Temporary Email for Developers: Testing, QA, and Development Workflows

Common Development Use Cases

**User flow testing:** - Test signup/verification flows - Test password reset - Test email change features - Test notification preferences

**QA and staging:** - Create test users quickly - Don't pollute production email lists - Avoid rate limits on real email - Keep staging data separate

**Demo and presentations:** - Show signup flow to clients - Create realistic user journeys - Avoid revealing personal email - Reset demos quickly

**Automated testing:** - End-to-end tests with email verification - Integration tests for email features - Performance testing email throughput - Regression testing email templates

Manual Testing Patterns

**The quick test workflow:** 1. Open TempMailSpot in a tab 2. Copy the generated email 3. Use for signup in your app 4. Switch back to temp email to verify 5. Repeat with new email as needed

**Browser workflow tip:** Keep temp email as a pinned tab. Copy-paste the address when needed. Refresh for new address.

**Testing email features checklist:** ``` □ Welcome email arrives □ Content renders correctly □ Links work □ Unsubscribe link functions □ Plain text fallback works □ Mobile rendering (open on phone) □ Images load □ Personalization works □ Time-sensitive content accurate ```

**Common gotchas:** - Some dev environments block external email - Rate limits may throttle temp email providers - Spam filters might catch test emails - Temp email might not receive from localhost

Automated Testing Integration

For automated tests, use temp email APIs:

**Approach 1: API-based temp email** ```javascript // Example using a temp email API async function getTestEmail() { const response = await fetch('https://api.tempmail.service/inbox'); return response.json(); }

async function checkForEmail(inboxId, subject) { const emails = await fetch(`https://api.tempmail.service/inbox/${inboxId}`); return emails.find(e => e.subject.includes(subject)); }

// In your test test('user receives welcome email', async () => { const { email, inboxId } = await getTestEmail(); await signupUser(email);

const welcomeEmail = await waitFor(() => checkForEmail(inboxId, 'Welcome') );

expect(welcomeEmail).toBeTruthy(); }); ```

**Approach 2: Mailhog/Mailtrap (recommended for CI)** ```javascript // Configure your app to use SMTP catch-all // Then query its API const mailhogApi = 'http://localhost:8025/api/v2/messages';

async function getLatestEmail(recipient) { const response = await fetch(mailhogApi); const messages = await response.json(); return messages.items.find(m => m.Raw.To.includes(recipient) ); } ```

**Approach 3: Plus addressing** ```javascript function generateTestEmail() { const timestamp = Date.now(); return `test+${timestamp}@yourdomain.com`; } ```

Staging Environment Best Practices

**Never send from staging to real emails:** ```javascript // middleware/email-guard.js const sendEmail = async (to, subject, body) => { if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') { // Override recipient in non-production to = process.env.DEV_EMAIL || 'dev@yourdomain.com'; subject = `[STAGING] ${subject}`; }

return mailService.send(to, subject, body); }; ```

**Seed data with temp-style emails:** ```javascript // seeds/users.js const users = [ { name: 'Test User 1', email: 'testuser1@staging.tempmail.local', }, // Use a non-existent domain to prevent accidents ]; ```

**Environment-based email configuration:** ```yaml # development EMAIL_HOST=localhost EMAIL_PORT=1025 # Mailhog

# staging EMAIL_HOST=sandbox.smtp.mailtrap.io EMAIL_INTERCEPT=true

# production EMAIL_HOST=smtp.sendgrid.net EMAIL_INTERCEPT=false ```

Demo and Client Presentation Tips

**Create realistic but anonymous demo data:** ``` jane.doe@tempmail-demo.com john.smith@tempmail-demo.com ```

**Use temp email for live demos:** 1. Before demo, generate fresh temp email 2. Show realistic signup flow 3. Actually receive and show verification 4. Delete/refresh between demos

**Demo script pattern:** ```javascript // demo/setup.js async function setupDemoUser() { const tempEmail = await getTempEmail();

await page.goto('/signup'); await page.fill('[name=email]', tempEmail.address); await page.fill('[name=name]', 'Demo User'); await page.click('button[type=submit]');

// Show email arriving (impressive for clients) await openTempEmailTab(); await waitForEmail();

return tempEmail; } ```

**Avoid during demos:** - Using your real email - Showing your inbox (privacy + unprofessional) - Emails that reveal internal naming - Broken email flows (test first!)

Integration Tips and Tricks

**Browser extension for quick access:** Many temp email services offer browser extensions for one-click copy.

**CLI tools:** ```bash # Example CLI temp email workflow $ tempmail new Generated: random123@tempmail.com

$ tempmail check 1 new email: "Welcome to App"

$ tempmail read 1 [Shows email content] ```

**Webhooks for automation:** Some temp email services offer webhooks: ```javascript // Receive webhook when email arrives app.post('/webhook/temp-email', (req, res) => { const { to, subject, body } = req.body;

// Trigger next step in automation processTestEmail(to, subject, body);

res.status(200).send('OK'); }); ```

**Rate limiting awareness:** Temp email services have limits. For high-volume testing: - Use self-hosted solutions (Mailhog) - Rotate between multiple providers - Cache emails during test runs - Use plus-addressing for uniqueness