MailHog

MailHog is an open source email-testing tool with a fake SMTP server underneath. It encapsulates the SMTP protocol with extensions and doesn’t require specific backend implementations. MailHog runs a minimal SMTP server that “hogs” outgoing emails sent to it. You can see the hogged emails in a web interface.

MailHog is designed for app developers to test an application’s email sending more efficiently. Unlike a real SMTP server, a fake one avoids issues related to server configuration or something similar. MailHog lets you send emails to any recipient and stores them for display. Also, you can view the hogged emails using the web User Interface (UI), or retrieve them using an Application Programming Interface (API) for automated testing.

MailHog was added as an addon during alpha and beta testing because customers found that connecting to corporate email systems could be burdensome for a simple proof of concept. MailHog reduces this burden for anyone evaluating or extending the Chef 360 Platform. MailHog allows the platform to send emails without really sending an email.