Getting Started - Mailcatcher Docs

This guide will walk you through setting up Mailcatcher for your development environment.

Create an Account

Go to app.mailcatcher.dev and sign up for a free account
Verify your email address
You're ready to create your first project!

Create a Project

Projects in Mailcatcher help you organize emails by application or environment.

Click New Project in your dashboard
Enter a name for your project (e.g., "My App - Development")
Copy the SMTP credentials provided

Configure Your Application

SMTP Settings

Use these settings to configure your application's email sending:

Setting	Value
Host	`mailcatcher.cloud`
Port	`1025` or `1027` (STARTTLS)
Username	Your project username
Password	Your project password
Encryption	STARTTLS (use port `1027`)

Example Configurations

Update your .env file:

MAILER_DSN=smtp://your-project-username:your-project-password@mailcatcher.cloud:1027

Update your .env file:

MAIL_MAILER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=mailcatcher.cloud
MAIL_PORT=1027
MAIL_USERNAME=your-project-username
MAIL_PASSWORD=your-project-password
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=STARTTLS

Using Nodemailer:

const nodemailer = require("nodemailer");

const transporter = nodemailer.createTransport({
  host: "mailcatcher.cloud",
  port: 1026,
  auth: {
    user: "your-project-username",
    pass: "your-project-password",
  },
});

Using smtplib:

import smtplib
from email.mime.text import MIMEText

smtp_server = "mailcatcher.cloud"
port = 1026
username = "your-project-username"
password = "your-project-password"

server = smtplib.SMTP(smtp_server, port)
server.login(username, password)

You can find your SMTP credentials in your project info panel and copy them directly to avoid typos.

Send a Test Email

Once configured, send a test email from your application. You'll see it appear in your Mailcatcher dashboard within seconds!

Next Steps

Learn about Project Settings to customize your setup
Explore Organisations to invite colleagues