# Storage & email (/docs/guides/self-hosting/storage-and-email)



Two services in the compose stack are there for what comes next, not for what runs today.
This page says so plainly, so you can plan around it.

## Object storage (MinIO) [#object-storage-minio]

<ComingSoon tier="v2" />

The stack includes MinIO, an S3-compatible object store, ready for **per-item attachments**
<StatusBadge status="coming-soon" />. Today, nothing in the application reads from or writes
to it — the `miniodata` volume stays empty, and the `S3_*` variables in `.env.example` are
reserved for the same future feature.

What that means for you:

* There is nothing in MinIO to back up. PostgreSQL remains the single source of truth
  (see [Backups & restore](/docs/guides/self-hosting/backups-and-restore)).
* If you want a leaner stack, you can remove the `minio` service from your override file
  without losing anything. Keeping it costs little and means attachments work the moment
  the feature lands.

## Email [#email]

Here is the honest state: &#x2A;*RyTask does not deliver email yet.**

Outgoing mail — email verification, password resets, and emailed invitations — goes through
a mailer port inside the API. The current adapter **logs the message instead of sending
it**: you will see lines like `[mailer:noop] would send "..." to ...` in the API logs where
an email would have gone. A real SMTP adapter is planned
<StatusBadge status="coming-soon" />.

Day to day, this matters less than it sounds, because the flow that most needs email has a
built-in alternative:

* **Inviting teammates works today via shareable links.** In **Settings → Members**, choose
  "Create a shareable link" instead of an email invitation. RyTask shows you the invite
  link with the role pre-assigned — copy it and send it over whatever channel you already
  share with your teammate. Email-addressed invitations are also created and listed as
  pending, but the notification email itself is not delivered, so the link route is the one
  to use.

## Mailhog [#mailhog]

The `mailhog` service is a development mail catcher: it accepts SMTP on port 1025 and shows
everything it receives in a web inbox on port 8025. It is in the stack for development, and
ready for the day the SMTP adapter lands <StatusBadge status="coming-soon" /> — at which
point pointing the API's SMTP settings at Mailhog lets you preview every outgoing email
without delivering anything for real. Until then it sits idle, and like MinIO it is safe to
remove from a production deployment.

For where email notifications are headed, see
[email notifications](/docs/guides/integrations/email-notifications).