Email Overview
VortexHQ includes a built-in SMTP server for local email testing with full inspection tools.
Local SMTP Server
VortexHQ runs a local SMTP server that catches all outgoing email from your application. No emails actually leave your machine — perfect for development and testing.
- Default port:
2082(configurable in Settings → General) - TLS / STARTTLS: Auto-generated SSL certificates with system trust; falls back to plain SMTP if TLS fails
- Binds:
0.0.0.0— accessible from Docker containers, VMs, and other devices on your network - Auth: Optional — insecure auth allowed for local testing
Email Inbox
All received emails appear in your inbox in real-time. The inbox supports two modes:
- Local — Emails from the built-in SMTP server
- Cloud — Emails synced via cloud SMTP (Pro/Team). Polls every 10 seconds.
Additional inbox features:
- Unread count badge on the dock/taskbar icon
- Desktop notification + synthesized sound alert for new emails
- Subject, sender, recipient, and date display
Email Viewer — 8 Inspection Tabs
When you select an email, you get 8 tabs for deep inspection:
| Tab | Description |
|---|---|
| HTML | Sandboxed iframe preview of the rendered HTML email with auto-resize and external link interception |
| HTML Source | Raw HTML markup with syntax highlighting |
| Text | Plain-text body |
| Raw | Full RFC headers + body |
| Spam Analysis | Heuristics-based spam score (0–10) with SPF, DKIM, subject patterns, capitals, URL analysis, unsubscribe link, and HTML-to-text ratio checks |
| HTML Check | 13-point audit: DOCTYPE, title, alt text, inline styles, empty links, table layout, viewport, responsive media, deprecated tags, email size (Gmail clipping), background images, scripts, forms |
| Tech Info | Message ID, Return Path, MIME version, content type, transfer encoding, sizes (total/HTML/text), attachment count, full headers list |
| AI Summary | One-click AI-generated summary with action items, tone analysis, and key dates extracted |
Device Preview
Test how your email renders on different screen sizes:
- Mobile — 375px
- Tablet — 768px
- Desktop — 100% width
Attachments
Emails with attachments show a downloadable list with file-type icons, content type, and size information. Click any attachment to download it.
AI Email Features
Beyond the AI Summary tab, you can chat about any email using the Ask AI button — ask questions about the email content and get contextual answers. (Pro/Team only)