diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 3b62358..93b21bb 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
         "vanilla/garden-cli": "~2.0",
         "phonetworks/pho-plugins-feeds": "^0.1",
         "get-stream/stream": "~2.7",
-        "mailgun/mailgun-php": "^2.5.0",
+        "mailgun/mailgun-php": "^3.0",
         "ramsey/uuid": "^3.0",
         "superbalist/php-pubsub-redis": "^2.0",
         "stripe/stripe-php": "^6.19",
diff --git a/composer.lock b/composer.lock
index 2092194..7ab76cf 100644
--- a/composer.lock
+++ b/composer.lock
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
         "Read more about it at https://getcomposer.org/doc/01-basic-usage.md#installing-dependencies",
         "This file is @generated automatically"
     ],
-    "content-hash": "26deef9756199e9a5d35ad38d136f503",
+    "content-hash": "342d90fd14f3c007dfff7e353df688e4",
     "packages": [
         {
             "name": "alchemy/binary-driver",
@@ -1239,41 +1239,45 @@
         },
         {
             "name": "mailgun/mailgun-php",
-            "version": "2.8.1",
+            "version": "3.0.0",
             "source": {
                 "type": "git",
                 "url": "https://github.com/mailgun/mailgun-php.git",
-                "reference": "4af0346851914ae0d9a58bf9ddf17eb48f6498c8"
+                "reference": "4055fea33deb038df067e78a2116f9ccb0125e16"
             },
             "dist": {
                 "type": "zip",
-                "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/mailgun/mailgun-php/zipball/4af0346851914ae0d9a58bf9ddf17eb48f6498c8",
-                "reference": "4af0346851914ae0d9a58bf9ddf17eb48f6498c8",
+                "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/mailgun/mailgun-php/zipball/4055fea33deb038df067e78a2116f9ccb0125e16",
+                "reference": "4055fea33deb038df067e78a2116f9ccb0125e16",
                 "shasum": ""
             },
             "require": {
-                "php": "^5.5 || ^7.0",
-                "php-http/client-common": "^1.1",
-                "php-http/discovery": "^1.0",
-                "php-http/httplug": "^1.0 || ^2.0",
-                "php-http/message": "^1.0",
+                "php": "^7.1",
+                "php-http/client-common": "^1.9 || ^2.0",
+                "php-http/discovery": "^1.6",
                 "php-http/multipart-stream-builder": "^1.0",
+                "psr/http-client": "^1.0",
                 "webmozart/assert": "^1.2"
             },
             "require-dev": {
-                "guzzlehttp/psr7": "^1.4",
                 "nyholm/nsa": "^1.1",
+                "nyholm/psr7": "^1.0",
                 "php-http/guzzle6-adapter": "^1.0",
-                "phpunit/phpunit": "~4.8"
+                "phpunit/phpunit": "^7.5"
             },
             "suggest": {
                 "guzzlehttp/psr7": "PSR-7 message implementation that also provides common utility methods",
                 "php-http/curl-client": "cURL client for PHP-HTTP"
             },
             "type": "library",
+            "extra": {
+                "branch-alias": {
+                    "dev-master": "3.0-dev"
+                }
+            },
             "autoload": {
-                "psr-0": {
-                    "Mailgun": "src/"
+                "psr-4": {
+                    "Mailgun\\": "src/"
                 }
             },
             "notification-url": "https://packagist.org/downloads/",
@@ -1287,7 +1291,7 @@
                 }
             ],
             "description": "The Mailgun SDK provides methods for all API functions.",
-            "time": "2019-02-02T07:14:32+00:00"
+            "time": "2019-09-13T20:14:46+00:00"
         },
         {
             "name": "monolog/monolog",
@@ -3210,6 +3214,55 @@
             ],
             "time": "2017-02-14T16:28:37+00:00"
         },
+        {
+            "name": "psr/http-client",
+            "version": "1.0.0",
+            "source": {
+                "type": "git",
+                "url": "https://github.com/php-fig/http-client.git",
+                "reference": "496a823ef742b632934724bf769560c2a5c7c44e"
+            },
+            "dist": {
+                "type": "zip",
+                "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/php-fig/http-client/zipball/496a823ef742b632934724bf769560c2a5c7c44e",
+                "reference": "496a823ef742b632934724bf769560c2a5c7c44e",
+                "shasum": ""
+            },
+            "require": {
+                "php": "^7.0",
+                "psr/http-message": "^1.0"
+            },
+            "type": "library",
+            "extra": {
+                "branch-alias": {
+                    "dev-master": "1.0.x-dev"
+                }
+            },
+            "autoload": {
+                "psr-4": {
+                    "Psr\\Http\\Client\\": "src/"
+                }
+            },
+            "notification-url": "https://packagist.org/downloads/",
+            "license": [
+                "MIT"
+            ],
+            "authors": [
+                {
+                    "name": "PHP-FIG",
+                    "homepage": "http://www.php-fig.org/"
+                }
+            ],
+            "description": "Common interface for HTTP clients",
+            "homepage": "https://github.com/php-fig/http-client",
+            "keywords": [
+                "http",
+                "http-client",
+                "psr",
+                "psr-18"
+            ],
+            "time": "2018-10-30T23:29:13+00:00"
+        },
         {
             "name": "psr/http-factory",
             "version": "1.0.1",
@@ -5308,6 +5361,7 @@
                 "config",
                 "zf"
             ],
+            "abandoned": "laminas/laminas-config",
             "time": "2019-06-08T18:58:54+00:00"
         },
         {
@@ -5365,6 +5419,7 @@
                 "file",
                 "zf"
             ],
+            "abandoned": "laminas/laminas-file",
             "time": "2019-02-06T16:53:31+00:00"
         },
         {
@@ -5411,6 +5466,7 @@
                 "stdlib",
                 "zf"
             ],
+            "abandoned": "laminas/laminas-stdlib",
             "time": "2018-08-28T21:34:05+00:00"
         }
     ],
diff --git a/src/GraphJS/Controllers/AuthenticationController.php b/src/GraphJS/Controllers/AuthenticationController.php
index f146fbe..539f5ec 100644
--- a/src/GraphJS/Controllers/AuthenticationController.php
+++ b/src/GraphJS/Controllers/AuthenticationController.php
@@ -11,23 +11,24 @@
 
 namespace GraphJS\Controllers;
 
+use SmtpAwareTrait;
 use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface;
 use Psr\Http\Message\ServerRequestInterface;
 use GraphJS\Session;
 use Pho\Kernel\Kernel;
 use PhoNetworksAutogenerated\User;
-use Mailgun\Mailgun;
 use GraphJS\Crypto;
 
  /**
  * Takes care of Authentication
- * 
+ *
  * @author Emre Sokullu <emre@phonetworks.org>
  */
 class AuthenticationController extends AbstractController
 {
- 
- const PASSWORD_RECOVERY_EXPIRY = 15*60;
+    use SmtpAwareTrait;
+
+    const PASSWORD_RECOVERY_EXPIRY = 15 * 60;
 
     public function tokenSignup(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface $response)
     {
@@ -63,12 +64,12 @@ public function tokenSignup(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface $
 
     /**
      * Sign Up
-     * 
+     *
      * [username, email, password]
-     * 
+     *
      * @param ServerRequestInterface  $request
      * @param ResponseInterface $response
-     * 
+     *
      * @return void
      */
     public function signup(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface $response)
@@ -116,10 +117,10 @@ protected function actualSignup(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterfa
         if($validation->fails()) {
             return $this->fail($response, "Valid ".addslashes(implode(", ", $extra_reqs_to_validate)). " required.");
         }
-        
+
         $result = $this->kernel->index()->query(
             "MATCH (n:user) WHERE n.Username= {username} OR n.Email = {email} RETURN n",
-            [ 
+            [
                 "username" => $username,
                 "email"    => $email
             ]
@@ -155,13 +156,12 @@ protected function actualSignup(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterfa
         if($verification) {
             $pin = rand(100000, 999999);
             $new_user->setPendingVerification($pin);
-                $mgClient = new Mailgun(getenv("MAILGUN_KEY")); 
-                $mgClient->sendMessage(getenv("MAILGUN_DOMAIN"),
-                array('from'    => 'GraphJS <postmaster@client.graphjs.com>',
-                        'to'      => $data["email"],
-                        'subject' => 'Please Verify',
-                        'text'    => 'Please enter this 6 digit passcode to verify your email: '.$pin)
-                );
+            $this->smtpSend(
+                'GraphJS <postmaster@client.graphjs.com>',
+                $data["email"],
+                'Please Verify',
+                'Please enter this 6 digit passcode to verify your email: ' . $pin
+            );
         }
 
         Session::begin($response, (string) $new_user->id());
@@ -177,12 +177,12 @@ protected function actualSignup(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterfa
 
     /**
      * Log In
-     * 
+     *
      * [username, password]
      *
      * @param ServerRequestInterface  $request
      * @param ResponseInterface $response
-     * 
+     *
      * @return void
      */
     public function login(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface $response)
@@ -202,12 +202,12 @@ public function login(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface $respon
 
     /**
      * Log In Via Token
-     * 
+     *
      * [token]
      *
      * @param ServerRequestInterface  $request
      * @param ResponseInterface $response
-     * 
+     *
      * @return void
      */
     public function tokenLogin(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface $response)
@@ -231,16 +231,16 @@ public function tokenLogin(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface $r
         }
         $password = str_replace(["/","\\"], "", substr(password_hash($username, PASSWORD_BCRYPT, ["salt"=>$key]), -8)); // substr(password_hash($username, PASSWORD_BCRYPT, ["salt"=>$key]), -8);
         //error_log("username is: ".$username."\npassword is: ".$password);
-        
+
         return $this->actualLogin($request, $response, $username, $password);
-        
+
     }
 
     protected function actualLoginViaEmail(string $email, string $password): ?array
     {
         $result = $this->kernel->index()->query(
             "MATCH (n:user {Email: {email}, Password: {password}}) RETURN n",
-            [ 
+            [
                 "email" => $email,
                 "password" => md5($password)
             ]
@@ -254,10 +254,10 @@ protected function actualLoginViaEmail(string $email, string $password): ?array
 
     protected function actualLogin(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface $response, string $username, string $password)
     {
-        
+
         $result = $this->kernel->index()->query(
             "MATCH (n:user {Username: {username}, Password: {password}}) RETURN n",
-            [ 
+            [
                 "username" => $username,
                 "password" => md5($password)
             ]
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ protected function actualLogin(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterfac
             error_log("is a  success");
             $user = $result->results()[0];
         }
-        
+
         error_log(print_r($user));
         error_log(intval($this->isMembershipModerated()));
         error_log("Done");
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ protected function actualLogin(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterfac
      * @param  ResponseInterface $response
      * @return void
      */
-    public function logout(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface $response) 
+    public function logout(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface $response)
     {
         Session::destroy($response);
         return $this->succeed($response);
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ public function logout(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface $respo
 
     /**
      * Who Am I?
-     * 
+     *
      * @param  ServerRequestInterface  $request
      * @param  ResponseInterface $response
      * @return void
@@ -330,14 +330,14 @@ public function whoami(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface $respo
         catch(\Exception $e) {
             return $this->fail($response, "Invalid user");
         }
-        
+
         return $this->succeed($response, [
-                "id" => $id, 
+                "id" => $id,
                 "admin" => (bool) ($id==$this->kernel->founder()->id()->toString()),
                 "username" => (string) $i->getUsername(),
-                "editor" => ( 
-                    (($id==$this->kernel->founder()->id()->toString())) 
-                    || 
+                "editor" => (
+                    (($id==$this->kernel->founder()->id()->toString()))
+                    ||
                     (isset($i->attributes()->IsEditor) && (bool) $i->getIsEditor())
                 ),
                 "pending" => (
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ public function resetPassword(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface
 
         $result = $this->kernel->index()->query(
             "MATCH (n:user {Email: {email}}) RETURN n",
-            [ 
+            [
                 "email" => $data["email"]
             ]
         );
@@ -379,23 +379,21 @@ public function resetPassword(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface
         else{
             file_put_contents(getenv("PASSWORD_REMINDER").md5($data["email"]), "{$pin}:".time()."\n", LOCK_EX);
         }
-        $mgClient = new Mailgun(getenv("MAILGUN_KEY")); 
-        $mgClient->sendMessage(getenv("MAILGUN_DOMAIN"),
-        array('from'    => 'GraphJS <postmaster@client.graphjs.com>',
-                'to'      => $data["email"],
-                'subject' => 'Password Reminder',
-                'text'    => 'You may enter this 6 digit passcode: '.$pin)
-        );
+        $this->smtpSend(
+            'GraphJS <postmaster@client.graphjs.com>',
+            $data["email"],
+            'Password Reminder',
+            'You may enter this 6 digit passcode: ' . $pin);
         return $this->succeed($response);
     }
- 
+
  protected function _isRedisPasswordReminder(): bool
  {
       $redis_password_reminder = getenv("PASSWORD_REMINDER_ON_REDIS");
       error_log("password reminder is ".$redis_password_reminder);
       return($redis_password_reminder===1||$redis_password_reminder==="1"||$redis_password_reminder==="on");
  }
- 
+
  public function verifyEmailCode(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface $response)
     {
         $data = $request->getQueryParams();
@@ -429,7 +427,7 @@ public function verifyEmailCode(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterfa
         $i->setPendingVerification(0);
 
         $data["id"] = strtolower($data["id"]);
-        
+
         Session::begin($response, $data['id']);
 
         return $this->succeed($response, [
@@ -460,15 +458,15 @@ public function verifyReset(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface $
         if($pins[0]!=$data["code"]) {
             return $this->fail($response, "Code does not match.");
         }
-            
+
         //if((int) $pins[1]<time()-7*60) {
         if(!$this->_isRedisPasswordReminder() && (int) $pins[1]<time()-self::PASSWORD_RECOVERY_EXPIRY) {
             return $this->fail($response, "Expired.");
         }
-         
+
         $result = $this->kernel->index()->query(
             "MATCH (n:user {Email: {email}}) RETURN n",
-            [ 
+            [
                 "email" => $data["email"]
             ]
         );
diff --git a/src/GraphJS/Controllers/MessagingController.php b/src/GraphJS/Controllers/MessagingController.php
index 1a67f87..768c3b0 100644
--- a/src/GraphJS/Controllers/MessagingController.php
+++ b/src/GraphJS/Controllers/MessagingController.php
@@ -11,13 +11,12 @@
 
 namespace GraphJS\Controllers;
 
+use SmtpAwareTrait;
 use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface;
 use Psr\Http\Message\ServerRequestInterface;
 use GraphJS\Session;
 use Pho\Kernel\Kernel;
-use PhoNetworksAutogenerated\User;
 use Pho\Lib\Graph\ID;
-use Mailgun\Mailgun;
 use GraphJS\Utils;
 
 /**
@@ -27,6 +26,7 @@
  */
 class MessagingController extends AbstractController
 {
+    use SmtpAwareTrait;
 
     public function sendAnonymousMessage(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface $response)
     {
@@ -35,15 +35,15 @@ public function sendAnonymousMessage(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseIn
 
     /**
      * Send a Message
-     * 
+     *
      * [to, message]
      *
      * @param ServerRequestInterface  $request
      * @param ResponseInterface $response
-     
+
      * @param Kernel   $this->kernel
      * @param string   $id
-     * 
+     *
      * @return void
      */
     public function sendMessage(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface $response, bool $anonymous = false)
@@ -82,12 +82,11 @@ public function sendMessage(ServerRequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface $
             $i = $this->kernel->gs()->node($id);
             $msg = $i->message($recipient, $data["message"]);
         }
-        $mgClient = new Mailgun(getenv("MAILGUN_KEY")); 
-        $mgClient->sendMessage(getenv("MAILGUN_DOMAIN"),
-          array('from'    => ($anonymous && is_null($id)) ? $data["sender"] : $i->getUsername() . ' <postmaster@mg.graphjs.com>',
-                'to'      => $recipient->getEmail(),
-                'subject' => 'Private Message',
-                'text'    => $data["message"] . PHP_EOL . (!is_null($id) ? (string) $msg->id() : "") )
+        $this->smtpSend(
+            ($anonymous && is_null($id)) ? $data["sender"] : $i->getUsername() . ' <postmaster@mg.graphjs.com>',
+                $recipient->getEmail(),
+                'Private Message',
+                $data["message"] . PHP_EOL . (!is_null($id) ? (string) $msg->id() : "")
         );
         if(!is_null($id))
             return $this->succeed(
diff --git a/src/GraphJS/SmtpAwareTrait.php b/src/GraphJS/SmtpAwareTrait.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..09ed5c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/GraphJS/SmtpAwareTrait.php
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+<?php
+
+use GraphJS\SmtpMailerInterface;
+use GraphJS\SmtpMailerMailGun;
+use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface;
+
+/**
+ * Trait MailerAwareController
+ *
+ * @author Olivier Maurel
+ */
+trait SmtpAwareTrait {
+
+    /** @var SmtpMailerInterface */
+    private $smtpClient = null;
+
+    public function smtpSend(string $from, string $to, string $subject, string $body): ResponseInterface
+    {
+        if(is_null($this->smtpClient)) {
+            // change to another Smtp client if needed here
+            $this->smtpClient = new SmtpMailerMailGun();
+        }
+
+        return $this->smtpClient->sendMessage($from, $to, $subject, $body);
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/src/GraphJS/SmtpMailerInterface.php b/src/GraphJS/SmtpMailerInterface.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3338e2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/GraphJS/SmtpMailerInterface.php
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace GraphJS;
+
+use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface;
+
+/**
+ * Abstraction to allow the smtp service to be interchangeable in the controller
+ *
+ */
+interface  SmtpMailerInterface {
+
+    /**
+     * @param string $from
+     * @param string $to
+     * @param string $subject
+     * @param string $body
+     * @return ResponseInterface
+     */
+    public function sendMessage(string $from, string $to, string $subject, string $body);
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/GraphJS/SmtpMailerMailGun.php b/src/GraphJS/SmtpMailerMailGun.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fa1b3dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/GraphJS/SmtpMailerMailGun.php
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace GraphJS;
+
+use Mailgun\Mailgun;
+use Mailgun\Model\Message\SendResponse;
+use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface;
+use function getenv;
+
+/**
+ * A wrapper for the MailGun SDK to make it compliant with SmtpInterface
+ *
+ */
+class SmtpMailerMailGun implements SmtpMailerInterface
+{
+
+    /**
+     * @var Mailgun
+     */
+    private $client;
+
+    public function __construct()
+    {
+        $this->client = Mailgun::create(getenv("MAILGUN_KEY"));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param string $from
+     * @param string $to
+     * @param string $subject
+     * @param string $body
+     * @return SendResponse|ResponseInterface
+     */
+    public function sendMessage(string $from, string $to, string $subject, string $body)
+    {
+        return $this->client->messages()->send(getenv("MAILGUN_DOMAIN"), [
+            'from' => $from,
+            'to' => $to,
+            'subject' => $subject,
+            'text' => $body
+        ]);
+    }
+
+}