Listmonk Platform Help

Step 1 — Gather context

If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. What area of Listmonk do you need help with?
   - A) Setup — installing, configuring SMTP, Docker, database
   - B) Campaigns — creating, scheduling, sending, templates
   - C) Subscribers — importing, managing lists, segmentation
   - D) Transactional email — API-driven messages, templates
   - E) Deliverability — bounce processing, SES throttling, SMTP errors
   - F) API / automation — integrating with other tools, SDKs
   - G) Something else — describe it

2. What's your hosting setup?
   - A) Docker (self-managed)
   - B) Single binary on a VPS
   - C) Managed hosting (Railway, PikaPod, Elestio, etc.)
   - D) Haven't set up yet — planning

3. What SMTP provider are you using?
   - A) Amazon SES
   - B) Mailgun
   - C) Postmark
   - D) SendGrid
   - E) Self-hosted (Postal, etc.)
   - F) Other / haven't decided

Skip-ahead rule: if the user's prompt already contains enough context, skip to Step 2.

Step 2 — Route or answer directly

If the question is Listmonk-specific, continue to Step 3.

Step 3 — Listmonk platform reference

Read references/platform-guide.md for the full platform reference — capabilities, SMTP setup, data model, API recipes, integration patterns.

Answer the user's question using only the relevant section. Don't dump the full reference.

Step 4 — Actionable guidance

Focus on the user's specific situation. Listmonk is developer-first — assume comfort with Docker, config files, and APIs.

Decision framework — self-hosted vs managed:
- Self-hosted (Listmonk) if: you want full data ownership, need to send at scale cheaply, are comfortable with Docker/PostgreSQL, and don't need paid subscription management
- Managed (Beehiiv, Ghost, etc.) if: you want paid newsletters with Stripe, need a built-in discovery network, or don't want to manage infrastructure

If you discover a gotcha, workaround, or tip not covered in references/learnings.md, append it there.

Gotchas

> Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about SMTP configuration and rate limiting that may vary by provider.

1. SMTP test always shows success — Listmonk's SMTP connection test only checks connectivity, not authentication. A successful test does NOT mean your credentials are correct. Send a real test campaign to verify.
2. SES throttling kills campaigns — New SES accounts have low sending limits (1-14 emails/sec). Listmonk's default throughput exceeds this. Configure max_msg_retries and sliding window rate limits in Settings > Performance to match your SES quota.
3. No outbound webhooks — Listmonk does not push events (new subscriber, campaign sent) to external URLs. For real-time sync, poll the API or use database triggers.
4. No paid subscription support — Listmonk has no Stripe integration or paywall features. For paid newsletters, pair with a payment processor and manage access via list membership through the API.
5. Bounce processing requires SMTP provider setup — Configure SES SNS topics, SendGrid/Twilio Event Webhooks, Postmark, Forward Email, or Lettermint (v6.1.0+) webhooks to POST bounces to Listmonk's /webhooks/service/{provider} endpoint, or post custom bounces to the generic /webhooks/bounce. Without this, your sender reputation degrades silently.
6. Go templates, not Handlebars — If you're coming from Mailchimp or SendGrid, the templating syntax is completely different. Use {{ .Subscriber.Name }}, not {{subscriber.name}}.
7. Single binary = single point of failure — No built-in HA or clustering. For production, run behind a reverse proxy with health checks and automated restarts.
8. campaigns:send is a separate API permission (v6.1.0+) — A granular API token with campaigns:manage/campaigns:manage_all can create and edit campaigns but CANNOT start a send. Starting a campaign (PUT /api/campaigns/{id}/status → running) requires the distinct campaigns:send scope, otherwise you get a 403. Grant both scopes for an automated send pipeline.

Related skills

• /sales-newsletter — Newsletter monetization strategy — paid subscriptions, sponsorships, ad sales, premium tiers
• /sales-audience-growth — Growing your subscriber list — lead magnets, cross-promotion, referral programs
• /sales-deliverability — Email deliverability — SPF, DKIM, DMARC, inbox placement
• /sales-transactional-email — Transactional email strategy — provider selection, API, templates
• /sales-mailgun — Mailgun platform help (common SMTP provider for Listmonk)
• /sales-postmark — Postmark platform help (common SMTP provider for Listmonk)
• /sales-sendgrid — SendGrid platform help (common SMTP provider for Listmonk)
• /sales-ghost — Ghost platform help — alternative self-hosted newsletter with memberships
• /sales-beehiiv — Beehiiv platform help — managed newsletter alternative
• /sales-buttondown — Buttondown platform help — managed newsletter with API
• /sales-do — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do

Examples

Example 1: SES throttling fix

User says: "My Listmonk campaign sent 2,000 of 5,000 emails then stopped — I'm using SES"
Skill does: Reads platform-guide.md for SES throttling guidance, explains that new SES accounts have low per-second limits, shows how to configure Listmonk's sliding window rate limiter to match SES quota, recommends requesting SES production access for higher limits
Result: Campaign resumes with correct rate limiting, no more throttling drops

Example 2: Automate subscriber sync via API

User says: "How do I add subscribers to Listmonk from my Next.js app when they sign up?"
Skill does: Reads platform-guide.md API recipes, provides working code for POST /api/subscribers with BasicAuth, shows how to assign to a list and trigger double opt-in, mentions the public subscription endpoint as an alternative
Result: Working API integration with code examples in both cURL and Python/JS

Example 3: Bounce processing setup

User says: "My bounce rate is climbing and I think Listmonk isn't processing bounces from SES"
Skill does: Reads platform-guide.md for bounce processing architecture, walks through SES SNS topic → HTTPS subscription → Listmonk bounce endpoint setup, explains bounce action configuration (soft bounce threshold, blocklist on hard bounce)
Result: Automated bounce processing configured, sender reputation protected

Troubleshooting

Emails not sending — SMTP test passes but campaigns fail

Symptom: SMTP connection test shows success, but campaigns show 0 sent or error in logs
Cause: SMTP test only checks connectivity (port reachable), not authentication or sending permissions
Solution: Check Listmonk logs (docker logs listmonk) for actual SMTP errors. Verify credentials by sending a test campaign to yourself. Common causes: wrong port (use 587 for STARTTLS, 465 for SSL), incorrect auth method, SES sandbox mode (can only send to verified emails).

Campaign stops midway — SES throttling

Symptom: Campaign finishes with far fewer emails sent than subscribers, logs show "messages exceeded for the window"
Cause: Listmonk's default throughput exceeds your SES sending rate limit
Solution: In Settings > Performance, set sliding window rate to match your SES quota. For new SES accounts, start with 1 email/second. Request SES production access to increase limits. Monitor SES dashboard for throttling metrics.

STARTTLS error — "530 Must issue a STARTTLS command first"

Symptom: SMTP configuration fails with STARTTLS error
Cause: SMTP settings mismatch — using wrong TLS mode for the port
Solution: For port 587, set auth_protocol to login and enable STARTTLS. For port 465, use implicit TLS (SSL). In config.toml SMTP section, ensure tls_type matches your port: STARTTLS for 587, TLS for 465, none for 25.

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