BICHON
A self-hosted email archiving server built in Rust. Download emails from IMAP accounts, builds a full-text search index, and serves a REST API with an embedded WebUI. Purpose-built for long-term preservation, unified cross-account search, and programmatic access to archived email.
▶ Click to watch the demo
> [!NOTE]
> Bichon is an **archiver**, not an email client. It does not send, compose, forward, or reply to emails. Its optional SMTP server is for **receiving** emails only.
## Contents
- [Features](#features)
- [Quick Start](#quick-start)
- [Docker (Recommended)](#docker-recommended)
- [Docker Compose](#docker-compose)
- [Binary Installation](#binary-installation)
- [Build from Source](#build-from-source)
- [Configuration Reference](#configuration-reference)
- [Required Settings](#required-settings)
- [Server & Networking](#server--networking)
- [Logging](#logging)
- [CORS](#cors)
- [TLS & HTTPS](#tls--https)
- [SMTP Server](#smtp-server)
- [Storage Paths](#storage-paths)
- [Performance Tuning](#performance-tuning)
- [Authentication & RBAC](#authentication--rbac)
- [CLI Tools](#cli-tools)
- [API Reference](#api-reference)
- [Import & Export](#import--export)
- [Architecture](#architecture)
- [Storage & Backup](#storage--backup)
- [Internationalization](#internationalization)
- [Data Migration (v0.x → v1.0)](#data-migration-v0x--v10)
- [FAQ](#faq)
- [Roadmap](#roadmap)
- [Contributing](#contributing)
- [Tech Stack](#tech-stack)
- [License](#license)
## Features
- **Multi-Account IMAP Download**: Download multi-account concurrently. Supports password (PLAIN/LOGIN) and OAuth 2.0 (SASL XOAUTH2) with automatic token refresh and PKCE. SSL/TLS, STARTTLS, or plain connections with optional self-signed certificate acceptance.
- **Incremental Download**: UID-based delta fetching downloads only new messages after the initial download. UIDVALIDITY changes are detected and trigger automatic cache rebuilds.
- **Fetch Scoping**: Filter download by date range, mailbox folder limit, or specific folder names. Configurable per-account SOCKS5 proxy routing.
- **Auto-Configuration**: Discover IMAP server settings automatically from an email domain.
- **Full-Text Search**: Search across subject, body, sender, recipients, attachment properties, and more. Optimized for European languages.
- **Advanced Filters**: Date range, size range, attachment presence, file type, content category, and facet-based tag combinations.
- **Thread Grouping**: Reconstruct and view complete conversation threads across folders.
- **Attachment Search**: Browse and filter attachments by sender, file type, size, and other attachment properties.
- **Faceted Tags**: Add, remove, or overwrite tags on messages and attachments. Filter by tag combinations with real-time count updates.
- **Contacts View**: Extracted and deduplicated sender/recipient address book across all authorized accounts.
- **Three-Layer Storage**: Tantivy for full-text indexing (Zstd compression), Fjall with LZ4 for compressed blob storage, and memdb for relational metadata. All embedded — zero external dependencies.
- **Content Deduplication**: Identical email bodies and attachments stored once via BLAKE3 content hashing. Folder moves update metadata only.
- **Dashboard Analytics**: Email volume trends, top senders, storage usage breakdown, attachment statistics, and per-account activity. Scoped by user permissions.
- **OpenAPI 3.0**: Interactive API documentation at `/api-docs` (Swagger UI, ReDoc, Scalar). All endpoints documented with request/response schemas.
- **Multi-User RBAC**: 5 built-in roles (Admin, Manager, Member, AccountManager, AccountViewer) plus custom roles with 22 granular permissions.
- **Account-Level Isolation**: Grant users access to specific accounts with scoped roles. Permissions enforced at the API layer.
- **CLI Import Tools**: Import from EML directories, MBOX files (including Gmail variants), Thunderbird profiles, and Outlook PST files.
- **CLI Export**: Download account data as MBOX via `bichon-cli`.
- **Bulk Restore**: Restore emails in bulk back to their original IMAP accounts.
- **Embedded SMTP Server**: Receive emails directly at the gateway level. STARTTLS or TLS encryption. AUTH PLAIN/LOGIN with API token authentication.
- **Admin Tooling**: Password reset for locked-out admins. Non-destructive v0.3.7 to v1.0 data migration.
- **API Token Management**: Create, list, and revoke long-lived API tokens for programmatic access.
- **SOCKS5 Proxy Management**: Configure and manage proxy profiles for routing IMAP traffic per account.
- **Scheduled Download**: Configure per-account download schedules using cron expressions. Run syncs at specific times or intervals — for example, nightly-only or business-hours-only archiving.
- **Remote Content Blocking**: External images and tracking pixels embedded in emails are blocked by default. Users can selectively allow remote content to load on a per-message basis from the WebUI.
- **Async Index Deduplication**: Duplicate detection in the search index is performed asynchronously, reducing write latency during high-throughput ingestion.
## Quick Start
### Docker (Recommended)
```bash
# Pull the image
docker pull rustmailer/bichon:latest
# Create data directory
mkdir -p ./bichon-data
# Run container
docker run -d \
--name bichon \
-p 15630:15630 \
-v $(pwd)/bichon-data:/data \
--user 1000:1000 \
-e BICHON_ROOT_DIR=/data \
-e BICHON_ENCRYPT_PASSWORD=your-secure-password-here \
rustmailer/bichon:latest
```
Open **[http://localhost:15630](http://localhost:15630)** in your browser.
> [!IMPORTANT]
> Default login: username `admin`, password `admin@bichon`. **Change this immediately** via Settings → Profile.
### Docker Compose
```yaml
services:
bichon:
image: rustmailer/bichon:latest
container_name: bichon
ports:
- "15630:15630"
volumes:
- ./bichon-data:/data
user: "1000:1000"
environment:
BICHON_ROOT_DIR: /data
BICHON_ENCRYPT_PASSWORD: your-secure-password-here
BICHON_LOG_LEVEL: info
```
### Binary Installation
Download from the [Releases](https://github.com/rustmailer/bichon/releases) page:
| Platform | Archive |
|----------|---------|
| Linux (GNU) | `bichon-x.x.x-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz` |
| Linux (MUSL) | `bichon-x.x.x-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz` |
| macOS | `bichon-x.x.x-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.gz` |
| Windows | `bichon-x.x.x-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip` |
```bash
# Linux / macOS
./bichon --bichon-root-dir /path/to/data --bichon-encrypt-password your-password
# Windows
.\bichon.exe --bichon-root-dir E:\bichon-data --bichon-encrypt-password your-password
```
`--bichon-root-dir` **must be an absolute path**. All Bichon data lives under this directory.
### Build from Source
**Prerequisites:** Rust (latest stable), Node.js 20+, pnpm
```bash
git clone https://github.com/rustmailer/bichon.git
cd bichon
# Build the WebUI (required before building the server)
cd web && pnpm install && pnpm run build && cd ..
# Build and run
export BICHON_ENCRYPT_PASSWORD=dev-password
cargo run -- --bichon-root-dir /tmp/bichon-data
```
For frontend development:
```bash
cd web && pnpm run dev # Vite dev server with API proxy to Rust backend
```
> [!TIP]
> The WebUI must be built at least once (`pnpm run build`) for the server to serve the frontend. In dev mode (`pnpm run dev`), Vite proxies API calls to the Rust server automatically.
## Configuration Reference
All settings accept both CLI flags (`--bichon-http-port`) and environment variables (`BICHON_HTTP_PORT`). CLI flags take precedence over environment variables.
### Required Settings
| Variable | CLI Flag | Description |
|----------|----------|-------------|
| `BICHON_ROOT_DIR` | `--bichon-root-dir` | **Required.** Absolute path for all persistent data |
| `BICHON_ENCRYPT_PASSWORD` | `--bichon-encrypt-password` | Password used to encrypt stored credentials (IMAP passwords, OAuth tokens) |
| `BICHON_ENCRYPT_PASSWORD_FILE` | `--bichon-encrypt-password-file` | Alternative: read the encryption password from a file |
> [!NOTE]
> If both password options are set, the direct value takes precedence over the file.
### Server & Networking
| Variable | Default | Description |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| `BICHON_HTTP_PORT` | `15630` | HTTP server port |
| `BICHON_BIND_IP` | `0.0.0.0` | IP address to bind to (IPv4 or IPv6) |
| `BICHON_PUBLIC_URL` | `http://localhost:15630` | Public-facing URL used in OAuth redirects and docs |
| `BICHON_BASE_URL` | `/` | Base path for WebUI when behind a reverse proxy (e.g. `/bichon`) |
| `BICHON_WEBUI_TOKEN_EXPIRATION_HOURS` | `168` | Access token lifetime in hours (default 7 days) |
| `BICHON_HTTP_COMPRESSION_ENABLED` | `true` | Enable gzip/brotli/zstd response compression |
### Logging
| Variable | Default | Description |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| `BICHON_LOG_LEVEL` | `info` | Log level: `trace`, `debug`, `info`, `warn`, `error` |
| `BICHON_ANSI_LOGS` | `true` | Colorized terminal output |
| `BICHON_JSON_LOGS` | `false` | JSON-formatted logs for log aggregators |
| `BICHON_LOG_TO_FILE` | `false` | Persist logs to files under root dir |
| `BICHON_MAX_SERVER_LOG_FILES` | `5` | Max log files to retain |
### CORS
| Variable | Default | Description |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| `BICHON_CORS_ORIGINS` | *(allow all)* | Comma-separated list of allowed origins: `http://192.168.1.16:15630,http://myserver.local:15630` |
| `BICHON_CORS_MAX_AGE` | `86400` | Cache duration for CORS preflight in seconds |
> [!WARNING]
> If `BICHON_CORS_ORIGINS` is **not set**, all origins are allowed. If you set it, only exact matches pass. Wildcards (`*`) are **not supported**. Do not add trailing slashes. When using Docker, avoid wrapping the value in quotes.
### TLS & HTTPS
| Variable | Default | Description |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| `BICHON_ENABLE_REST_HTTPS` | `false` | Serve the API over HTTPS (requires valid certificate) |
### SMTP Server
| Variable | Default | Description |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| `BICHON_ENABLE_SMTP` | `false` | Enable the embedded SMTP receiver |
| `BICHON_SMTP_PORT` | `2525` | SMTP listening port |
| `BICHON_SMTP_ENCRYPTION` | `starttls` | Encryption mode: `none`, `starttls`, or `tls` |
| `BICHON_SMTP_AUTH_REQUIRED` | `true` | Require authentication for SMTP connections |
| `BICHON_SMTP_TLS_KEY_PATH` | — | Absolute path to SMTP TLS private key |
| `BICHON_SMTP_TLS_CERT_PATH` | — | Absolute path to SMTP TLS certificate chain |
### Storage Paths
| Variable | Default | Description |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| `BICHON_INDEX_DIR` | `{root}/bichon-indices` | Tantivy full-text index directory |
| `BICHON_DATA_DIR` | `{root}/bichon-storage` | Fjall blob storage directory |
> [!TIP]
> Place `BICHON_INDEX_DIR` on fast SSD storage for responsive search, and `BICHON_DATA_DIR` on high-capacity HDD for cost-effective blob storage.
> [!IMPORTANT]
> Bichon does NOT support writing data directly to a network file system (NFS, CIFS/SMB, etc.). All directories — `BICHON_ROOT_DIR`, `BICHON_DATA_DIR`, and `BICHON_INDEX_DIR` — must reside on a **local file system**; otherwise, data corruption may occur.
### Performance Tuning
| Variable | Default | Description |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| `BICHON_SYNC_CONCURRENCY` | `num_cpus × 2` | Max concurrent account sync tasks |
| `BICHON_METADATA_CACHE_SIZE` | `134217728` (128 MB) | Metadata DB cache in bytes |
| `BICHON_ENVELOPE_CACHE_SIZE` | `134217728` (128 MB) | Envelope index cache in bytes |
## Authentication & RBAC
### Authentication
1. `POST /api/login` with username + password returns a JWT access token
2. All `/api/v1/*` endpoints require `Authorization: Bearer `
3. Tokens expire after the configured duration (`BICHON_WEBUI_TOKEN_EXPIRATION_HOURS`, default 7 days)
4. Long-lived API tokens can be created via WebUI or API for programmatic access
### Default Admin Account
On first start, Bichon creates a built-in admin user:
- **Username:** `admin`
- **Password:** `admin@bichon`
> [!IMPORTANT]
> **Change the password immediately** via WebUI: Settings → Profile. If locked out, use the `bichon-admin` CLI tool to reset it.
### Built-in Roles
| Role | Type | Scope | Description |
|------|------|-------|-------------|
| **Admin** | Global | Unrestricted | Full system access — users, roles, tokens, all accounts, all data operations |
| **Manager** | Global | ACL-scoped | Create accounts, view users, manage authorized accounts and their data |
| **Member** | Global | Minimal | Basic login access; data access granted through account-level role assignments |
| **AccountManager** | Account | Per-account | Full control over an assigned account — config, sync, data read/write/delete, import, SMTP ingest |
| **AccountViewer** | Account | Per-account | Read-only access to an assigned account's messages and metadata |
### Permission Reference
**Global permissions:**
| Permission | Description |
|------------|-------------|
| `system:access` | Login and access the dashboard |
| `system:root` | Manage system configurations (OAuth providers, proxy settings) |
| `user:manage` | Create, update, and delete users |
| `user:view` | View user list and basic profiles |
| `token:manage` | View and revoke all API tokens |
| `account:create` | Connect new email accounts to the system |
| `account:manage:all` | Manage configurations for all email accounts |
| `data:read:all` | Search and read messages across all accounts |
| `data:manage:all` | Manage tags and metadata for all accounts |
| `data:raw:download:all` | Download raw EML files from any account |
| `data:delete:all` | Permanently delete messages from any account |
| `data:export:batch:all` | Export messages in bulk from all accounts |
**Account-scoped permissions (require ACL assignment):**
| Permission | Description |
|------------|-------------|
| `account:manage` | Modify configuration and sync settings for authorized accounts |
| `account:read_details` | View status and details of authorized accounts |
| `data:read` | Read messages from authorized accounts |
| `data:manage` | Manage tags and metadata for authorized accounts |
| `data:raw:download` | Download raw EML files from authorized accounts |
| `data:delete` | Delete messages from authorized accounts |
| `data:export:batch` | Export messages from authorized accounts |
| `data:import:batch` | Import EML/PST data into authorized accounts |
| `data:smtp:ingest` | Receive and archive emails via SMTP for authorized accounts |
> [!TIP]
> Built-in role permissions are immutable. Create **custom roles** via WebUI (`/users/roles`) or API for any combination of the permissions above.
## CLI Tools
### bichon-cli — Import & Export
```bash
./bichon-cli --config config.toml
```
Creates a `config.toml` on first run with your server URL and API token.
| Operation | Description |
|-----------|-------------|
| **EML Directory** | Recursively scan a directory tree of `.eml` files; preserves folder structure |
| **MBOX** | Stream-import from a single `.mbox` archive (including Gmail's MBOX variant) |
| **Thunderbird** | Import directly from a local Thunderbird profile directory |
| **PST** | Import from Outlook Personal Storage `.pst` files |
| **Export to MBOX** | Download account data as an `.mbox` file |
All imports are processed server-side — the server handles MIME parsing, indexing, deduplication, and storage.
### bichon-admin — Administration
```bash
./bichon-admin
```
Interactive menu with two operations:
| Operation | Description |
|-----------|-------------|
| **Reset Admin Password** | Reset the built-in admin password when locked out |
| **Migrate v0.3.7 → v1.0** | Non-destructive migration from legacy storage layout to v1.0 architecture |
## API Reference
Interactive API documentation is available at:
| Endpoint | UI |
|----------|----|
| `/api-docs/swagger` | Swagger UI |
| `/api-docs/redoc` | ReDoc |
| `/api-docs/scalar` | Scalar |
| `/api-docs/spec.json` | Raw OpenAPI 3.0 JSON |
| `/api-docs/spec.yaml` | Raw OpenAPI 3.0 YAML |
All `/api/v1/*` endpoints require `Authorization: Bearer `.
## Import & Export
### Supported Formats
| Format | Tool | Notes |
|--------|------|-------|
| **EML Directory** | `bichon-cli` | Recursive `.eml` scan; preserves folder hierarchy |
| **MBOX** | `bichon-cli` | Single-file streaming import; supports Gmail's MBOX variant |
| **Thunderbird** | `bichon-cli` | Reads directly from local Thunderbird profile directory |
| **PST** | `bichon-cli` | Outlook Personal Storage (`.pst`) file parsing |
| **API Import** | `POST /api/v1/import` | Base64-encoded EML payloads for programmatic use |
| **MBOX Export** | `bichon-cli` | Download account data as `.mbox` file |
All imports flow through the Bichon REST API. The server parses MIME, extracts metadata, indexes content into Tantivy, deduplicates by BLAKE3 content hash, and stores raw blobs in Fjall.
## Architecture
### Workspace Crates
```
bichon/
├── crates/
│ ├── memdb/ Embedded key-value database layer (WAL, transactions)
│ ├── core/ Library — IMAP sync, search, storage, auth, models
│ ├── server/ Binary — Poem web server + embedded WebUI (rust-embed)
│ ├── cli/ Binary — bichon-cli import/export CLI
│ └── admin/ Binary — bichon-admin password reset & migration
└── web/ React + TypeScript + Vite + ShadCN UI frontend
```
### Three-Layer Storage
```
Request Layer
REST API (Poem) │ WebUI (React)
─────────────────────┼────────────────────
Storage Layer │
│
┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐
│ memdb │ │ Tantivy │ │ Fjall │
│ (metadata) │ │ (full-text) │ │ (blobs) │
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ • accounts │ │ • envelope │ │ • raw emails │
│ • users │ │ • attachment │ │ • attachments│
│ • roles │ │ • tags │ │ LZ4 compr. │
│ • config │ │ • contacts │ │ │
│ • proxies │ │ Zstd compr.│ │ BLAKE3 hash │
└──────────────┘ └──────────────┘ └──────────────┘
```
- **memdb**: Key-value metadata store. Houses accounts, users, roles, OAuth2 configs, proxy settings, and system configuration. All operations wrapped in `tokio::spawn_blocking`.
- **Tantivy**: Full-text search indices with Zstd compression support. Two separate indices: envelope (email metadata + body text) and attachment (file metadata + extracted text). Batch-committed every 1,000 documents or 60 seconds.
- **Fjall**: LZ4-compressed LSM tree key-value store. Two keyspaces — `email_keyspace` and `attachments_keyspace`. Content-hash addressed (BLAKE3) with insert-time deduplication. Values larger than 1 KB stored as separate files (KV separation).
### IMAP Download Pipeline
```
Schedule tick (every 10s)
│
▼
reconcile_mailboxes()
Compare local vs. remote
│
┌────┴────┐
▼ ▼
UID OK UID changed / new
(incremental) (full rebuild)
│ │
▼ ▼
fetch new fetch all
(max+1:*) (1:* batched)
│ │
└────┬────┘
▼
extract_envelope_and_store_it()
│
┌────┼────┐
▼ ▼ ▼
Tantivy Fjall memdb
```
- Per-account background tasks managed by a global download-task singleton
- Concurrency controlled by semaphore (default: `num_cpus × 2`)
- Manual sync via `POST /api/v1/accounts/:id/start-download`; cancel with `cancel-download`
- Busy-check prevents overlapping manual and automatic syncs on the same account
## Storage & Backup
### Data Directory Layout
```
{root}/
├── bichon-indices/ Tantivy full-text index (envelope + attachment)
├── bichon-storage/ Fjall LZ4-compressed blob store
├── memdb/ Metadata database (accounts, users, roles, config)
├── logs/ Server logs (when BICHON_LOG_TO_FILE=true)
```
### Backup
Back up the entire `BICHON_ROOT_DIR` (and `BICHON_INDEX_DIR` / `BICHON_DATA_DIR` if overridden). **All three layers must be backed up together** for consistency.
> [!WARNING]
> Do not place `BICHON_ROOT_DIR` or index/data directories directly on network-mounted storage (NFS, SMB, etc.). This can cause index corruption and data loss. Always run Bichon on local storage and use rsync or similar tools to sync to remote destinations.
```bash
# Example with rsync
rsync -avz /path/to/bichon-data/ backup-server:/backups/bichon/
```
### Encryption
Stored credentials (IMAP passwords, OAuth tokens) are encrypted with AES-256-GCM via `ring`. The encryption key is derived from `BICHON_ENCRYPT_PASSWORD`.
> [!NOTE]
> Re-encrypting stored secrets after a password change is not yet supported. If this is a required feature for your use case, please open an issue.
## Internationalization
The WebUI is available in **18 languages**:
| Code | Language | Code | Language |
|------|----------|------|----------|
| `ar` | العربية | `it` | Italiano |
| `da` | Dansk | `jp` | 日本語 |
| `de` | Deutsch | `ko` | 한국어 |
| `en` | English | `nl` | Nederlands |
| `es` | Español | `no` | Norsk |
| `fi` | Suomi | `pl` | Polski |
| `fr` | Français | `pt` | Português |
| `it` | Italiano | `ru` | Русский |
| `zh` | 中文 | `sv` | Svenska |
| `zh-tw` | 繁體中文 | | |
Language preference and UI theme are saved to your user profile and can be changed anytime from the WebUI settings.
## Data Migration (v0.3.7 → v1.0)
Bichon v1.0 introduced a redesigned storage architecture:
| Layer | v0.3.7 (Legacy) | v1.0 |
|-------|---------------|------|
| **Index** | Tantivy (shared) | Tantivy (separate envelope + attachment indices) |
| **Raw data** | Tantivy (inline) | Fjall (LZ4-compressed key-value store) |
| **Metadata** | Tantivy (shared) | memdb (dedicated embedded DB) |
If you ran Bichon prior to v1.0, migrate your data:
```bash
./bichon-admin
# Select "Migrate Legacy v0.3.7 Storage to v1.0"
```
> [!NOTE]
> The migration is **non-destructive** — original v0.3.7 files remain in place and are not modified. You can safely remove them manually after verifying the migration was successful.
## FAQ
### CORS errors when accessing the WebUI
1. Enable debug logging: `BICHON_LOG_LEVEL=debug`
2. Check the server logs for the incoming `Origin` header and configured origins
3. Ensure the browser's exact origin matches an entry in `BICHON_CORS_ORIGINS` (no trailing slash, no wildcards)
4. In Docker, do **not** quote the value: `-e BICHON_CORS_ORIGINS=http://192.168.1.16:15630`
### "Legacy data layout detected" error on startup
Your data was created by Bichon v0.3.7 and must be migrated. Run `./bichon-admin` and select the migration option.
### How do I run Bichon behind a reverse proxy?
Set `BICHON_BASE_URL=/bichon` (or your sub-path) and configure your proxy:
```nginx
# nginx example
location /bichon/ {
proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:15630/;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
}
```
### Can Bichon send emails?
No. Bichon is an **archiver**, not an email client. The optional SMTP server **receives** emails only — it cannot send, forward, or reply.
### What hardware does Bichon need?
- **Recommended:** 4+ CPU cores, 2+ GB RAM (sufficient for 10+ accounts and 200+ GB of archived data)
- Filesystem: use a mainstream Linux filesystem such as **ext4** or **XFS**; avoid network / virtual filesystems (NFS, VirtIO-FS) for all data directories
- Indices benefit from SSD storage; blob storage can use HDD
### How do I reset the admin password?
```bash
./bichon-admin
# Select "Reset Admin Password"
```
### Where can I get help?
- [GitHub Issues](https://github.com/rustmailer/bichon/issues)
- [Discord](https://discord.gg/Bq4M2cDmF4)
- [Wiki](https://github.com/rustmailer/bichon/wiki)
## Roadmap
- [x] Multi-account IMAP Download (Password + OAuth2)
- [x] Full-text search with faceted tags
- [x] Multi-user support with RBAC and custom roles
- [x] WebUI in 18 languages with dark/light themes
- [x] Dashboard with analytics
- [x] CLI import: EML, MBOX, Thunderbird, PST
- [x] CLI export: MBOX
- [x] Embedded SMTP server
- [x] Data migration tooling (v0.3.7 → v1.0)
- [x] On-demand manual download controls
- [ ] Post-download server cleanup (free remote mailbox space)
- [ ] Account-to-account email merge / migration
- [ ] MCP Server for LLM-powered email search and analysis
- [ ] S3-compatible storage backend
- [ ] Enterprise SSO (OIDC / SAML)
## Contributing
Contributions of all kinds are welcome — code, bug reports, documentation, or feature suggestions.
```bash
git clone https://github.com/rustmailer/bichon.git
cd bichon
# Build WebUI
cd web && pnpm install && pnpm run build && cd ..
# Build backend
cargo build
# Run tests
cargo test
```
> [!IMPORTANT]
> Before implementing a new feature or making significant changes, please **open an issue first** to discuss your idea with the maintainer and ensure it aligns with the project's scope.
Feel free to open an [Issue](https://github.com/rustmailer/bichon/issues) or join the [Discord](https://discord.gg/Bq4M2cDmF4) to discuss ideas.
## Tech Stack
| Layer | Technology |
|-------|-----------|
| **Backend** | Rust, Tokio, Poem + Poem OpenAPI |
| **Full-text search** | Tantivy (Zstd compression) |
| **Blob storage** | Fjall (LSM tree, LZ4 compression, KV separation) |
| **Metadata DB** | memdb (embedded key-value store with WAL) |
| **IMAP** | async-imap, rustls (ring), SOCKS5 proxy support |
| **SMTP** | Embedded receiver (AUTH PLAIN/LOGIN, STARTTLS/TLS) |
| **Cryptography** | AES-256-GCM (ring), BLAKE3 (content hashing) |
| **Frontend** | React 18, TypeScript, Vite 6, ShadCN UI, TanStack Router/Query/Table |
| **Charts** | Recharts |
| **i18n** | i18next (18 languages) |
| **Container** | Ubuntu 24.04, Docker |
## License
Bichon is licensed under the [GNU Affero General Public License v3.0](LICENSE).
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