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Webmail people will actually use

The reason self-hosted mail gets abandoned is usually the client. This one threads, searches and installs.

The webmail Inbox sorted into Primary, Promotions, Social, Updates and Forums tabs, a pinned message at the top, and a two-message conversation open in the reading pane.
The webmail on a phone: the Inbox with its category tabs, a pinned message and a New message button.
Webmail Settings, Filters: two filters, each read as a sentence of conditions and actions, with a switch and a menu.

Reading

Conversations are threaded on the client, folders, stars and coloured labels do the filing, and new mail arrives by live push rather than by a poll you can feel. Labels are IMAP keywords, so Thunderbird sees the same tags. Full-text search is Dovecot’s own index, so it searches bodies and not just headers. Every action has a single-key shortcut, and ⌘K lists them all.

  • Threaded conversations
  • Full-text search across bodies
  • Folders, stars and labels
  • Live push
  • Keyboard shortcuts and a command palette

Writing

Compose in rich text — or plain text, if you prefer — with drafts, attachments and undo send. A reply quotes the original as it was, tables and all. Nothing is sent that a user did not press send on — including anything the AI features suggest.

  • Rich-text or plain-text compose
  • Drafts and attachments
  • Undo send
  • Formatted HTML signatures

On a phone

It installs as an app from the browser and keeps a cache, so mail that has already been read is readable with no connection. There is no app store, no separate build, and no second client to keep in step.

  • Installable PWA
  • Offline reading of cached mail
  • One client on every device

More

Where these claims come from

Each line on this page is backed by a document in the product’s own repository. They are private, so the paths are given rather than linked; ask us if you want to see one.

  • mailserver · docs/feature-docs/webmail.md
  • mailserver · docs/feature-docs/compose.md
  • mailserver · docs/feature-docs/pwa-offline.md
  • mailserver · docs/feature-docs/user-settings.md
  • mailserver · docs/adrs/0012-client-side-conversation-threading.md
  • mailserver · docs/adrs/0013-full-text-search-fts-flatcurve.md