diff --git a/backend/tests/integration/intake.integration.test.ts b/backend/tests/integration/intake.integration.test.ts
index 3b21868..04b7a1e 100644
--- a/backend/tests/integration/intake.integration.test.ts
+++ b/backend/tests/integration/intake.integration.test.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,14 @@ import app from '../../src/app';
 import { pool } from '../../src/db';
 import { resetDb, closeDb } from './setup/testDb';
 
+// Every submission-cap test here issues a link, which now emails it. Mocked
+// so the suite never opens a real connection to smtp.gmail.com — see the
+// "Do not add one back" warning in tests/unit/mailOutcome.test.ts, which this
+// mirrors at the integration layer.
+jest.mock('../../src/mailer', () => ({
+  sendMail: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue('sent')
+}));
+
 const UPLOADS_DIR = process.env.UPLOADS_DIR as string;
 
 // The same 1x1 PNG the upload validation suite uses, so the accepted case
diff --git a/backend/tests/integration/intakeCeiling.integration.test.ts b/backend/tests/integration/intakeCeiling.integration.test.ts
index 6e125dc..f060b2e 100644
--- a/backend/tests/integration/intakeCeiling.integration.test.ts
+++ b/backend/tests/integration/intakeCeiling.integration.test.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,14 @@ import { pool } from '../../src/db';
 import { resetDb, closeDb } from './setup/testDb';
 import { resetAlertThrottleForTests } from '../../src/intake/abuseAlert';
 
+// makeLink() issues a link on every test, which now emails it. Mocked so the
+// suite never opens a real connection to smtp.gmail.com — see the "Do not add
+// one back" warning in tests/unit/mailOutcome.test.ts, which this mirrors at
+// the integration layer.
+jest.mock('../../src/mailer', () => ({
+  sendMail: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue('sent')
+}));
+
 const PNG = Buffer.from(
   'iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAYAAAAfFcSJAAAADUlEQVR42mP8z8BQDwAEhQGAhKmMIQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==',
   'base64'
diff --git a/backend/tests/integration/uploadLinks.integration.test.ts b/backend/tests/integration/uploadLinks.integration.test.ts
index 112cb5f..d50419b 100644
--- a/backend/tests/integration/uploadLinks.integration.test.ts
+++ b/backend/tests/integration/uploadLinks.integration.test.ts
@@ -3,8 +3,33 @@ import app from '../../src/app';
 import { pool } from '../../src/db';
 import { resetDb, closeDb } from './setup/testDb';
 
+// Every test in this file issues an upload link, which now emails it.
+// Mocked exactly like the other integration suites that touch mail (see
+// accountDetails.integration.test.ts, favorites.integration.test.ts,
+// resendVerification.integration.test.ts) so the suite never opens a real
+// connection to smtp.gmail.com — see the "Do not add one back" warning in
+// tests/unit/mailOutcome.test.ts, which this mirrors at the integration
+// layer.
+//
+// Unlike those three, the "emailing the link to its recipient" describe
+// block below needs to see specific MailOutcome values come back through the
+// route rather than a single fixed one. Threading real SMTP_USER /
+// MAIL_ALLOWLIST env vars through the real sendMail was the previous
+// approach and is exactly the hazard being removed here, so those tests are
+// restructured to drive the mock's return value directly instead — that also
+// makes them a cleaner test of the route's outcome-reporting (its job),
+// separate from sendMail's own skip logic (already covered hermetically by
+// mailOutcome.test.ts and mailAllowlist.test.ts).
+jest.mock('../../src/mailer', () => ({
+  sendMail: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue('sent')
+}));
+import { sendMail, MailOutcome } from '../../src/mailer';
+const sentMail = sendMail as jest.MockedFunction<typeof sendMail>;
+
 beforeEach(async () => {
   await resetDb();
+  sentMail.mockReset();
+  sentMail.mockResolvedValue('sent');
 });
 
 afterAll(async () => {
@@ -112,12 +137,6 @@ describe('revoking an upload link', () => {
 });
 
 describe('emailing the link to its recipient', () => {
-  const original = { ...process.env };
-
-  afterEach(() => {
-    process.env = { ...original };
-  });
-
   it('refuses to create a link with no address', async () => {
     const res = await request(app)
       .post('/api/admin/upload-links')
@@ -151,37 +170,29 @@ describe('emailing the link to its recipient', () => {
   });
 
   // The point of the whole change: QA blocks delivery by design, so a link that
-  // was not actually emailed must not be reported as though it was.
-  it('says the mail was not sent when SMTP is not configured', async () => {
-    delete process.env.SMTP_USER;
-    delete process.env.SMTP_PASSWORD;
+  // was not actually emailed must not be reported as though it was. Driven
+  // through the mock's return value rather than the SMTP_USER /
+  // MAIL_ALLOWLIST env vars sendMail itself would branch on — see the file
+  // header comment for why.
+  it.each<MailOutcome>(['skipped-unconfigured', 'skipped-blocked'])(
+    'reports a %s outcome from sendMail rather than as though it sent',
+    async (outcome) => {
+      sentMail.mockResolvedValueOnce(outcome);
 
-    const res = await request(app)
-      .post('/api/admin/upload-links')
-      .send({ label: 'Sarah', email: 'sarah@example.com' });
+      const res = await request(app)
+        .post('/api/admin/upload-links')
+        .send({ label: 'Sarah', email: 'sarah@example.com' });
 
-    expect(res.status).toBe(201);
-    expect(res.body.mail).toEqual({ sent: false, outcome: 'skipped-unconfigured' });
-  });
-
-  it('says the mail was not sent when the address is not allowlisted', async () => {
-    process.env.SMTP_USER = 'user';
-    process.env.SMTP_PASSWORD = 'password';
-    process.env.MAIL_ALLOWLIST = 'someone@example.com';
-
-    const res = await request(app)
-      .post('/api/admin/upload-links')
-      .send({ label: 'Sarah', email: 'sarah@example.com' });
-
-    expect(res.status).toBe(201);
-    expect(res.body.mail).toEqual({ sent: false, outcome: 'skipped-blocked' });
-  });
+      expect(res.status).toBe(201);
+      expect(res.body.mail).toEqual({ sent: false, outcome });
+    }
+  );
 
   // A send that could not happen must never cost the admin the link, because
   // the token is shown exactly once and a rollback would hand them a different
   // one on the retry.
   it('still returns a usable link when the mail did not go', async () => {
-    delete process.env.SMTP_USER;
+    sentMail.mockResolvedValueOnce('skipped-unconfigured');
 
     const res = await request(app)
       .post('/api/admin/upload-links')
@@ -205,4 +216,40 @@ describe('emailing the link to its recipient', () => {
     expect(older.contact_email).toBeNull();
     expect(newer.contact_email).toBe('sarah@example.com');
   });
+
+  // required: ['submitUrl'] on the template is a guard that the placeholder is
+  // present in the body, not that the route supplied a working value for it.
+  // A route that passed the bare base URL, or dropped the token, would leave
+  // every other test here green — so this asserts the actual captured html,
+  // and covers the submissionsAllowed wording for all three cases (a numeric
+  // cap, a cap of exactly one, and uncapped) at the same time, since all three
+  // are the same kind of claim: what the mail says versus what was created.
+  it('emails a link that actually contains the created token, and states how many items may be sent', async () => {
+    const capped = await request(app)
+      .post('/api/admin/upload-links')
+      .send({ label: 'Sarah', email: 'sarah@example.com', maxSubmissions: 25 });
+    expect(capped.status).toBe(201);
+    expect(sentMail).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    const [cappedTo, , cappedHtml] = sentMail.mock.calls[0]!;
+    expect(cappedTo).toBe('sarah@example.com');
+    expect(cappedHtml).toContain(`/submit/${capped.body.token}`);
+    expect(cappedHtml).toContain('25 items');
+
+    const single = await request(app)
+      .post('/api/admin/upload-links')
+      .send({ label: 'Sarah', email: 'sarah@example.com', maxSubmissions: 1 });
+    expect(single.status).toBe(201);
+    const [, , singleHtml] = sentMail.mock.calls[1]!;
+    expect(singleHtml).toContain(`/submit/${single.body.token}`);
+    expect(singleHtml).toContain('1 item');
+    expect(singleHtml).not.toContain('1 items');
+
+    const uncapped = await request(app)
+      .post('/api/admin/upload-links')
+      .send({ label: 'Sarah', email: 'sarah@example.com', maxSubmissions: null });
+    expect(uncapped.status).toBe(201);
+    const [, , uncappedHtml] = sentMail.mock.calls[2]!;
+    expect(uncappedHtml).toContain(`/submit/${uncapped.body.token}`);
+    expect(uncappedHtml).toContain('as many items as you like');
+  });
 });