A lightweight, self-hosted temporary email service written in Go. This service provides disposable email addresses that can receive emails through SMTP and makes them accessible via a RESTful API.
- SMTP Server: Accepts incoming emails on port 25
- HTTP API: Provides RESTful endpoints to access received emails
- Redis Storage: Stores emails in Redis for fast access and automatic expiration
- Docker Support: Easy deployment with Docker and Docker Compose
- CORS Support: Configurable CORS for frontend integration
- Customizable Domain: Use your own domain for temporary email addresses
The service consists of two main components:
- SMTP Server: Listens for incoming emails, parses them, and stores them in Redis
- HTTP Server: Provides API endpoints to access and manage temporary emails
- Go 1.23.5 or higher
- Redis server
- Docker and Docker Compose (for containerized deployment)
- A domain name with proper DNS configuration (for production use)
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| HOST | Domain name for the email service | localhost |
| PORT | SMTP server port | 25 |
| HTTP_PORT | HTTP API server port | 8000 |
| LOG_LEVEL | Logging level (debug, info, warn, error) | info |
| REDIS_URL | Redis connection URL | redis://localhost:6379 |
| ALLOWED_ORIGINS | CORS allowed origins (comma-separated) | * |
-
Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/meyanksingh/temp-mail-service.git cd temp-mail-service -
Configure environment variables in
docker-compose.ymlor create a.envfile. -
Start the services:
docker-compose up -d
-
Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/meyanksingh/temp-mail-service.git cd temp-mail-service -
Install dependencies:
go mod download
-
Create a
.envfile with your configuration. -
Build and run:
go build -o temp-mail-service ./temp-mail-service
To use your own domain with this service, you need to configure DNS records properly:
Add an MX (Mail Exchange) record to your domain's DNS settings:
Type: MX
Host: @ (or your subdomain, e.g., mail)
Priority: 10
Value: your-server-hostname.com (or subdomain.your-domain.com)
TTL: 3600 (or as preferred)
Add an A record pointing to your server's IP address:
Type: A
Host: @ (or your subdomain, e.g., mail)
Value: YOUR_SERVER_IP_ADDRESS
TTL: 3600 (or as preferred)
For example, if you want to use mail.example.com for your temporary email service:
- Create an A record:
mail.example.com→YOUR_SERVER_IP_ADDRESS - Create an MX record:
mail.example.comwith priority 10 pointing tomail.example.com
Note: DNS changes may take up to 24-48 hours to propagate globally.
GET /api/email
Generates a random email address on your configured domain.
Response:
{
"email": "random123@yourdomain.com"
}GET /api/email/:address
Retrieves all emails received for the specified address.
Response:
[
{
"from": "sender@example.com",
"to": "random123@yourdomain.com",
"subject": "Test Email",
"body":
8EE2
"This is a test email",
"createdAt": "2023-03-13T12:34:56Z"
}
]The included Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml make it easy to deploy the service:
# Build the Docker image
docker build -t temp-mail-service .
# Run with Docker
docker run -p 25:25 -p 8000:8000 \
-e HOST=yourdomain.com \
-e PORT=25 \
-e HTTP_PORT=8000 \
-e REDIS_URL=redis://redis-server:6379 \
temp-mail-serviceYou can test the SMTP server using telnet:
# Connect to the SMTP server
telnet yourdomain.com 25
# Once connected, you can send a test email with these commands:
HELO client.example.com
MAIL FROM:<sender@example.com>
RCPT TO:<test@yourdomain.com>
DATA
Subject: Test Email
This is a test email body.
.
QUITSwaks is a versatile SMTP testing tool:
# Install swaks (on Debian/Ubuntu)
apt-get install swaks
# On macOS with Homebrew
brew install swaks
# Send a test email
swaks --server yourdomain.com \
--port 25 \
--from sender@example.com \
--to test@yourdomain.com \
--header "Subject: Test Email" \
--body "This is a test email sent with swaks."You can test the HTTP API using curl:
# Generate a random email
curl http://yourdomain.com:8000/api/email
# Get emails for an address
curl http://yourdomain.com:8000/api/email/test@yourdomain.comYou can integrate this service with any frontend application by configuring the CORS settings:
ALLOWED_ORIGINS=https://yourdomain.com,http://localhost:3000
- This service is designed for temporary email usage and should not be used for sensitive communications
- By default, the SMTP server accepts anonymous connections
- Consider running behind a reverse proxy with TLS for production use
- For production, consider using a firewall to restrict access to port 25 to prevent abuse
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.
- Fork the repository
- Create your feature branch (
git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature) - Commit your changes (
git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature') - Push to the branch (
git push origin feature/amazing-feature) - Open a Pull Request
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
- go-smtp - SMTP server library
- gin-gonic/gin - HTTP web framework
- go-redis - Redis client for Go