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Getting Started

Everything you need to know to start using MinuteMail in under a minute.

Introduction

MinuteMail is a free, privacy-first disposable email service. Generate a temporary inbox that self-destructs after a configurable timer — no signup, no tracking, no traces. Whether you're signing up for a service, testing email flows, or just protecting your real inbox from spam, MinuteMail has you covered.

Instant

Mailbox ready in <100ms

Private

Zero data retention

Temporary

2–60 min lifetime

Core Concepts

Mailbox

A unique temporary email address and all associated data. Each mailbox has a random address, a TTL (time-to-live), and a session token for authentication.

Session Token

A secret token issued when a mailbox is created. Required for all API calls that read or modify the mailbox. Never shared publicly.

TTL

Time-to-live in minutes (2, 5, 10, 15, 30, 45, or 60). When the TTL expires, the mailbox, all emails, and all metadata are permanently deleted from Redis.

WebSocket

Real-time push channel. Connect with your mailbox ID and session token to receive new emails instantly without polling.

Permanent Mailbox

A forever-mailbox tied to your account. Never expires, stores up to 100 emails, and supports custom address prefixes.

Quick Start

The fastest way to get started is to visit the dashboard — click "Get your mailbox" and a live inbox is ready instantly. Alternatively, use the API:

bash
# Create a 10-minute mailbox
curl -X POST https://minutemail.xyz/api/mailbox \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"duration": 10}'

# Response:
# {
#   "id": "abc123",
#   "address": "[email protected]",
#   "duration": 10,
#   "expiresAt": 1711742400000,
#   "sessionToken": "tok_..."
# }

Tip

Save the sessionToken from the response — you'll need it for all subsequent API calls.

Architecture

MinuteMail runs on a lean stack designed for speed and privacy:

FrontendNext.js 14 with App Router, Tailwind CSS, Framer Motion
BackendNext.js API Routes + custom SMTP server (port 2525)
DatabaseRedis with TTL-based auto-expiration + AOF persistence
MailPostfix relay → custom SMTP server → Redis storage
Real-timeNative WebSocket server on port 3001, proxied via Nginx

Note

All data is stored in Redis with automatic TTL expiration. When a mailbox expires, every trace — emails, metadata, address mapping — is permanently deleted. No backups are retained.