A Ruby library for email generation, parsing, and sending with a simple, idiomatic API.
Mail is a Ruby library that provides a complete solution for handling email generation, parsing, and sending. It simplifies working with email by offering an intuitive API for creating multipart messages, managing attachments, and interacting with SMTP, POP3, and IMAP servers. The library is designed to be robust and RFC-compliant while maintaining a Ruby-like elegance.
Ruby developers who need to integrate email functionality into their applications, whether for sending transactional emails, parsing incoming messages, or testing email-related features.
Developers choose Mail for its comprehensive feature set, idiomatic Ruby API, and strong focus on reliability and testing. It replaces older libraries like TMail with modern encoding support and a cleaner design, making email handling straightforward and error-resistant.
A Really Ruby Mail Library
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Supports RFC5322 and RFC6532 for parsing US-ASCII and UTF-8 emails, with a design that never crashes on unexpected input—it skips problems and continues parsing, ensuring data integrity.
Offers multiple delivery methods (SMTP, sendmail, Exim, file logging) and email retrieval via POP3/IMAP, providing a unified interface for all email operations in Ruby.
Includes TestMailer for unit testing and RSpec matchers for email assertions, making it easy to test email functionality without sending actual emails in development.
Encodes attachments in Base64, guesses MIME types, and provides simple methods for adding and extracting attachments, reducing boilerplate code for file handling.
The README admits that MIME support for character sets in headers needs refinement, which can lead to issues with complex or non-standard email formats.
As a pure Ruby library, it's not suitable for projects in other languages, forcing teams to seek alternatives if they operate in polyglot environments.
Setting up advanced delivery methods like Exim or custom SMTP configurations requires manual intervention and can be more complex compared to simpler email libraries.