Email is an independently built, sideloaded App and a separately deployed Email Runtime. It demonstrates a complex connected app built with the public Deft Author Kit: Gmail, reviewed sending, private drafts and files, native Tasks, and governed Knowledge capture.
Start here: Setup · Compatibility and downloads · Roadmap · Known limitations.
This is a developer preview for operators and app authors. Installation requires a compatible Apps-enabled Deft Host, HTTPS, an OAuth client, private Runtime configuration and explicit permissions. It is not a production-grade Gmail or Outlook replacement.
- Deft Host provides identity, tenant isolation, trusted rendering, private-access review, native Tasks/Knowledge, reviewed actions and receipts.
- Author Kit supplies versioned public schemas, packaging and Runtime transport contracts. It does not grant access.
- Email App and Runtime, owned in this repository, provide mailbox UI declarations, provider integration, credentials, encrypted mailbox/draft state, MIME, attachments and sending.
Email builds without a Deft source checkout or private Deft imports. Operators use public Host contracts and configuration; Email development does not require an Email-specific Host patch. Read the boundary and author workflow.
The published compatibility manifest is the authoritative detached public release record. The repository release/compatibility.json is its source template and also records that URL. The published record identifies the Host version/commit/image/schema, App and Runtime versions, each component's Kit, public assets, checksums and corresponding source. Use its verified publication state and release assets; a candidate record or open PR does not establish that downloads are available.
Release bundle 1.9.0-preview.31 builds App 1.9.1-preview.12 and Runtime 0.4.0-preview.28, both with the exact published Kit 0.1.0-alpha.42 from Host134. Email owns its author/runtime domain modules and uses clean Kit entry points. The supported Host requires schema 131 and the exact generic contracts in the manifest. An older stable Host or a matching schema number alone is insufficient.
This release requires Host 0.3.0-preview.138 or newer. It adds an opted-in read-only Reply snapshot combining saved-draft existence and exact original hydration under fresh final checks, alongside clearer mailbox states and action notices, early technical renewal, scoped service reacquisition after expired leases, durable Gmail refresh reconciliation and a process-lifetime writer lock. A Host-authorized, receipt-backed registration transition lets a trusted compatible App upgrade continue without operator-file or token edits. Host installation trust is explicitly off by default; current account, private-storage, metadata and effect permissions remain independent. No renewal or recovery path sends a message or retries a provider effect. Recovery and rollout details.
Previous release bundle 1.9.0-preview.18 selects Host 0.3.0-preview.125. The Runtime now accepts background sessions that the Host delivers when an owner re-establishes background access after an App upgrade, so nobody copies session tokens into operator files. The App and both Kit packages are unchanged. Host preview.125 still uses schema120; no schema migration is needed.
Download and checksum-verify the Email corresponding-source archive named in the compatibility record, extract it into an empty directory, and run the commands below there. The archive includes sealed Kit tarballs and frozen lockfiles. Alternatively, check out the record's exact public Email source commit.
Use Node >=22.13.0, npm 11.9.0 and pnpm 10.33.0. Linux/POSIX is required to operate the Runtime; Windows can build the App, while some Runtime fixtures require Linux and OpenSSL.
npm --prefix app ci --no-audit --no-fund
pnpm --dir runtime install --frozen-lockfile --ignore-scripts
npm run verify:provenance
npm run build
npm run test:app
npm run test:ui
npm run test:runtime:previewThe build writes app/app.deft.json, app/artifact.json, app/worker.bundle.js and app/build-result.json. Runtime source is native ESM and needs no compilation. No copied node_modules, private artifacts or Deft checkout are build inputs. The focused CI workflow checks these local contracts; it does not by itself prove provider delivery.
Follow setup to obtain the compatible Host, sideload the generated package, deploy the Runtime, enroll current authority and connect Gmail. Follow the bounded acceptance journey to exercise the result. Then use the existing Email-only upgrade example against an unchanged Host.
The implementation includes multiple connected Gmail accounts, explicit Refresh, text/HTML and external images, private drafts and attachments, exact-message Send review, mailbox actions, Task/source navigation and policy-controlled Knowledge capture. Publication and live acceptance are recorded separately in verification; historical receipts apply only to their original artifacts.
Refresh can be slow. The latest retained demo observation took roughly 25–30 seconds to settle visually despite backend work completing in roughly 4–5.5 seconds. Setup and renewal still require operator care. Shared inboxes, full provider parity, production scale and mobile completeness are outside this preview. See limitations and the roadmap.
Email source is separate from Deft and Author Kit source. Versioned Kit tarballs are distributed with the supported preview; npm publication is not an installation prerequisite. Release instructions explain checksums, provenance and corresponding source.
AGPL-3.0-only. Preserve LICENSE, NOTICE and third-party notices. Runtime provenance is verified by npm run verify:provenance. Credentials, custody, mailbox contents and private operational evidence do not belong in public source or release artifacts.