Required dependencies

This is a Ruby on Rails application, not a Node.js package. There are no npm dependencies to install.

# No npm install required - this is a Ruby/Rails application.
# Runtime dependencies are managed via Bundler (Gemfile).

Native / non-Node build steps required before any integration:

# 1. Ruby >= 3.1 and Bundler
gem install bundler
bundle install

# 2. MySQL (or MariaDB) and Redis must be running
# Use the provided docker-compose for local development:
docker compose up -d

# 3. MariaDB schema setup
bundle exec rails db:create db:schema:load db:seed

# 4. Build assets
bundle exec rails assets:precompile

Project setup

1. Clone or drop the source/ directory onto a host that has Ruby, MySQL/MariaDB, and Redis available.

2. Copy and edit the configuration file:

   cp config/postal.example.yml config/postal.yml
   # Edit config/postal.yml: set database credentials, Redis URL, SMTP bind address, signing keys
   

3. Set required environment variables (or populate config/postal.yml):

   export POSTAL_DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
   export POSTAL_DB_PORT=3306
   export POSTAL_DB_NAME=postal
   export POSTAL_DB_USERNAME=postal
   export POSTAL_DB_PASSWORD=secret
   export POSTAL_REDIS_URL=redis://127.0.0.1:6379/1
   export POSTAL_WEB_HOST=postal.yourdomain.com
   export POSTAL_SIGNING_KEY_PATH=/opt/postal/config/signing.key
   

4. Generate a signing key (run once):

   openssl genrsa -out /opt/postal/config/signing.key 2048
   

5. Start all Postal processes:

   bundle exec postal web-server    # HTTP API + UI on port 5000
   bundle exec postal smtp-server   # SMTP listener
   bundle exec postal worker        # Background message processing
   bundle exec postal cron          # Scheduled tasks
   

6. To call Postal's HTTP Send API from a Node/TypeScript service, point your HTTP client at the running Postal instance (no native Node module needed).

Public API

Because Postal is a Rails application with no exported TypeScript/JavaScript symbols, the public surface is its HTTP API. The following are the real HTTP endpoints documented by the project and visible in the controllers directory.

POST /api/v1/send/message

interface PostalSendMessagePayload {
  to: string[];
  cc?: string[];
  bcc?: string[];
  from: string;
  sender?: string;
  subject: string;
  plain_body?: string;
  html_body?: string;
  attachments?: Array<{ name: string; content_type: string; data: string }>; // base64 data
  headers?: Record<string, string>;
  reply_to?: string;
  tag?: string;
  bounce?: boolean;
}

interface PostalSendMessageResponse {
  status: "success" | "error";
  time: number;
  flags: Record<string, unknown>;
  data: {
    message_id: string;
    messages: Record<string, { id: number; token: string }>;
  };
}

Send a single transactional message. Requires an X-Server-API-Key header set to a credential created in the Postal UI.

POST /api/v1/send/raw

interface PostalSendRawPayload {
  mail_from: string;
  rcpt_to: string[];
  data: string; // Raw RFC 2822 message, base64-encoded
  bounce?: boolean;
}

Send a pre-composed RFC 2822 raw message. Use this when you already have a fully-formed MIME message (e.g., produced by Nodemailer's buildMessage()).

GET /api/v1/messages/message

interface PostalGetMessageParams {
  id: number;
  _expansions?: boolean | string[];
}

interface PostalMessageDetail {
  id: number;
  token: string;
  status: string;
  details: Record<string, unknown>;
  inspection: Record<string, unknown>;
  plain_body: string;
  html_body: string;
  attachments: unknown[];
  headers: Record<string, string>;
  raw_message: string;
}

Retrieve full details and delivery status of a message by its numeric ID. Use after sending to audit delivery or fetch bounce details.

Working examples

Scenario - Send a transactional email from Node.js

A backend service sends a password-reset email through a running Postal instance using the HTTP API.

import axios from "axios";

const POSTAL_URL = process.env.POSTAL_URL ?? "https://postal.yourdomain.com";
const POSTAL_API_KEY = process.env.POSTAL_API_KEY ?? "";

async function sendPasswordReset(toEmail: string, resetLink: string) {
  const response = await axios.post(
    `${POSTAL_URL}/api/v1/send/message`,
    {
      to: [toEmail],
      from: "user@example.com",
      subject: "Reset your password",
      html_body: `<p>Click <a href="${resetLink}">here</a> to reset your password.</p>`,
      plain_body: `Reset your password: ${resetLink}`,
      tag: "password-reset",
    },
    {
      headers: {
        "X-Server-API-Key": POSTAL_API_KEY,
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
      },
    }
  );

  const data = response.data as { status: string; data: { message_id: string } };
  if (data.status !== "success") throw new Error("Postal send failed");
  return data.data.message_id;
}

Scenario - Send a raw MIME message built with Nodemailer

When you need full MIME control (inline images, S/MIME signing), build the raw message and submit it via /api/v1/send/raw.

import nodemailer from "nodemailer";
import axios from "axios";

const POSTAL_URL = process.env.POSTAL_URL!;
const POSTAL_API_KEY = process.env.POSTAL_API_KEY!;

async function sendRawMime(to: string) {
  const transporter = nodemailer.createTransport({ jsonTransport: true });
  const info = await transporter.sendMail({
    from: "user@example.com",
    to,
    subject: "Invoice #1234",
    text: "Please find your invoice attached.",
  });

  // nodemailer jsonTransport gives us the raw source
  const rawBase64 = Buffer.from(
    (info as unknown as { message: string }).message
  ).toString("base64");

  const res = await axios.post(
    `${POSTAL_URL}/api/v1/send/raw`,
    {
      mail_from: "user@example.com",
      rcpt_to: [to],
      data: rawBase64,
    },
    { headers: { "X-Server-API-Key": POSTAL_API_KEY } }
  );

  return res.data;
}

Scenario - Poll delivery status after sending

After sending, retrieve message status to confirm delivery or detect bounces.

import axios from "axios";

async function getMessageStatus(messageId: number): Promise<string> {
  const POSTAL_URL = process.env.POSTAL_URL!;
  const POSTAL_API_KEY = process.env.POSTAL_API_KEY!;

  const res = await axios.get(`${POSTAL_URL}/api/v1/messages/message`, {
    params: { id: messageId, _expansions: true },
    headers: { "X-Server-API-Key": POSTAL_API_KEY },
  });

  const detail = res.data.data as { status: string };
  return detail.status; // "Sent", "Bounced", "HeldAsSpam", etc.
}

File walkthrough

• .github/ - GitHub Actions CI pipeline (ci.yml) and issue template configuration.
• app/assets/ - Sprockets-managed fonts, icons (SVG), stylesheets, and the asset manifest.
• app/controllers/ - Rails controllers for both the browser UI and the versioned HTTP API (/api/v1/).
• app/helpers/ - View helpers used in ERB templates.
• app/lib/ - Application-scoped Ruby modules (not gem-level), such as message parsers.
• app/mailers/ - ActionMailer classes for outbound system notifications (alerts, user invites).
• app/models/ - ActiveRecord models covering every core domain concept: Server, Domain, Message, Credential, IPPool, Webhook, etc.
• app/scheduled_tasks/ - Cron-triggered tasks (queue expiry, bounce processing, log cleanup).
• app/senders/ - Strategy pattern implementations for delivering mail (direct SMTP, relay, SpamAssassin integration).
• app/services/ - Service objects for DNS validation, message queuing, suppression list handling.
• app/util/ - Standalone utility classes (IP range parsing, token generation).
• config/ - routes.rb, database.yml, environment configs, and initializers.
• db/ - schema.rb (authoritative DB structure) and numbered migrations.
• doc/ - Architecture diagrams and internal decision records.
• docker/ - Dockerfile and docker-entrypoint for the official container image.
• lib/ - Rake tasks, Rack middleware, and Ruby extensions loaded outside app/.
• public/ - Static HTML error pages and compiled asset output directory.
• script/ - One-off developer scripts (data migrations, diagnostic helpers).
• docker-compose.yml - Spins up MySQL, Redis, and Postal together for local development.

Common pitfalls and fixes

• Missing signing key: Postal crashes on boot if POSTAL_SIGNING_KEY_PATH points to a non-existent file. Fix: run openssl genrsa -out <path> 2048 before first start.
• Database charset mismatch: MariaDB must be configured with utf8mb4 charset and utf8mb4_unicode_ci collation or migrations fail. Fix: add character-set-server=utf8mb4 to my.cnf.
• API key scope: Credentials are per-server (mail server object), not global. Fix: create the credential inside the correct server in the UI; using a key from a different server returns 401.
• SMTP port 25 blocked: Cloud providers (AWS, GCP) block outbound port 25 by default. Fix: request port-25 unblocking via your provider's console, or configure an SMTP relay in postal.yml.
• Webhook signature verification: Postal signs webhook payloads with its RSA private key. Fix: fetch the public key from GET /api/v1/public_key and verify the X-Postal-Signature header using RSA-SHA1 before trusting payload content.
• Asset precompile required in production: The web UI returns blank pages if assets are not compiled. Fix: run RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails assets:precompile before starting the web server.

Vibe-coding prompt template

I have the source code for the Postal open-source mail server (a Ruby on Rails application)
located in the `source/` directory of my project. I also have `USAGE.md` which documents
the HTTP API surface and setup steps.

My project is a Node.js/TypeScript backend (Express). I need you to:

1. Read `USAGE.md` and `source/` to understand all available HTTP API endpoints
   (especially /api/v1/send/message, /api/v1/send/raw, /api/v1/messages/message).
2. Create a typed TypeScript client module at `src/lib/postalClient.ts` that wraps
   these endpoints with full request/response types.
3. Add environment variable handling for POSTAL_URL and POSTAL_API_KEY with
   validation on startup.
4. Wire the client into my existing Express app so I can call `postalClient.sendMessage(...)`
   from any route handler.
5. Add a webhook receiver route that verifies the X-Postal-Signature header using
   the public key from /api/v1/public_key.
6. Show me how to run Postal locally using the docker-compose.yml in source/ alongside
   my Express app.

Work step by step and confirm each step before proceeding to the next.

License and credit

Postal is released under the MIT License (see source/LICENSE if present, or the upstream repository). The upstream project is maintained by the Postal Server team and community contributors.

Upstream repository: https://github.com/postalserver/postal Documentation: https://docs.postalserver.io

This product’s unique contribution is clean room implementation of valuable code block into AVCP compatible standard.

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