Fix · Forms and email

Email works on my computer but not on the live site

Blocks your work

What you may see

Sending works locally, never online

Most likely cause

The live site lacks the email key or setting, or the host blocks the old direct-mail ports.

Check first (about two minutes)

Compare the email variable names between local and live (names only).

The fix prompt

What you type here never leaves your browser. The search runs on this page, and nothing is sent to a server or to an AI.

The exact error or what you see

What you did before it happened

Kept only in this browser, on this device. Keys and passwords are removed before anything is saved.

Prompt language

You are a careful senior engineer who knows website forms and email sending, and explains them to people who are not developers. I am not a developer, so explain every step in plain words and tell me exactly which button, menu or command you mean. If you are not sure about something, say so; do not guess.

THE PROBLEM
Email works on my computer but not on the live site

THE EXACT ERROR OR WHAT I SEE
[paste the exact error here]

WHAT I DID BEFORE IT HAPPENED
[write in a few words what you did before it happened]

MOST LIKELY CAUSE
The live site lacks the email key or setting, or the host blocks the old direct-mail ports.

DO THESE STEPS, IN THIS ORDER
1. Check which method sends mail (a web API of an email service, or SMTP directly).
2. Prefer the service's web API over direct SMTP on serverless hosts.
3. Add the missing variables in the live host settings and redeploy; read the function log for the first error.
Stop and tell me if what you see does not match a step. Do not skip ahead.

CHECK THAT IT WORKED
- A message sent from the live site shows delivered in the service log.
Tell me exactly what I should see on the screen when it works.

DO NOT CHANGE
- Do not copy the .env file to the server by hand.
- Anything I did not ask about: the design, the text, other pages, other settings or the data.
- Do not delete files, data or branches, do not reset or force-push, and do not rewrite history, unless you first show me exactly what would be lost and I say yes.
- Do not paste, print or ask me to paste a password or secret key into this chat. If one is needed, tell me which settings page of the right service to store it in.

WHEN YOU FINISH
Explain in simple words what you changed (file by file or setting by setting), why you changed it, and how I can undo it.

Paste it into Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Cursor, then follow what it says.

After you tried it, did it work?

Steps

Check which method sends mail (a web API of an email service, or SMTP directly).
Prefer the service's web API over direct SMTP on serverless hosts.
Add the missing variables in the live host settings and redeploy; read the function log for the first error.

Do not do this

Do not open mail ports on a host to make it work.
Do not copy the .env file to the server by hand.

Fix it Environment variable missing on Vercel (works locally)

Try another entry