Rav

Modern, fast, and secure open-source webmail client built with React + Rust.

A feature-complete replacement for Roundcube that connects to any existing IMAP/SMTP mail server.
Not a mail platform - just a clean, modern webmail UI.

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Features

• Mail - Compose, reply, forward, and organize with a rich text editor (Tiptap), tags, folders, saved searches, and multiple send-as identities
• Contacts and calendar - Address book with contact groups, iCal event parsing
• Full-text search - Instant local search powered by Tantivy
• Real-time sync - WebSocket-driven live mailbox updates
• Security - PGP (sign/encrypt/verify/decrypt), passkey + TOTP login, IMAP credential auth, session timeouts, rate limiting, HMAC-signed safe link rewriting
• Automation - Sieve filters (local and ManageSieve), out-of-office autoresponder, optional rspamd spam/ham training
• Fast and self-hosted - Rust backend with per-user SQLite caching, single Docker image, static frontend served from the same binary
• Stickers (optional) - Mood-based reaction stickers, enabled via the stickers build feature

Comparison to alternatives

Rav fills a gap - a modern webmail UI without the baggage of a full mail platform.

	Rav	Roundcube	SOGo	Mailcow
Backend language	Rust	PHP	Objective-C	PHP / Python
Frontend framework	React / Next.js	jQuery	Angular	Vue.js
Modern UI	Yes	No	No	No
Memory-safe backend	Yes	No	No	No
Full-text search	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
No bundled mail server	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
WebSocket live sync	Yes	No	No	No
Single Docker image	Yes	Yes	No	No
PGP encryption	Yes	Plugin	No	No
Passkey / TOTP login	Yes	No	No	No

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Frontend	Next.js 16, React 19, Tailwind CSS 4, Shadcn/ui, Zustand, TanStack Query
Backend	Rust, Axum, Tokio, async-imap, Lettre (SMTP)
Search	Tantivy (Rust-native full-text search)
Database	SQLite per user (local cache via rusqlite + Refinery migrations)
Editor	Tiptap (rich text compose)
Deploy	Docker (GHCR), single binary serves frontend + API

Quick Start

Docker (recommended)

docker run -d \
  --name rav \
  -p 3001:3001 \
  -e IMAP_HOST=mail.example.com \
  -e SMTP_HOST=mail.example.com \
  -v rav-data:/data \
  ghcr.io/naust-mail/rav:latest

Or with docker-compose.yml:

services:
  app:
    image: ghcr.io/naust-mail/rav:latest
    ports:
      - "3001:3001"
    environment:
      - IMAP_HOST=mail.example.com
      - SMTP_HOST=mail.example.com
    volumes:
      - rav-data:/data

volumes:
  rav-data:

Then open http://localhost:3001 and log in with your email credentials.

Local Development

# Frontend
cd frontend && bun install && bun run build

# Backend
cd backend && cargo build --release

# Run (serves frontend + API on port 3001)
STATIC_DIR=../frontend/out IMAP_HOST=mail.example.com SMTP_HOST=mail.example.com \
  ./target/release/rav-email-server

Configuration

All configuration is via environment variables. The essentials:

Variable	Default	Description
IMAP_HOST	none	IMAP server hostname (required)
SMTP_HOST	none	SMTP server hostname (required)
DATA_DIR	/data	Persistent data storage directory
BASE_PATH	none	Base path prefix for a reverse proxy (e.g. /rav)
PGP_ENABLED	true	In-browser PGP sign/encrypt/verify/decrypt
WEBAUTHN_RP_ID	none	WebAuthn relying party ID; required for passkey login

Advanced configuration

Variable	Default	Description
HOST	0.0.0.0	HTTP server bind address
PORT	3001	HTTP server port
IMAP_PORT	993	IMAP server port
IMAP_CONNECT_HOST	IMAP_HOST	TCP address for IMAP connections; set to 127.0.0.1 on hosts with hairpin NAT
SMTP_PORT	587	SMTP server port
SMTP_CONNECT_HOST	SMTP_HOST	TCP address for SMTP connections, same rationale as IMAP_CONNECT_HOST
TLS_ENABLED	true	Enable TLS for mail connections
TLS_CA_CERT_PATH	none	PEM certificate to trust in-process, for self-signed mail server certs
ALLOW_CUSTOM_MAIL_SERVERS	true	If false, users cannot override IMAP_HOST/SMTP_HOST from the UI
SESSION_TIMEOUT_HOURS	24	Session expiry in hours
STATIC_DIR	./static	Frontend static files directory
ENVIRONMENT	development	Runtime environment
WEBAUTHN_RP_ORIGIN	none	WebAuthn relying party origin (e.g. https://box.example.com); must match exactly
SIEVE_HOST	none	ManageSieve server hostname; when set, filters are also pushed as Sieve scripts
SIEVE_PORT	4190	ManageSieve server port
RSPAMD_URL	none	Base URL for rspamd's HTTP API; enables spam/ham training when set
LINK_PROXY_ENABLED	false	Rewrite links in rendered emails through an HMAC-signed proxy
TRUSTED_PROXIES	none	Comma-separated CIDRs whose forwarded-IP headers are trusted for rate limiting
RUST_LOG	info	Log level filter

Architecture

graph LR
    Browser["Browser\n(Next.js)"] -->|HTTP / WS| Backend["Rust Backend\n(Axum)"]
    Backend -->|IMAP| IMAP["IMAP Server"]
    Backend -->|SMTP| SMTP["SMTP Server"]
    Backend --- SQLite["SQLite\n(cache)"]
    Backend --- Tantivy["Tantivy\n(search)"]

Loading

Development

# Run frontend dev server (hot reload)
cd frontend && bun run dev

# Run backend
cd backend && cargo run

# Run tests
cd frontend && bunx vitest run
cd backend && cargo test

# Lint
cd frontend && bun run lint
cd backend && cargo clippy -- -D warnings

Roadmap

Rav is under active development. Core email functionality (read, compose, search, contacts, calendar), PGP, passkey/TOTP login, and Sieve filters are implemented. Coming next:

• Attachment previews
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Theme customization
• Multi-account support

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feat/my-feature)
3. Commit your changes
4. Open a pull request against main

License

MIT