diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e95309e3..56a45ef6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -46,11 +46,29 @@ The following branch naming patterns are utilized for different kinds of efforts
 - Testing: `test/*`
 - Refactoring: `refactor/*`
 
-## Operations
+## Operations & Deployment
+
+The [GitHub Actions CI](.github/workflows/ci.yml) workflow is used to automate the deployment of the app in accordance with the branching strategy described above. The infrastructure required for an instance of the application is:
+
+1. A MongoDB compatible database. We use CosmosDB with MongoDB driver.
+2. A NodeJS web-server environment for the [GraphQL API](packages/api).
+3. A static website deployment (Azure Blob Storage/S3) for the [web application](packages/webapp). This may be CDN-hosted or self-hosted in static storage.
+4. A SendGrid account for sending automated emails (e.g. password reset emails).
+5. (_optional_) A Firebase account for In-App Notifications.
 
 ### Configuration
 
-### External Dependencies
+The application uses the [config](npm.im/config) package to manage configuration settings per hosted environment. The following environment variables may be defined to override configuration settings:
 
-- Firebase
-- Sendgrid
+- API [environment variables](packages/api/config/custom-environment-variables.md)
+
+  - DB*CONNECTION_STRING (\_required*): The MongoDB connection string for the database.
+  - JWT*SECRET (\_stronly recommended*): A secret, random string used for salting JWT tokens.
+  - SENDGRID*API_KEY (\_required for email*): The SendGrid API key.
+  - EMAIL*FROM (\_required for email*): The email address used for sending automated emails.
+  - CONTACT*US_EMAIL (\_required for email*): The email address used for customer support.
+  - PORT (_optional_): the port the application is running on. This is provided by default from the Azure App Service runtime.
+
+- Web App [environment variables](packages/webapp/config/custom-environment-variables.md)
+  - API*URL (\_required*): The URL of the GraphQL API this webapp will communicate with.
+  - SOCKET*URL (\_required*): The URL of the sockets API this webapp will communicate with.
diff --git a/packages/api/config/custom-environment-variables.json b/packages/api/config/custom-environment-variables.json
index 0f8e213d..7431aa33 100644
--- a/packages/api/config/custom-environment-variables.json
+++ b/packages/api/config/custom-environment-variables.json
@@ -9,15 +9,8 @@
 	"security": {
 		"jwtSecret": "JWT_SECRET"
 	},
-	"smtp": {
-		"port": "SMTP_PORT",
-		"host": "SMTP_HOST",
-		"auth": {
-			"user": "SMTP_USER",
-			"pass": "SMTP_PASSWORD"
-		}
-	},
 	"email": {
+		"sendgridApiKey": "SENDGRID_API_KEY",
 		"from": "EMAIL_FROM",
 		"contactUs": "CONTACT_US_EMAIL"
 	}
diff --git a/packages/api/config/default.json b/packages/api/config/default.json
index 78a40e75..66259b00 100644
--- a/packages/api/config/default.json
+++ b/packages/api/config/default.json
@@ -24,17 +24,8 @@
 	"security": {
 		"jwtSecret": "greenlight-development"
 	},
-	"smtp": {
-		"pool": true,
-		"host": null,
-		"port": 465,
-		"secure": true,
-		"auth": {
-			"user": null,
-			"pass": null
-		}
-	},
 	"email": {
+		"sendgridApiKey": null,
 		"from": null,
 		"contactUs": null
 	}
diff --git a/packages/api/src/components/AppContextProvider.ts b/packages/api/src/components/AppContextProvider.ts
index 59524e4e..b6c922c9 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/components/AppContextProvider.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/components/AppContextProvider.ts
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ export class AppContextProvider implements AsyncProvider<BuiltAppContext> {
 		const mailer = nodemailer.createTransport(
 			sgTransport({
 				auth: {
-					api_key: config.smtpDetails.auth.pass
+					api_key: config.sendgridApiKey
 				}
 			})
 		)
diff --git a/packages/api/src/components/Configuration.ts b/packages/api/src/components/Configuration.ts
index 67168127..b237df86 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/components/Configuration.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/components/Configuration.ts
@@ -21,14 +21,8 @@ export class Configuration {
 		if (this.jwtTokenSecret == null) {
 			throw new Error('JWT_SECRET must be defined')
 		}
-		if (!this.smtpDetails.auth.user) {
-			console.warn('SMTP_USER is not set, mail disabled')
-		}
-		if (!this.smtpDetails.auth.pass) {
-			console.warn('SMTP_PASSWORD is not set, mail disabled')
-		}
-		if (!this.smtpDetails.host) {
-			console.warn('SMTP_HOST is not set, mail disabled')
+		if (!this.sendgridApiKey) {
+			console.warn('SENDGRID_API_KEY is not set, mail disabled')
 		}
 		if (!this.defaultFromAddress) {
 			console.warn('EMAIL_FROM is not set, mail disabled')
@@ -95,8 +89,8 @@ export class Configuration {
 		return this.c.get<string>('security.jwtSecret')
 	}
 
-	public get smtpDetails(): any {
-		return this.c.get<any>('smtp')
+	public get sendgridApiKey(): any {
+		return this.c.get<string>('email.sendgridApiKey')
 	}
 
 	public get defaultFromAddress(): string {
diff --git a/packages/api/src/utils/isSendMailConfigured.ts b/packages/api/src/utils/isSendMailConfigured.ts
index dbefc9ee..4cdf0f97 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/utils/isSendMailConfigured.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/utils/isSendMailConfigured.ts
@@ -5,8 +5,5 @@
 import { Configuration } from '~components'
 
 export function isSendMailConfigured(config: Configuration): boolean {
-	const mailConfig = config.smtpDetails
-	return (
-		!!mailConfig?.host && !!mailConfig?.port && !!mailConfig?.auth?.user && !!mailConfig?.auth?.pass
-	)
+	return !!config.sendgridApiKey
 }
diff --git a/packages/webapp/config/custom-environment-variables.json b/packages/webapp/config/custom-environment-variables.json
index e711ced8..8926bad9 100644
--- a/packages/webapp/config/custom-environment-variables.json
+++ b/packages/webapp/config/custom-environment-variables.json
@@ -1,9 +1,4 @@
 {
-	"server": {
-		"port": "PORT",
-		"sslToken": "SSL_TOKEN",
-		"sslVerificationMode": "SSL_VERIFICATION_MODE"
-	},
 	"api": {
 		"url": "API_URL",
 		"socketUrl": "API_SOCKET_URL"