenshots/notifications_gmail_form.png Screenshot not yet added — drop the file above into docs/assets/screenshots/ and it will appear here automatically.

Use the test-send button to confirm the credentials actually work before relying on it — errors surface right here rather than during strategy execution.

assets/screenshots/notifications_test_email.png Screenshot not yet added — drop the file above into docs/assets/screenshots/ and it will appear here automatically.

Using something other than Gmail

Quantstrip also ships ready-made presets for Outlook and Yahoo — selecting one auto-fills the server, port, and TLS setting the same way Gmail does. Anything else uses the Custom preset, where every field is entered by hand:

Multiple accounts

You can add more than one account; the one marked default (star badge) is what send_email() uses unless a script names a different account explicitly — see the email API reference.