diff --git a/conf/dev.toml b/conf/dev.toml
index 13585c4..61f2230 100644
--- a/conf/dev.toml
+++ b/conf/dev.toml
@@ -2,3 +2,6 @@ debug = true
 
 [database]
 url = "postgres://ztoa:0zpVXAVK20@localhost:5432/ztoa"
+
+[app]
+public_url = "http://localhost:3742/"
diff --git a/src/conf.rs b/src/conf.rs
index edd45b4..e19a9b2 100644
--- a/src/conf.rs
+++ b/src/conf.rs
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ pub struct Database {
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize, Clone)]
 pub struct App {
     pub listen: SocketAddr,
+    pub public_url: String,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize, Clone)]
diff --git a/src/server/routes/subscriptions/mod.rs b/src/server/routes/subscriptions/mod.rs
index 1639180..9e8b5d0 100644
--- a/src/server/routes/subscriptions/mod.rs
+++ b/src/server/routes/subscriptions/mod.rs
@@ -39,8 +39,6 @@ pub async fn subscribe(
         return Err(SubscribeError::InvalidEmail);
     }
 
-    debug!("email sent");
-
     let mut txn = db.begin().await.context("start database transaction")?;
 
     let subscriber_id = Uuid::new_v4();
@@ -84,10 +82,15 @@ pub async fn subscribe(
                 .parse()
                 .map_err(|_| SubscribeError::InvalidEmail)?,
             "Test".to_owned(),
-            format!("Please confirm your subscription: https://example.com/subscriptions/confirm/?token={token}"),
+            format!(
+                "Please confirm your subscription: {}subscriptions/confirm/?token={token}",
+                conf.app.public_url
+            ),
         )
         .await?;
 
+    debug!("email sent");
+
     txn.commit().await.context("commit transaction")?;
 
     Ok(())
diff --git a/tests/fixture/mod.rs b/tests/fixture/mod.rs
index e20850b..5a4ef64 100644
--- a/tests/fixture/mod.rs
+++ b/tests/fixture/mod.rs
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ impl TestServer {
         let server = ZeroToAxum::serve(Conf {
             app: conf::App {
                 listen: "[::]:0".parse().unwrap(),
+                // TODO: how do I both configure this and use a random port?
+                public_url: "http://localhost/".to_string(),
             },
             database: conf::Database { url },
             debug: true,
diff --git a/tests/subscriptions.rs b/tests/subscriptions.rs
index ddc9cf6..ba3422b 100644
--- a/tests/subscriptions.rs
+++ b/tests/subscriptions.rs
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ async fn subscribe_succeeds_with_valid_input() -> Result<()> {
     assert!(
         server
             .mock_smtp_server
-            .assert(MailAssertion::new().body_matches(Regex::new(r"example\.com")?)),
+            .assert(MailAssertion::new().body_matches(Regex::new(r"http\:\/\/localhost\/")?)),
         "email sent has link"
     );