diff --git a/.agents/devops-engineer/CI_CD_PIPELINE.md b/.agents/devops-engineer/CI_CD_PIPELINE.md
index ea564b3..7c8d5f4 100644
--- a/.agents/devops-engineer/CI_CD_PIPELINE.md
+++ b/.agents/devops-engineer/CI_CD_PIPELINE.md
@@ -312,13 +312,26 @@ All env vars must be configured in your hosting platform, not in the workflow.
 | `NODE_ENV` | Yes | — | Must be `production` |
 | `HOST` | Yes | — | `0.0.0.0` |
 | `PORT` | Yes | — | `10000` |
-| `CONTACT_EMAIL` | No | — | Where contact form sends emails |
-| `SMTP_HOST` | No | — | Email server host |
-| `SMTP_USER` | No | — | Email server username |
-| `SMTP_PASS` | No | — | Email server password (use platform secrets) |
+| `CONTACT_EMAIL` | Yes (legacy) | — | Legacy admin recipient for contact form; kept for backward compatibility with older code paths. Mirror of `MAIL_ADMIN_TO`. |
+| `MAIL_ADMIN_TO` | Yes | — | Address that receives "Tell us about your project" and contact form submissions. |
+| `SMTP_HOST` | Yes | — | SMTP server hostname (e.g. `smtp.hostinger.com`). |
+| `SMTP_PORT` | Yes | `587` | SMTP server port. Use `587` for STARTTLS, `465` for implicit TLS. |
+| `SMTP_USER` | Yes | — | SMTP auth username (full email address). |
+| `SMTP_PASS` | Yes | — | SMTP auth password — MUST be stored as a platform secret, never plaintext. |
+| `SMTP_FROM` | Yes | — | `From:` address used by outbound mail (should match `SMTP_USER` or an allowed alias). |
+| `SMTP_FROM_NAME` | Yes | — | Human-readable display name shown alongside `SMTP_FROM`. |
+| `SMTP_SECURE` | Yes | `false` | `true` only for implicit-TLS ports (465). For port 587 keep `false` and rely on STARTTLS. |
+| `SMTP_STARTTLS` | Yes | `true` | Negotiate STARTTLS on the SMTP connection. |
+| `SMTP_REQUIRE_TLS` | Yes | `true` | Refuse to send if the server does not advertise STARTTLS — prevents silent plaintext fallback. |
+| `SMTP_AUTH` | Yes | `true` | Authenticate with `SMTP_USER` / `SMTP_PASS`. |
+| `SMTP_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT_MS` | No | `10000` | Socket connect timeout in milliseconds. |
+| `SMTP_GREETING_TIMEOUT_MS` | No | `10000` | Wait time for the server greeting (EHLO/HELO) in milliseconds. |
+| `SMTP_SOCKET_TIMEOUT_MS` | No | `10000` | Idle socket timeout in milliseconds (covers read/write while transferring the message). |
 | `SENTRY_DSN` | No | — | Sentry error tracking |
 | `LOG_LEVEL` | No | `info` | Logging verbosity |
 
+> Production SMTP is provisioned on Hostinger and configured in the **Default** environment via the platform's env-var store (`SMTP_PASS` flagged as secret). After changing any `SMTP_*` value you MUST restart the `frontend` service so the new variables are picked up by the Astro SSR process.
+
 ---
 
 ## Rollback Procedures