# Integrations Under **Settings → Integrations**, an Administrator can connect services your church already uses. Today that's **your own email server**: Announcements can send its emails through your church's own email account instead of HolyCRM's. You can also connect up to five **webhooks** to pass announcements and what happens in your church (new visitors, members, prayer requests, registrations, serving answers) on to your own automations (see below). ## Why send through your own email account - **Emails come from your church's address** (for example `office@yourchurch.org`), so replies go straight to you and people recognize the sender. - **No HolyCRM monthly limit.** Emails sent through your own account don't count toward the [1,000 emails a month](#/bulk-email) that come with HolyCRM. Your email provider's own sending limits apply instead (see below). ## Before you start You need an email account that allows sending through **SMTP**, and its settings. Most do: - **Google (Gmail or Google Workspace):** server `smtp.gmail.com`, port 587. Use an **app password**, not your normal password: in your Google Account go to Security → 2-Step Verification → App passwords. Google Workspace accounts can send about 2,000 emails a day. - **Microsoft 365 / Outlook:** server `smtp.office365.com`, port 587. Your Microsoft 365 administrator may need to allow "Authenticated SMTP" for the mailbox. - **Mailgun, SendGrid, Amazon SES, Brevo** and similar sending services: use the SMTP credentials from your account with them. If you're not sure, ask whoever looks after your church's email for the "SMTP settings". ## Setting it up 1. Go to **Settings → Integrations**. 2. Choose your **Provider**. This fills in the server and port for you, and shows a tip for that provider. 3. Enter the **Username** and **Password**, the **From address** your emails should come from, and the **From name** people will see (usually your church's name). The from address must be one your account is allowed to send from. 4. Click **Save**. 5. Click **Send test email**. HolyCRM sends a test to your own email address through your server and shows the result after a few seconds. Check it arrived (look in spam too). 6. Click **Turn on**. From then on, Announcements shows **"Sending through your own email server"** instead of the monthly limit, and every email goes out through your account. You can only turn it on after a successful test, and **saving any change turns it off again** until you send a new test. That way it's never on with settings that don't work. ## If the test fails The screen explains what went wrong in plain words, with the technical message underneath: - **The server rejected the username or password:** check them again. With Google, make sure you used an app password. - **Couldn't reach the server:** check the server name and port. - **The secure connection failed:** port 587 goes with STARTTLS, port 465 with SSL/TLS. - **The server refused the email:** the from address is probably not one this account may send from. Problems with real sends show up in the same place, as **Last problem**, and under the send in Announcements' **Recent sends**. If your server can't deliver an email, that email fails: HolyCRM never sends it through its own email instead. ## Turning it off or removing it **Turn off** goes back to sending through HolyCRM's email, which counts toward the monthly limit again. Your settings stay saved, so you can turn it back on later. **Remove** deletes the settings; emails still waiting to go out through your server will fail. ## Webhooks (automations) A webhook sends things to a web address of your own, usually an automation tool such as **Zapier**, **Make** or **n8n**, where you decide what happens next: send it on through WhatsApp or Telegram, add the person to a spreadsheet, notify the welcome team, and so on. It's meant for whoever looks after your church's tech; nothing changes for members. You can add up to **5 webhooks**, each with its own address and its own choice of what it receives. ### What a webhook can receive Tick what each webhook should get: - **Announcements you choose to send to webhooks** (see [Announcements](#/bulk-email)). - **New visitor**: anyone who fills in the "New here?" form or is added in Visitors. - **New member** (never children). - **New prayer request**: who asked and how to reach them. **The request itself is never sent**: your team reads it inside HolyCRM. - **Event registration**. - **A volunteer confirmed** or **declined a serving slot**. **Privacy:** deliveries include names, email addresses and phone numbers. Children (members marked as minors, with guardians, or under your church's minor age) are never included in anything sent to a webhook, and notes, addresses and birthdates are never sent. Only connect services your church trusts and is allowed to share this information with. ### Setting one up 1. In your automation tool, create a flow that starts with "receive a webhook" (Zapier: *Webhooks by Zapier → Catch Hook*; Make: *Custom webhook*; n8n: *Webhook* node). Copy the address it gives you; it starts with `https://`. 2. In **Integrations → Webhooks**, click **Add a webhook**, give it a name if you like, paste the address as the **Webhook URL**, tick **What to send** and click **Save**. 3. HolyCRM shows a **signing secret** once. Copy it and keep it with your automation: it lets your automation check that each delivery really comes from HolyCRM. If you lose it, click **New signing secret** (the old one stops working). 4. Click **Send test**. The screen shows what your webhook answered. 5. Click **Turn on**. Changing the address or the format turns the webhook off until a new test succeeds; changing what it receives doesn't. If a webhook doesn't answer, HolyCRM tries again several times over the next hours; problems show on that webhook as **Last problem**, and for announcements also under the send in **Recent sends**. ### Format: HolyCRM JSON or custom By default each delivery is the same JSON for every tool, which Zapier, Make and n8n read without any setup. Every delivery includes a ready-made line in your church's language, `summary` (for example "New visitor: John Smith"). If the place you send to expects something else, choose **Custom (for developers)** and write the body yourself, with placeholders HolyCRM fills in, plus extra headers if needed. **Start from an example** fills it in for two common cases: - **ntfy** (phone notifications): a plain-text message with a title. - **Telegram** (a bot posting in a group): replace `YOUR_CHAT_ID` with your chat's id and use `https://api.telegram.org/bot/sendMessage` as the URL. For developers: every request is signed. The `X-HolyCRM-Signature` header is `sha256=` + the HMAC-SHA256 of `.` with your signing secret (also with the custom format, over the body actually sent). `X-HolyCRM-Event` says what happened, and `X-HolyCRM-Delivery` stays the same when a delivery is retried, so you can ignore duplicates. Templates use Go template syntax over the delivery: `{{.data.summary}}`, `{{.data.subject}}`, `{{.church.name}}`, `{{range .data.recipients}}…{{end}}`, and `{{json …}}` to insert a value as JSON. A template error makes the test fail with the error. Only Administrators can see and change Integrations, and it's part of the paid plan.