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OwlMail

🦉 A self-hosted, AI-native email testing gateway for developers, CI pipelines, automation, and coding agents.

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🌍 Languages / 语言 / Sprachen / Langues / Lingue / 言語 / 언어


OwlMail captures application email before it reaches a real inbox and turns it into deterministic, inspectable test data. Developers can review messages in the Web UI, test suites can use the versioned REST API and OpenAPI contract, automation systems can consume durable events, and AI agents can wait for and inspect delivery through a bounded, read-only MCP interface.

Capture once, then verify the same committed message through the interface that fits each workflow:

Consumer Interface Typical workflow
Developers Web UI and browser notifications Inspect HTML, text, headers, source, links, and attachments
Test suites and CI REST API, OpenAPI 3.1, and WebSocket Verify registration, password-reset, and notification mail
Automation Signed Webhooks and optional Redis Streams Convert committed email into restart-safe downstream events
AI coding agents Read-only MCP over Streamable HTTP or stdio Search, retrieve, and wait for email without destructive access
SMTP operators Manual and automatic Relay Forward selected test mail under explicit TLS and retry policies

📸 Preview

OwlMail Preview

🎥 Demo Video

Demo Video

✨ Why OwlMail

  • Deterministic capture — EML, metadata, and attachments are staged before one atomic commit makes a message visible to APIs and event consumers.

  • Integration-test ready — Versioned /api/v1 routes, OpenAPI 3.1, native WebSocket events, health/readiness probes, search, filtering, and exports.

  • AI-native, not AI-dependent — The default-off MCP service exposes seven closed-world read-only tools, bounded resources, prompts, and event-driven wait_for_email; OwlMail itself does not require an LLM.

  • Durable automation — Local Webhook outbox, optional Redis Streams, HMAC signatures, stable delivery IDs, retry limits, and graceful drain.

  • Operationally explicit — SMTP capacity limits, persistence, optional S3 attachments, SQLite indexing, Prometheus metrics, JSON logs, and recovery.

  • Controlled delivery — Native asynchronous Relay jobs persist when a mail directory is configured (otherwise they are in memory), and use immutable configuration snapshots, streaming DATA, explicit TLS modes, and status lookup.

  • Migration paths — Default-off MailDev and MailCatcher REST facades support selected existing workflows without claiming Socket.IO or exact equivalence.

  • Local tooling — Build Webhook rules in the embedded /webhooks editor and use the sendmail guide for legacy programs. Source and browser tests use Bun; the deployed binary needs no Go, Bun, or Node.js runtime.

🆕 OwlMail 0.10.0

v0.10.0 is the current stable release, and it is a security release. The Web UI, REST API, WebSocket stream, and read-only MCP endpoint now validate the browser Origin header by default; captured mail is no longer written into a world-listable directory; and the implicit-TLS listener port is configurable instead of fixed at a privileged port it often could not bind. Runtime APIs and storage formats remain compatible with 0.9.0, but three changes are visible on upgrade — read the release notes before deploying.

All installation examples below pin ghcr.io/soulteary/owlmail:0.10.0. For repeatable CI and production-like test environments, prefer the exact version or ghcr.io/soulteary/owlmail@sha256:<digest> over moving tags. See the 0.10.0 release notes and CHANGELOG.md for the complete contract.

Important

OwlMail is built for development, testing, CI, and trusted internal networks. It is not a public production MTA, an exactly-once queue, or a multi-tenant mail service.

🚀 Quick Start

Installation

Build from Source

# Clone repository
git clone --branch v0.10.0 --depth 1 https://github.com/soulteary/owlmail.git
cd owlmail

# Build
go build -o owlmail ./cmd/owlmail

# Run
./owlmail

Install with Go

go install github.com/soulteary/owlmail/cmd/owlmail@v0.10.0
owlmail

Basic Usage

# Start with default configuration (SMTP: 1025, Web: 1080)
./owlmail

# Custom ports
./owlmail -smtp 1025 -web 1080

# Use environment variables
export MAILDEV_SMTP_PORT=1025
export MAILDEV_WEB_PORT=1080
./owlmail

Open http://localhost:1080 for the inbox. The Help button opens the local guide at http://localhost:1080/help, while Webhooks opens the local configurator at http://localhost:1080/webhooks. The configurator generates and downloads JSON; it does not change the running server. Select the file with -webhook-config and restart OwlMail to activate it. All pages and assets are embedded in the executable, so installed binaries do not need a separate web folder.

Docker Usage

Publish every container port on loopback: write -p 127.0.0.1:1080:1080, not -p 1080:1080. The image sets OWLMAIL_WEB_HOST=0.0.0.0 and OWLMAIL_SMTP_HOST=0.0.0.0, which is correct inside a container — the process has to accept connections that arrive from outside its network namespace — but it means the -p flag is the only thing deciding who can reach OwlMail. The short form publishes on every host interface, and the host-firewall rule most people have written does not contain it: a published port is reached by forwarding, so an INPUT-chain rule such as ufw deny 1080 never applies to it. Filtering it takes a rule in Docker's DOCKER-USER chain or the equivalent in your nftables or firewalld configuration. That exposes a mailbox holding password-reset links, verification codes, and tokens, and an SMTP port that accepts mail without authentication by default. Every example below uses the loopback form.

Pull from GitHub Container Registry (Recommended)

The easiest way to use OwlMail is to pull the pre-built image from GitHub Container Registry:

# Pull release 0.10.0
docker pull ghcr.io/soulteary/owlmail:0.10.0

# Pull an image for one exact commit (example)
docker pull ghcr.io/soulteary/owlmail:sha-8d3445d

# Run container
docker run -d \
  -p 127.0.0.1:1025:1025 \
  -p 127.0.0.1:1080:1080 \
  -v owlmail-data:/app/mail \
  --name owlmail \
  ghcr.io/soulteary/owlmail:0.10.0

Available Tags:

  • 0.10.0 - Exact release tag; 0.10 and 0 move with later releases in those series
  • sha-<commit> - Image for a specific short commit SHA (for example, sha-8d3445d)
  • main - Moving image from the latest main branch build
  • latest - Moving default-branch image; it is not a stable-release selector

Multi-Architecture Support: The image supports both linux/amd64 and linux/arm64 architectures. Docker will automatically pull the correct image for your platform.

View all available images: GitHub Packages

Build from Source

Basic Build (Single Architecture)
# Build image for current architecture
docker build -t owlmail .

# Run container
docker run -d \
  -p 127.0.0.1:1025:1025 \
  -p 127.0.0.1:1080:1080 \
  -v owlmail-data:/app/mail \
  --name owlmail \
  owlmail
Multi-Architecture Build

For aarch64 (ARM64) or other architectures, use Docker Buildx:

# Enable buildx (if not already enabled)
docker buildx create --use --name multiarch-builder

# Build for multiple architectures
docker buildx build \
  --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 \
  -t owlmail:latest \
  --load .

# Or build and push to registry
docker buildx build \
  --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 \
  -t your-registry/owlmail:latest \
  --push .

# Build for specific architecture (e.g., aarch64/arm64)
docker buildx build \
  --platform linux/arm64 \
  -t owlmail:latest \
  --load .

Note: The Dockerfile now supports multi-architecture builds using TARGETOS and TARGETARCH build arguments, which are automatically set by Docker Buildx.

Browser Notifications

Browser notifications are off by default. Click Notifications off in the inbox header to request permission and enable them. The preference is stored in that browser and can be switched off from the same button. Only messages arriving through the live WebSocket after notifications are enabled create a notification; loading existing messages does not.

The Notifications API requires HTTPS or a trusted local origin such as http://localhost. If permission was denied, allow OwlMail in the browser's site settings before trying again. Notifications show the subject and sender but not the message body; clicking one focuses OwlMail and opens the message.

📖 Configuration Options

Command Line Arguments

Argument Environment Variable Default Description
-config OWLMAIL_CONFIG_FILE - Flat YAML or JSON file whose keys use CLI option names
-smtp MAILDEV_SMTP_PORT / OWLMAIL_SMTP_PORT 1025 SMTP port
-ip MAILDEV_IP / OWLMAIL_SMTP_HOST localhost SMTP host
-smtp-max-message-mb OWLMAIL_SMTP_MAX_MESSAGE_MB 100 Maximum inbound message size in MiB
-smtp-max-concurrency OWLMAIL_SMTP_MAX_CONCURRENCY 8 Concurrent DATA transactions per process across SMTP, STARTTLS, and SMTPS; 0 is unlimited; a full limit returns retryable 451 4.3.2
-smtp-read-timeout OWLMAIL_SMTP_READ_TIMEOUT 10s SMTP command and DATA read timeout
-smtp-write-timeout OWLMAIL_SMTP_WRITE_TIMEOUT 10s SMTP response write timeout
-smtp-max-recipients OWLMAIL_SMTP_MAX_RECIPIENTS 50 Maximum recipients accepted per message
-web MAILDEV_WEB_PORT / OWLMAIL_WEB_PORT 1080 Web API port
-web-ip MAILDEV_WEB_IP / OWLMAIL_WEB_HOST localhost Web API host
-web-external-url OWLMAIL_WEB_EXTERNAL_URL - Browser-visible HTTP(S) origin used in generated email deep links; configure reverse-proxy paths separately with -base-pathname
-web-allowed-origins OWLMAIL_WEB_ALLOWED_ORIGINS - Extra browser origins accepted on the Web UI and REST API, in addition to OwlMail's own; * disables origin validation
-base-pathname MAILDEV_BASE_PATHNAME / OWLMAIL_BASE_PATHNAME - URL path prefix such as /owlmail; root remains the default
-maildev-rest-compat OWLMAIL_MAILDEV_REST_COMPAT false Enable the opt-in MailDev /api REST facade; Socket.IO remains unsupported
-mailcatcher-rest-compat OWLMAIL_MAILCATCHER_REST_COMPAT false Enable the opt-in MailCatcher /messages REST facade
-metrics-enabled OWLMAIL_METRICS_ENABLED false Expose Prometheus metrics at the base-path-aware /metrics endpoint; protected by Web Basic Auth when configured
-mcp-enabled OWLMAIL_MCP_ENABLED false Enable the read-only MCP Streamable HTTP endpoint at /mcp
-mcp-session-timeout OWLMAIL_MCP_SESSION_TIMEOUT 30m Close idle legacy MCP sessions and cap waits
-mcp-shutdown-timeout OWLMAIL_MCP_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT 5s Deadline for closing MCP work during shutdown
-mcp-allowed-origins OWLMAIL_MCP_ALLOWED_ORIGINS - Extra browser origins accepted on /mcp, in addition to OwlMail's own; * disables origin validation
-mail-directory MAILDEV_MAIL_DIRECTORY / OWLMAIL_MAIL_DIR - Mail storage directory
-mail-retention-days OWLMAIL_MAIL_RETENTION_DAYS 0 Mail retention days; 0 is unlimited
-mail-max-messages OWLMAIL_MAIL_MAX_MESSAGES 0 Maximum stored messages; 0 is unlimited
-mail-max-disk-mb OWLMAIL_MAIL_MAX_DISK_MB 0 Maximum mailbox MiB; 0 is unlimited
-mail-cleanup-interval OWLMAIL_MAIL_CLEANUP_INTERVAL 1h Background cleanup interval
-mail-index-path OWLMAIL_MAIL_INDEX_PATH - Optional path for a rebuildable SQLite mailbox query index; EML files remain authoritative
-s3-enabled OWLMAIL_S3_ENABLED false Store decoded attachments in S3-compatible object storage
-s3-endpoint OWLMAIL_S3_ENDPOINT - Custom S3-compatible endpoint; empty uses AWS S3
-s3-region OWLMAIL_S3_REGION us-east-1 S3 signing region
-s3-bucket OWLMAIL_S3_BUCKET - Existing bucket for attachments
-s3-prefix OWLMAIL_S3_PREFIX owlmail/attachments Attachment object-key prefix
-s3-access-key OWLMAIL_S3_ACCESS_KEY - Optional static access key; otherwise use the AWS credential chain
-s3-secret-key OWLMAIL_S3_SECRET_KEY - Optional static secret key
-s3-session-token OWLMAIL_S3_SESSION_TOKEN - Optional static credential session token
-s3-use-path-style OWLMAIL_S3_USE_PATH_STYLE false Use path-style bucket addressing for compatible services
-s3-startup-check OWLMAIL_S3_STARTUP_CHECK false Fail startup if the initial read-only S3 bucket check fails
-s3-health-check-interval OWLMAIL_S3_HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVAL 30s Background S3 readiness refresh interval
-s3-health-check-timeout OWLMAIL_S3_HEALTH_CHECK_TIMEOUT 5s Deadline for each S3 readiness probe
-web-user MAILDEV_WEB_USER / OWLMAIL_WEB_USER - HTTP Basic Auth username
-web-password MAILDEV_WEB_PASS / OWLMAIL_WEB_PASSWORD - HTTP Basic Auth password
-https MAILDEV_HTTPS / OWLMAIL_HTTPS_ENABLED false Enable HTTPS
-https-cert MAILDEV_HTTPS_CERT / OWLMAIL_HTTPS_CERT - HTTPS certificate file
-https-key MAILDEV_HTTPS_KEY / OWLMAIL_HTTPS_KEY - HTTPS private key file
-outgoing-host MAILDEV_OUTGOING_HOST / OWLMAIL_OUTGOING_HOST - Outgoing SMTP host
-outgoing-port MAILDEV_OUTGOING_PORT / OWLMAIL_OUTGOING_PORT 587 Outgoing SMTP port
-outgoing-user MAILDEV_OUTGOING_USER / OWLMAIL_OUTGOING_USER - Outgoing SMTP username
-outgoing-pass MAILDEV_OUTGOING_PASS / OWLMAIL_OUTGOING_PASSWORD - Outgoing SMTP password
-outgoing-secure MAILDEV_OUTGOING_SECURE / OWLMAIL_OUTGOING_SECURE false MailDev-compatible alias for implicit TLS/SMTPS
-outgoing-tls-mode OWLMAIL_OUTGOING_TLS_MODE - Transport mode: unset is plain; or choose mandatory starttls or implicit smtps
-outgoing-insecure-skip-verify OWLMAIL_OUTGOING_INSECURE_SKIP_VERIFY false Disable certificate and hostname verification (unsafe, explicit opt-in)
-outgoing-connect-timeout OWLMAIL_OUTGOING_CONNECT_TIMEOUT 10s TCP connection and SMTP greeting deadline
-outgoing-tls-handshake-timeout OWLMAIL_OUTGOING_TLS_HANDSHAKE_TIMEOUT 10s TLS/STARTTLS handshake deadline
-outgoing-auth-timeout OWLMAIL_OUTGOING_AUTH_TIMEOUT 10s AUTH deadline
-outgoing-envelope-timeout OWLMAIL_OUTGOING_ENVELOPE_TIMEOUT 10s MAIL/RCPT deadline
-outgoing-data-timeout OWLMAIL_OUTGOING_DATA_TIMEOUT 30s DATA write and acknowledgement deadline
-outgoing-quit-timeout OWLMAIL_OUTGOING_QUIT_TIMEOUT 5s QUIT deadline
-auto-relay MAILDEV_AUTO_RELAY / OWLMAIL_AUTO_RELAY false Enable auto relay
-auto-relay-addr MAILDEV_AUTO_RELAY_ADDR / OWLMAIL_AUTO_RELAY_ADDR - Auto relay address
-auto-relay-rules MAILDEV_AUTO_RELAY_RULES / OWLMAIL_AUTO_RELAY_RULES - Auto relay rules file
-webhook-config OWLMAIL_WEBHOOK_CONFIG - JSON webhook forwarding configuration file
-webhook-max-concurrency OWLMAIL_WEBHOOK_MAX_CONCURRENCY 8 Concurrent email webhook deliveries; 0 disables the limit
-webhook-redis-url OWLMAIL_WEBHOOK_REDIS_URL - Redis URL for durable, restart-safe webhook delivery
-webhook-redis-prefix OWLMAIL_WEBHOOK_REDIS_PREFIX owlmail:webhooks Redis Streams key prefix
-webhook-shutdown-timeout OWLMAIL_WEBHOOK_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT 15s Graceful webhook drain deadline
-smtp-user MAILDEV_INCOMING_USER / OWLMAIL_SMTP_USER - Inbound SMTP username; configure together with the password to require AUTH
-smtp-password MAILDEV_INCOMING_PASS / OWLMAIL_SMTP_PASSWORD - Inbound SMTP password; configure together with the username to require AUTH
-smtp-auth-require-tls OWLMAIL_SMTP_AUTH_REQUIRE_TLS false Reject PLAIN/LOGIN before TLS; requires SMTP TLS to be enabled
-tls MAILDEV_INCOMING_SECURE / OWLMAIL_TLS_ENABLED false Enable SMTP TLS
-tls-cert MAILDEV_INCOMING_CERT / OWLMAIL_TLS_CERT - SMTP TLS certificate file
-tls-key MAILDEV_INCOMING_KEY / OWLMAIL_TLS_KEY - SMTP TLS private key file
-smtps-port OWLMAIL_SMTPS_PORT 465 Implicit TLS (SMTPS) listener port used when TLS is enabled; 0 starts no SMTPS listener
-log-level MAILDEV_VERBOSE / MAILDEV_SILENT / OWLMAIL_LOG_LEVEL normal Log level
-log-format OWLMAIL_LOG_FORMAT console Log output format: console or json
-use-uuid-for-email-id OWLMAIL_USE_UUID_FOR_EMAIL_ID false Use UUID for email IDs (default: 8-character random string)

When TLS terminates at a reverse proxy, set OWLMAIL_WEB_EXTERNAL_SCHEME to https.

When HTTP Basic Auth is enabled, browser API and WebSocket requests are limited to OwlMail's own origin. Command-line and server-to-server clients that omit the browser Origin header continue to work normally.

Web authentication also fails closed when only one credential is configured:

Configured values Effective credentials
Neither value Authentication disabled
Username only The username plus a cryptographically random 32-character temporary password, printed once to stderr at startup
Password only Username admin plus the configured password
Both values The configured username and password

A generated password changes on every restart. Read it from the process output (docker logs owlmail for the container example), or configure both values for stable credentials. Startup fails if the generated password cannot be written to stderr. Basic Auth credentials should only be used over localhost or HTTPS.

Browser Origin Validation

OwlMail validates the browser Origin header on every request, whether or not Basic Auth is configured. Basic Auth is off by default, and without credentials this check is the only thing protecting the response body: a page the developer happens to visit runs on the same machine, so binding to loopback does not stop it from calling http://127.0.0.1:1080/api/v1/emails — only the origin policy decides whether the browser hands it the captured mail.

Requests without an Origin header are unaffected: curl, HTTP libraries, CI scripts, and server-to-server callers never send one. A request that carries an Origin must name OwlMail's own origin or one listed in -web-allowed-origins https://console.example (comma-separated); anything else gets 403. An allowed origin is echoed exactly in Access-Control-Allow-Origin, with credentials permitted and its preflight answered, so a browser client you allowed on purpose works. Setting the option to * restores the previous wildcard CORS behavior for deployments that control browser access elsewhere. See the security model.

Read-only MCP

MCP is disabled by default. Enable the official Streamable HTTP endpoint with -mcp-enabled or OWLMAIL_MCP_ENABLED=true, then connect to http://localhost:1080/mcp. With -base-pathname /owlmail, the endpoint is /owlmail/mcp. It shares the Web listener, HTTPS settings, and HTTP Basic Auth; an authenticated Web deployment therefore requires the same Basic Auth credentials for every MCP request. The endpoint serves modern stateless 2026-07-28 and legacy stateful clients concurrently.

The endpoint validates the browser Origin header on every request, whether or not Basic Auth is configured. Requests without an Origin header are non-browser clients such as curl, an MCP SDK HTTP client, or another server, and are unaffected. A request that carries an Origin must name one of OwlMail's own browser-visible origins — the configured Web host, the loopback names at the Web port, and -web-external-url when it is set — otherwise the endpoint answers 403. This stops an unrelated page the developer happens to visit, including one that re-binds a hostname it controls to the loopback address, from reading captured mail. Add other browser origins with -mcp-allowed-origins https://inspector.example (comma-separated), or set it to * to turn the check off when browser access is controlled elsewhere.

Local MCP clients may instead launch owlmail mcp-stdio -mail-directory DIR. This reuses the same read-only tools over stdio without opening a listener; protocol output stays on stdout and logs are sent to stderr.

The server exposes seven read-only tools, adding get_latest_email and the event-driven wait_for_email testing workflow to the existing compact query, detached detail, bounded source, and attachment-metadata tools. It also exposes bounded owlmail://inbox, owlmail://stats, and owlmail://email/{id} resources plus registration verification, password reset, and delivery-wait prompts. Email results include Web UI deep links. For a reverse proxy, set -web-external-url https://mail.example.com (or OWLMAIL_WEB_EXTERNAL_URL) and configure its path separately with -base-pathname. No tool returns attachment bytes, and HTML remains opt-in only for get_email. See the operations guide for the complete security and lifecycle contract.

Environment Variable Compatibility

OwlMail supports the MailDev environment aliases shown in the table above, preferring them over the corresponding OWLMAIL_* variables. Options that are not listed are not supported automatically.

# Use MailDev environment variables directly (recommended)
export MAILDEV_SMTP_PORT=1025
export MAILDEV_WEB_PORT=1080
export MAILDEV_OUTGOING_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
./owlmail

# Or use OwlMail environment variables
export OWLMAIL_SMTP_PORT=1025
export OWLMAIL_WEB_PORT=1080
./owlmail

S3-compatible attachment storage

S3 storage is disabled by default. OwlMail otherwise keeps decoded attachments under -mail-directory. Enabling S3 moves only decoded attachments to object storage; raw .eml files, metadata, transaction markers, and webhook outbox data remain local and still require a persistent mail directory.

export OWLMAIL_S3_ENABLED=true
export OWLMAIL_S3_ENDPOINT=http://minio:9000
export OWLMAIL_S3_REGION=us-east-1
export OWLMAIL_S3_BUCKET=owlmail
export OWLMAIL_S3_PREFIX=owlmail/attachments
export OWLMAIL_S3_ACCESS_KEY=replace-me
export OWLMAIL_S3_SECRET_KEY=replace-me
export OWLMAIL_S3_USE_PATH_STYLE=true
# Optional: fail startup if the first HeadBucket check fails.
export OWLMAIL_S3_STARTUP_CHECK=true
./owlmail -mail-directory ./owlmail-data

The bucket must already exist. Omit the endpoint to use AWS S3. Omit OwlMail's static key settings to use the AWS SDK credential chain, including workload roles. Attachment keys use <prefix>/<email-id>/<generated-filename>; email deletion and retention cleanup remove that email's object prefix. Failed remote deletion retains a durable per-message fence and all local recovery evidence, then retries on the next request or startup; pending deletions are not republished. Upload must finish before SMTP accepts the message transaction. OWLMAIL_MAIL_MAX_DISK_MB measures local files and does not include S3 object bytes.

OwlMail prefers the read-only HeadBucket operation and falls back to a one-key, prefix-scoped ListObjectsV2 check for least-privilege policies. By default the initial check runs asynchronously: startup remains compatible, while GET /readyz and GET /api/v1/ready return 503 until a check succeeds. Set OWLMAIL_S3_STARTUP_CHECK=true to make only the initial check fatal. Subsequent S3 outages never terminate the process; they make readiness fail until a background check recovers. Readiness requests return the cached result and never wait on S3. Liveness remains available at /healthz and /api/v1/health.

📡 API Documentation

API Response Format

OwlMail uses a standardized API response format:

Success Response:

{
  "code": "EMAIL_DELETED",
  "message": "Email deleted",
  "data": { ... }
}

Error Response:

{
  "code": "EMAIL_NOT_FOUND",
  "error": "EMAIL_NOT_FOUND",
  "message": "Email not found"
}

The code field contains standardized error/success codes that can be used for internationalization. The message field provides English text for backward compatibility. Basic Auth and browser origin guard failures are plain-text 401 or 403 responses because they occur before API handlers.

Email ID Format

OwlMail supports two email ID formats, and all API endpoints are compatible with both:

  • 8-character random string: Default format, e.g., aB3dEfGh
  • UUID format: 36-character standard UUID, e.g., 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000

When using the :id parameter in API requests, you can use either format. For example:

  • GET /email/aB3dEfGh - Using random string ID
  • GET /email/550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 - Using UUID ID

Optional MailDev REST facade

Current MailDev REST clients can opt into its /api route and payload contract:

owlmail -maildev-rest-compat
# or: OWLMAIL_MAILDEV_REST_COMPAT=true owlmail

This enables /api/email, /api/email/summary, /api/email/delete, detail, HTML, source, EML download, attachment, relay, /api/config, /api/healthz, and /api/reloadMailsFromDirectory. The facade uses the configured Basic Auth, HTTPS, and base pathname; its health route stays public like MailDev's. Only GET /api/email/:id marks the message read. Disabling the option removes every new /api route. Socket.IO is not implemented: live MailDev clients must still migrate to OwlMail's native WebSocket protocol. See the API reference.

MailDev-style Compatibility API

OwlMail retains unversioned routes for common MailDev-style workflows. They are not exact current MailDev API equivalents; see the compatibility boundary in the API reference.

Email Operations

  • GET /email - Get all emails (supports pagination and filtering)
    • Query parameters:
      • limit (default: 50, max: 1000) - Number of emails to return
      • offset (default: 0) - Number of emails to skip
      • q - Full-text search query
      • from - Filter by sender email address
      • to - Filter by recipient email address
      • dateFrom - Filter by date from (YYYY-MM-DD format)
      • dateTo - Filter by date to (YYYY-MM-DD format)
      • read - Filter by read status (true/false)
      • sortBy - Sort by field (time, subject, from, size)
      • sortOrder - Sort order (asc, desc, default: desc)
    • Example: GET /email?limit=20&offset=0&q=test&sortBy=time&sortOrder=desc
  • GET /email/:id - Get single email
  • DELETE /email/:id - Delete single email
  • DELETE /email/all - Delete all emails
  • PATCH /email/read-all - Mark all emails as read
  • PATCH /email/:id/read - Mark single email as read

Email Content

  • GET /email/:id/html - Get email HTML content
  • GET /email/:id/attachment/:filename - Download attachment
  • GET /email/:id/download - Download raw .eml file
  • GET /email/:id/source - Get email raw source

Email Relay

  • POST /email/:id/relay - Relay email to configured SMTP server
  • POST /email/:id/relay/:relayTo - Relay email to specific address

Configuration and System

  • GET /config - Get configuration information
  • GET /healthz - Process liveness check
  • GET /readyz - Cached dependency readiness check
  • GET /reloadMailsFromDirectory - Reload emails from directory
  • GET /socket.io - WebSocket connection (standard WebSocket, not Socket.IO)

OwlMail Enhanced API

Email Statistics and Preview

  • GET /email/stats - Get email statistics
  • GET /email/preview - Get email preview (lightweight)

Batch Operations

  • POST /email/batch/delete - Batch delete emails
  • POST /email/batch/read - Batch mark as read

Email Export

  • GET /email/export - Export emails as ZIP file

Configuration Management

  • GET /config/outgoing - Get outgoing configuration
  • PUT /config/outgoing - Update outgoing configuration
  • PATCH /config/outgoing - Partially update outgoing configuration

Improved RESTful API (/api/v1/*)

OwlMail provides a more standardized RESTful API design:

  • GET /api/v1/emails - Get all emails (plural resource)
    • Query parameters: Same as GET /email (limit, offset, q, from, to, dateFrom, dateTo, read, sortBy, sortOrder)
    • Example: GET /api/v1/emails?limit=20&offset=0&q=test&sortBy=time&sortOrder=desc
  • GET /api/v1/emails/:id - Get single email
  • DELETE /api/v1/emails/:id - Delete single email
  • DELETE /api/v1/emails - Delete all emails
  • DELETE /api/v1/emails/batch - Batch delete
  • PATCH /api/v1/emails/read - Mark all emails as read
  • PATCH /api/v1/emails/:id/read - Mark single email as read
  • PATCH /api/v1/emails/batch/read - Batch mark as read
  • GET /api/v1/emails/stats - Email statistics
  • GET /api/v1/emails/preview - Email preview
  • GET /api/v1/emails/export - Export emails
  • POST /api/v1/emails/reload - Reload emails
  • GET /api/v1/settings - Get all settings
  • GET /api/v1/settings/outgoing - Get outgoing configuration
  • PUT /api/v1/settings/outgoing - Update outgoing configuration
  • PATCH /api/v1/settings/outgoing - Partially update outgoing configuration
  • GET /api/v1/health - Process liveness check
  • GET /api/v1/ready - Cached dependency readiness check
  • GET /api/v1/version - Version info
  • GET /api/v1/ws - WebSocket connection
  • GET /api/v1/openapi.json - OpenAPI 3.1 contract (JSON)
  • GET /api/v1/openapi.yaml - OpenAPI 3.1 contract (YAML)

For the current contract, including sub-resources, authentication, response shapes, and WebSocket events, see the API Reference or the version-controlled OpenAPI contract. The served contract automatically includes the configured base pathname.

🔧 Usage Examples

Basic Usage

# Start OwlMail
./owlmail -smtp 1025 -web 1080

# Configure SMTP in your application
SMTP_HOST=localhost
SMTP_PORT=1025

Configure Email Relay

# Relay to Gmail SMTP
./owlmail \
  -outgoing-host smtp.gmail.com \
  -outgoing-port 587 \
  -outgoing-user your-email@gmail.com \
  -outgoing-pass your-password \
  -outgoing-tls-mode starttls

starttls fails if the server does not advertise STARTTLS or the TLS handshake or certificate/hostname verification fails. Use smtps (or the legacy MailDev-compatible -outgoing-secure) for implicit TLS, commonly on port 465. OwlMail refuses outgoing AUTH in plain mode.

Auto Relay Mode

# Create auto relay rules file (relay-rules.json)
cat > relay-rules.json <<EOF
[
  { "allow": "*" },
  { "deny": "*@test.com" },
  { "allow": "ok@test.com" }
]
EOF

# Start auto relay
./owlmail \
  -outgoing-host smtp.gmail.com \
  -outgoing-port 587 \
  -outgoing-user your-email@gmail.com \
  -outgoing-pass your-password \
  -auto-relay \
  -auto-relay-rules relay-rules.json

Webhook Forwarding

Use the embedded configurator at http://localhost:1080/webhooks to build a new version 1 configuration or import and validate an existing one. Editing stays inside the browser. Download the resulting JSON, then select it with -webhook-config and restart OwlMail; downloading a file does not activate it.

# Terminal 1: local test receiver
go run ./examples/webhooks/receiver

# Terminal 2: forward every new email with the default JSON payload
./owlmail -webhook-config ./examples/webhooks/minimal.json

Webhook targets support case-insensitive wildcard rules, custom JSON-safe body templates, environment-backed secrets, HMAC-SHA256 signatures, timeouts, and bounded retries. See the scenario examples for filtering, custom APIs, multiple targets, plain text, and a runnable soulteary/webhook stack. The Webhook forwarding guide is the complete reference.

Using HTTPS

./owlmail \
  -https \
  -https-cert /path/to/cert.pem \
  -https-key /path/to/key.pem \
  -web 1080

Inbound SMTP Authentication Modes

With neither -smtp-user nor -smtp-password configured, OwlMail uses the default NO AUTH mode. It accepts unauthenticated delivery and also advertises PLAIN/LOGIN, accepting arbitrary credentials for applications that insist on SMTP authentication settings during local development.

Configure both values to require real SMTP AUTH. OwlMail rejects a transaction before authentication with 530 5.7.0 and rejects invalid credentials with 535 5.7.8. Configuring only one value fails startup instead of silently falling back to NO AUTH.

Set -smtp-auth-require-tls (or OWLMAIL_SMTP_AUTH_REQUIRE_TLS=true) together with SMTP TLS to prevent credentials from crossing a cleartext connection. Plaintext SMTP then neither advertises nor accepts PLAIN/LOGIN, while AUTH works after STARTTLS and over SMTPS. Anonymous delivery remains available in NO AUTH mode. Enabling this option without an enabled, usable SMTP TLS configuration fails startup.

Warning

NO AUTH deliberately provides no access-control boundary. PLAIN and LOGIN can also run without TLS for development compatibility, so use localhost or a trusted network, and enable TLS before using real credentials.

Using TLS

./owlmail \
  -tls \
  -tls-cert /path/to/cert.pem \
  -tls-key /path/to/key.pem \
  -smtp 1025

Note: When TLS is enabled, OwlMail also starts an SMTPS server that uses a direct TLS connection (no STARTTLS required) in addition to the regular SMTP server. Its port comes from -smtps-port or OWLMAIL_SMTPS_PORT and defaults to the privileged port 465, which a process that does not run as root cannot bind; the published container image runs as a non-root user. Set -smtps-port to an unprivileged port, or to 0 to start no SMTPS listener and keep STARTTLS on the SMTP port. A failed SMTPS bind stops startup instead of leaving the port silently unserved.

Using UUID for Email IDs

OwlMail supports two email ID formats:

  1. Default format: 8-character random string (e.g., aB3dEfGh)
  2. UUID format: 36-character standard UUID (e.g., 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000)

Using UUID format provides better uniqueness and traceability, especially useful for integration with external systems.

# Enable UUID using command line flag
./owlmail -use-uuid-for-email-id

# Enable UUID using environment variable
export OWLMAIL_USE_UUID_FOR_EMAIL_ID=true
./owlmail

# Use with other configurations
./owlmail \
  -use-uuid-for-email-id \
  -smtp 1025 \
  -web 1080

Notes:

  • Default uses 8-character random string, compatible with MailDev behavior
  • When UUID is enabled, all newly received emails will use UUID format IDs
  • The API supports both ID formats, allowing normal query, delete, and operation of emails
  • Existing email ID formats will not change; only new emails will use the new ID format

🔄 Migrating from MailDev

OwlMail covers common MailDev workflows, but current MailDev clients may require small, explicit adaptations. Follow the migration guide.

1. Environment Variable Compatibility

OwlMail accepts the MailDev environment variables listed in the configuration table. Verify every variable used by your deployment:

# MailDev configuration
export MAILDEV_SMTP_PORT=1025
export MAILDEV_WEB_PORT=1080
export MAILDEV_OUTGOING_HOST=smtp.gmail.com

# These listed variables can also be read by OwlMail
./owlmail

2. API Compatibility

Existing REST clients can explicitly enable the default-off MailDev facade; new integrations should use OwlMail's versioned API. The facade does not add Socket.IO compatibility:

# Existing MailDev REST client
OWLMAIL_MAILDEV_REST_COMPAT=true ./owlmail
curl http://localhost:1080/api/email

# New OwlMail integration
curl http://localhost:1080/api/v1/emails

3. WebSocket Adaptation

If using WebSocket, you need to change from Socket.IO to standard WebSocket:

// MailDev (Socket.IO)
const socket = io('/socket.io');
socket.on('newMail', (email) => { /* ... */ });

// OwlMail (Standard WebSocket)
const ws = new WebSocket('ws://localhost:1080/socket.io');
ws.onmessage = (event) => {
  const data = JSON.parse(event.data);
  if (data.type === 'new') { /* ... */ }
};

For detailed migration guide, see: OwlMail × MailDev × MailCatcher × Mailpit: Feature, API, and Migration Guide

🧪 Testing

# Run all tests
go test ./...

# Run tests with coverage
go test -cover ./...

# Run tests for specific packages
go test ./internal/api/...
go test ./internal/mailserver/...

📦 Project Structure

OwlMail/
├── cmd/
│   └── owlmail/          # Main program entry
├── internal/
│   ├── api/              # Web API implementation
│   ├── common/           # Common utilities (logging, error handling)
│   ├── maildev/          # MailDev compatibility layer
│   ├── mailserver/       # SMTP server implementation
│   ├── outgoing/         # Email relay implementation
│   ├── types/            # Type definitions
│   └── webhook/          # Webhook filtering, templates, signing, and delivery
├── docs/                 # API, operations, webhook, and migration documentation
├── examples/             # Runnable integration examples
├── tests/                # Browser and documentation contract tests
├── web/                  # Embedded web frontend and local help assets
├── go.mod                # Go module definition
└── README.md             # This document

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please follow these steps:

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
  3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
  4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
  5. Open a Pull Request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

📚 Related Documentation

🐛 Issue Reporting

If you encounter any issues or have suggestions, please submit them in GitHub Issues.

⭐ Star History

If this project helps you, please give it a Star ⭐!


OwlMail — one self-hosted email test gateway for developers, CI, automation, and AI agents. 🦉

About

OwlMail is a self-hosted, AI-native email testing gateway for developers, CI pipelines, and coding agents. Capture, inspect, wait for, validate, and route application emails through REST, Webhooks, WebSocket, and MCP.

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