PHPackages thefox/smtpd - PHPackages - PHPackages [Skip to content](#main-content)[PHPackages](/)[Directory](/)[Categories](/categories)[Trending](/trending)[Leaderboard](/leaderboard)[Changelog](/changelog)[Analyze](/analyze)[Collections](/collections)[Log in](/login)[Sign up](/register) 1. [Directory](/) 2. / 3. [Mail & Notifications](/categories/mail) 4. / 5. thefox/smtpd ActiveLibrary[Mail & Notifications](/categories/mail) thefox/smtpd ============ SMTP server (library) written in pure PHP. v0.7.0(8y ago)1302.4k31[10 issues](https://github.com/TheFox/smtpd/issues)1GPL-3.0PHPPHP ^7.0CI failing Since Aug 1Pushed 6y ago7 watchersCompare [ Source](https://github.com/TheFox/smtpd)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/thefox/smtpd)[ Docs](https://fox21.at)[ RSS](/packages/thefox-smtpd/feed)WikiDiscussions master Synced 1mo ago READMEChangelog (10)Dependencies (9)Versions (15)Used By (1) SMTPd ===== [](#smtpd) SMTP server (library) for receiving emails, written in pure PHP. This library provides an interface to the SMTP server-side protocol with PHP. It creates a `\Zend\Mail\Message` Class object for every incoming email and hands this object to a custom PHP function for further processing. The project is in Beta status, so it's not recommended for production use. The `d` in `SMTPd` stands for [Daemon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daemon_(computing)). This script can run in background like any other daemon process. It's not meant for running as a webapplication. Why this project? ----------------- [](#why-this-project) Believe it or not, **email is still the killer feature of the Internet**. There are tons of projects like [PHPMailer](https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer): to send emails programmatically (with PHP). But there are not so many to receive emails from SMTP. With this interface you can do something like this for your app users: ``` +------+ +------------------------+ +-------+ +--------------+ | User +---> | MUA (like Thunderbird) +---> | SMTPd +---> | Your PHP App | +------+ +------------------------+ +-------+ +--------------+ ``` This is useful when you have a messaging application written in PHP but no graphical user interface for it. So your graphical user interface can be any [email client](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_client). [Thunderbird](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/) for instance. Project Outlines ---------------- [](#project-outlines) The project outlines as described in my blog post about [Open Source Software Collaboration](https://blog.fox21.at/2019/02/21/open-source-software-collaboration.html). - The main purpose of this software is to provide a server-side SMTP API for PHP scripts. - Although the RFC implementations are not completed yet, they must be strict. - More features can be possible in the future. In perspective of the protocols the features must be a RFC implementation. - This list is open. Feel free to request features. Planned Features ---------------- [](#planned-features) - Full [RFC 821](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc821) implementation. - Full [RFC 1651](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1651) implementation. - Full [RFC 1869](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1869) implementation. - Replace `Zend\Mail` with a better solution. Installation ------------ [](#installation) The preferred method of installation is via [Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/thefox/smtpd) and [Composer](https://getcomposer.org/). Run the following command to install the package and add it as a requirement to composer.json: ``` composer require thefox/smtpd ``` Delivery -------- [](#delivery) At the moment the server accepts all incoming emails. You decide what happens with incoming emails by adding `Event`s to the `Server` object (`$server->eventAdd($event)`). The server can handle certain events. Each event will be executed on a certain trigger. Even if you don't add any Events to the Server it accepts all incoming emails. Events ------ [](#events) At the moment there are two Event Triggers. - `TRIGGER_NEW_MAIL`: will be triggered when a Client has finished transmitting a new email. - `TRIGGER_AUTH_ATTEMPT`: will be triggered when a Client wants to authenticate. Return a boolean from the callback function whether the authentication was successful or not. Examples -------- [](#examples) See also [`example.php`](example.php) file for full examples. ### Trigger New Mail Example [](#trigger-new-mail-example) ``` $server = new Server(...); $event = new Event(Event::TRIGGER_NEW_MAIL, null, function(Event $event, $from, $rcpts, $mail){ // Do stuff: handle email, ... }); $server->addEvent($event); $server->loop(); ``` ### Trigger Auth Example [](#trigger-auth-example) ``` $server = new Server(...); $event = new Event(Event::TRIGGER_AUTH_ATTEMPT, null, function(Event $event, $type, $credentials): bool{ // Do stuff: Check credentials against database, ... return true; }); $server->addEvent($event); $server->loop(); ``` ### Use SMTP Server with own loop [](#use-smtp-server-with-own-loop) ``` $server = new Server(...); // Set up server here. // Add Events, etc, ... while(myApplicationRuns()){ // Do stuff your application needs. // ... // Run main SMTPd loop, once. $server->run(); usleep(10000); // Never run a main thread loop without sleep. Never! } ``` RFC 821 Implementation ---------------------- [](#rfc-821-implementation) ### Complete implementation [](#complete-implementation) - 3.5 OPENING AND CLOSING ### Incomplete implementation [](#incomplete-implementation) - 3.1 MAIL - 4.1.1 COMMAND SEMANTICS - HELO - MAIL - RCPT - DATA - NOOP - QUIT RFC 1651 Implementation ----------------------- [](#rfc-1651-implementation) ### Complete implementation [](#complete-implementation-1) - 4.1.1 First command - 4.5 Error responses from extended servers RFC 3207 Implementation ----------------------- [](#rfc-3207-implementation) RFC 4954 Implementation ----------------------- [](#rfc-4954-implementation) - 4. The AUTH Command Related Links ------------- [](#related-links) - [RFC 821](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc821) - [RFC 1425](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1425) - [RFC 1651](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1651) - [RFC 1869](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1869) - [RFC 2821](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2821) - [RFC 3207](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3207) - [RFC 4954](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4954) Related Projects ---------------- [](#related-projects) - [IMAPd](https://github.com/TheFox/imapd) Project Links ------------- [](#project-links) - [Packagist Package](https://packagist.org/packages/thefox/smtpd) ### Health Score 35 — LowBetter than 80% of packages Maintenance18 Infrequent updates — may be unmaintained Popularity36 Limited adoption so far Community21 Small or concentrated contributor base Maturity56 Maturing project, gaining track record Bus Factor1 Top contributor holds 89.9% of commits — single point of failure How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window. **Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores. **Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement. **Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability. ### Release Activity Cadence Every ~97 days Recently: every ~55 days Total 14 Last Release 3047d ago PHP version history (3 changes)v0.1.0PHP >=5.3 v0.3.0PHP ~5.3 || ~7.0 v0.4.0PHP ^7.0 ### Community Maintainers ![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/b879f8d5879bc5cb3a1bc43287d0b26834ffc0f403e1b076375da977fe308c55?d=identicon)[TheFox](/maintainers/TheFox) --- Top Contributors [![TheFox](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/353709?v=4)](https://github.com/TheFox "TheFox (178 commits)")[![ashleyhood](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/4114910?v=4)](https://github.com/ashleyhood "ashleyhood (16 commits)")[![minrwhite](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/6674452?v=4)](https://github.com/minrwhite "minrwhite (4 commits)") --- Tags mit-licensephpphp-librarysmtpsmtp-librarysmtp-serversmtpdmailemailserversmtpdaemon ### Code Quality TestsPHPUnit Static AnalysisPHPStan Code StylePHP\_CodeSniffer Type Coverage Yes ### Embed Badge ![Health badge](/badges/thefox-smtpd/health.svg) ``` [![Health](https://phpackages.com/badges/thefox-smtpd/health.svg)](https://phpackages.com/packages/thefox-smtpd) ``` ### Alternatives [zbateson/mail-mime-parser MIME email message parser 54149.2M79](/packages/zbateson-mail-mime-parser)[mlocati/spf-lib Parse, build and validate SPF (Sender Policy Framework) DNS records 67867.9k2](/packages/mlocati-spf-lib)[pear/net_smtp An implementation of the SMTP protocol 263.0M16](/packages/pear-net-smtp)[ikkez/f3-mailer SMTP plugin wrapper for PHP Fat-Free Framework 198.7k2](/packages/ikkez-f3-mailer) PHPackages © 2026 [Directory](/)[Categories](/categories)[Trending](/trending)[Changelog](/changelog)[Analyze](/analyze)