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Mailcycle
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Product

One account. Any number of devices. Each with its own email address.

Mailcycle is programmable, privacy-first email infrastructure. The same product runs a single private address on your phone or a console provisioning addresses across a thousand devices. Here is how it fits together.

The Operator console

One place to manage every device and email address.

An Operator controls the Mailcycle environment: devices, email addresses, assignments, plans, usage and account settings. It works from a phone to a wide desktop: a sidebar above 900px, a bottom tab bar below it, and the same screens on both.

Home

Your email addresses, devices and mail this week, the latest mail and your devices at a glance.

Email addresses

Every address on your account and how many your plan allows. Create addresses, read their mail, see which device holds each one, and delete addresses to free their place.

Devices

A table on desktop, cards on mobile. Search by name, ID, tag or address, filter by status or tag, sort, and on Operator and above select many to disable, enable or remove at once.

Device detail

Rename, tag and add notes, assign or remove email addresses, read the device's mail remotely, disable it for a while or remove it.

Plans & Billing

Plan, address limit and payment. Upgrades apply once payment is confirmed. Downgrades are checked against the addresses you hold before they are accepted.

Your domains

On Scale and above, bring your own domains: prove ownership with a DNS record, and Mailcycle checks each step against public DNS.

API

A map of the HTTP API the app itself runs on: where it lives, how to get a session, and every route an account token can call.

Settings

Account details, security (signed-in sessions, app lock on phones, sign out when inactive on the web), appearance, notifications, data export and account deletion.

The Worker device

Scan. Connect. Assign.

A Worker is a connected device or browser that receives mail for one or more Mailcycle email addresses. It has no account or password, and sees only the addresses assigned to it.

  • Receives and reads mail for its assigned email addresses
  • Holds a credential scoped to that device, in the iOS Keychain or Android Keystore
  • Survives restarts without re-pairing
  • Cannot list other devices, mint email addresses or reach billing
  • Can be disabled or removed from the console at any time
  • Runs in a browser where an app cannot be installed

How a device joins an account

  1. Worker device

    Opens Mailcycle, shows a code

  2. QR or pairing code

    Scanned or typed, single use

  3. Operator

    Confirms the device on the account

  4. Address assigned

    One address, or several

  5. Ready

    Mail arrives on the device

The device shows an 8-digit code and a QR code. You scan or type it in the console and confirm the device, and a credential scoped to that one device is minted. A code works once, and an unclaimed code is cleared after 14 days. Assign an email address and the device starts receiving mail.

Plan limits

Addresses are a resource you distribute.

A plan sets how many email addresses your account can hold, not how many devices it can pair. Devices are unlimited on every paid plan, and Free pairs one. Every address you create counts, assigned or not, and deleting one frees its place. Deleted addresses are retired and never reissued to anyone.

Example fleet on Scale (1,000 addresses)Email addressesCounted toward plan
iPhone Rack A-1211
Testing Pixel 0734
Browser Worker 0415
Remaining995 more addresses available

Downgrades are checked first. If you hold 340 email addresses and try to move to a plan that allows 250, the change is refused and tells you how many to delete first. Nothing is deleted for you.

Events

Both ends of the handshake see the same thing.

The app emits these events on every change. Today a pairing device checks its session every couple of seconds, so it moves to the next screen shortly after you confirm it. A live server channel is planned; until then screens refresh by polling.

Device events

  • worker.paired
  • worker.updated
  • worker.removed

Address events

  • inbox.created
  • inbox.assigned
  • inbox.removed

Mail and billing

  • message.received
  • subscription.updated

Not yet available to your code. Your code will subscribe to these event names when webhooks and the public event stream ship. Both are planned; see the developer overview.

Platforms

Three platforms, one product.

Mailcycle is a single codebase running natively on iOS and Android and as a web application. There is no "lite" version.

iOS

Native app with camera QR pairing and credentials in the Keychain. iPhone and iPad, including tablet layouts.

App Store: not published yet

Android

Native app with camera QR pairing and credentials in the Keystore. Edge-to-edge and themed icons supported.

Google Play: not published yet

Web

The full console and the full device interface in any modern browser. Pairing scans a QR code with a webcam, or takes the 8-digit code by hand.

Open the app

Create your first email address.

Free to start, no card, three email addresses to try it with. Pair a device whenever you like.