Nmail

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An AI-powered local email client that brings all your accounts together · local-first · private by design · MIT open source.

You read, write, and make the calls; AI sorts your mail, filters the noise, pre-drafts replies, and reports to you daily. All data stays on your machine, and AI uses your own OpenAI-compatible API key (point it at Ollama / LM Studio for 100% local inference). Mail flows over standard IMAP/SMTP — Nmail runs no mail service of its own. Gmail and Outlook no longer accept plain passwords, so Nmail ships built-in public credentials for one-click OAuth2 authorization (you can also register your own OAuth app — see docs/OAuth2 使用指南.md).

Roadmap: docs/PRODUCT_PLAN.md · v0.4 redesign (current mainline): docs/REDESIGN_PLAN.md. Install, first run & updates: docs/INSTALL.md. More docs (user guide, FAQ, external API, privacy & security) live in docs/, mirrored on the website at https://nmail.whizzzest.com/docs/. The app UI and all docs are currently Chinese-only; English versions are planned. Status: v0.3.0 released · v0.4 redesign in progress.

Quick start

Three ways to get started:

① Single-file executable (zero dependencies — download and run)

Download the file for your platform from Releases and double-click; your browser opens automatically: Windows nmail-windows-x64.exe ｜ macOS (Apple Silicon) nmail-macos-arm64 ｜ Linux nmail-linux-x64. Windows can also install via winget (once the manifest review is approved): winget install nathanpenny520.Nmail; macOS (Apple Silicon) via Homebrew: brew tap nathanpenny520/nmail https://github.com/nathanpenny520/homebrew-nmail && brew install nmail.

• Windows may show a SmartScreen prompt (unsigned build): click "More info → Run anyway"
• macOS: right-click → Open on first run (not notarized); Linux: chmod +x nmail-linux-x64, then run it

② One command (PyPI + uv — recommended for daily use)

Install uv, then:

uvx --from nmail-app nmail

uv prepares the Python runtime for you — no manual Python / Node setup. Alternatively, pip install nmail-app and run nmail (the PyPI distribution is named nmail-app — nmail was already taken by another project; the product and command names are unchanged).

③ From source (development)

Requires Python 3.11+ and Node.js 18+.

# 1. Backend dependencies
python -m venv .venv
# Windows:
.venv\Scripts\pip install -r backend/requirements.txt
# macOS / Linux:
# source .venv/bin/activate && pip install -r backend/requirements.txt

# 2. Build the frontend
cd frontend && npm install && npm run build && cd ..

# 3. Start (opens your browser automatically)
python run.py

Then open http://127.0.0.1:8720 (if the port is taken, the app falls back to the next one — check the console output). First-time setup takes about 5 minutes: ① Add a mailbox — Settings → Add account; the address alone matches your provider's servers (password-based accounts use an app-specific password; Gmail/Outlook use one-click OAuth via "Authorize login"). ② Configure AI — Settings → AI configuration; add a profile (Base URL + API key + model name; save multiple profiles and switch anytime), then click "Test connection". Details in docs/INSTALL.md.

Building it yourself

bash scripts/sync_frontend.sh                       # build the frontend and bundle it into the Python package
.venv/Scripts/pip install pyinstaller               # only needed for packaging (macOS/Linux: .venv/bin/)
.venv/Scripts/pyinstaller nmail.spec                # produces the dist/nmail single file (nmail.exe on Windows)

Or build just a wheel: pip wheel . -w dist. Once published to PyPI, users can run uvx --from nmail-app nmail. Pushing a v* tag triggers CI (.github/workflows/release.yml) to publish the wheel and three-platform binaries — and, with the HOMEBREW_TAP_TOKEN secret configured, sync the Homebrew tap automatically.

Releases are one command: bash scripts/release.sh 0.2.0 (bumps the version, tags, watches CI, opens the winget version PR, and triggers a rebuild of the website). Full manual: docs/RELEASE.md.

Updates

• In-app check (on by default; disable under Settings → General): an anonymous version comparison against GitHub every 24 hours; new releases appear in the notification center, and you can also check manually from the settings page. Only the version number is sent — no local data leaves your machine.
• Upgrading per channel: Windows winget upgrade nathanpenny520.Nmail ｜ macOS brew upgrade nmail ｜ PyPI uv tool upgrade nmail-app or pip install -U nmail-app ｜ single-file: download the new build and replace the old one.
• Upgrading never touches your data: the mail store / secrets / settings live in a separate data directory, and the first launch of a new version runs database migrations automatically.

Development mode

# Backend hot reload (Windows; macOS/Linux use .venv/bin/python, or activate the venv and run `python`)
cd backend && ../.venv/Scripts/python -m uvicorn app.main:app --reload --port 8720

# Frontend dev server (/api is proxied to 8720)
cd frontend && npm run dev   # http://localhost:5173

Data & privacy

• The data directory follows each platform's standard location (Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Nmail ｜ macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Nmail ｜ Linux: ~/.local/share/Nmail); override with the NMAIL_DATA_DIR environment variable.
• nmail.db: mail store and full-text index (SQLite, WAL + FTS5); secrets.json: AI API keys, mailbox passwords / OAuth tokens, and other secrets.
• The server binds to 127.0.0.1 only, with no option to listen externally. AI API keys and mailbox credentials are stored only in the local secrets.json — the settings UI shows exactly what's stored (masked by default). When a cloud AI endpoint is configured, email bodies are sent to that endpoint; point it at a local endpoint (Ollama etc.) and nothing leaves your machine. More in docs/隐私与安全.md.

Tech stack

Python 3.11+ · FastAPI · SQLite (WAL + FTS5) · APScheduler ｜ React 18 · Vite · TypeScript · Tailwind CSS · Tiptap (compose editor) · ECharts (digest visualizations)

License

MIT