# The web inbox
Source: https://maildev.github.io/maildev/docs/web-ui/
Section: Getting started

A tour of the MailDev 3.0 web UI — message list, HTML and plain-text views, raw source, attachments, responsive preview, search, the command palette, and light and dark themes.

The inbox at `http://localhost:1080` is where you spend your time. It is a React
application talking to the same [REST API](https://maildev.github.io/maildev/docs/reference/rest-api/) you can
script against, and it updates over a websocket — new mail appears without a
refresh.

## Reading a message

Every message can be viewed four ways:

- **HTML** — the rendered message, in an isolated iframe so its CSS cannot leak into the UI.
- **Plain text** — the `text/plain` alternative, which is what a surprising number of recipients actually see.
- **Raw source** — full headers and the MIME structure, for when the question is *why* a client rendered it that way.
- **Attachments** — listed with their filenames and content types, downloadable individually.

![The MailDev inbox showing a message's HTML, plain-text, and raw source views](https://maildev.github.io/maildev/assets/img/screenshots/formats.png)

## Responsive preview

Email clients are the last place where a 320px viewport still matters. The
preview renders the HTML at phone and tablet widths without leaving the app, so a
media query that misfires is visible before it ships.

![Responsive preview of an HTML email at phone and tablet widths](https://maildev.github.io/maildev/assets/img/screenshots/responsive.png)

## Search

The search box filters on sender, recipient, and subject. The same filtering is
available on the API via the `search` parameter on
[`/api/email/summary`](https://maildev.github.io/maildev/docs/reference/rest-api/), which is what makes assertions
in a test suite cheap.

## Command palette

<kbd class="kbd">⌘K</kbd> (<kbd class="kbd">Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd class="kbd">K</kbd> on
Windows and Linux) opens the palette: jump to a message, delete, mark everything
read, switch theme, or relay a message onward without reaching for the mouse.

![The MailDev command palette](https://maildev.github.io/maildev/assets/img/screenshots/command-palette-light.png)

## Light and dark

The UI follows your operating system's color scheme by default, and you can pin
it either way from the palette or from settings.

## What else is in there

- **Mark all read** — one action, or `PATCH /api/email/read-all` over the API.
- **Bulk delete** — select several messages and remove them together.
- **Download** — save a message as `.eml` to open in a real mail client.
- **Relay** — forward a caught message to a real address, if you have configured
  an [outgoing SMTP host](https://maildev.github.io/maildev/docs/reference/cli/).

## Serving it somewhere other than the root

Behind a reverse proxy, set `--base-pathname /maildev` and the UI, API, and MCP
endpoint all move under that prefix. See
[the CLI reference](https://maildev.github.io/maildev/docs/reference/cli/) for the full flag list, and
[HTTPS](https://maildev.github.io/maildev/docs/guides/https/) if you are terminating TLS at MailDev rather than at
the proxy.

## Turning it off

Only need the SMTP catcher and the API? `--disable-web` drops the UI. Useful in
CI, where nobody is looking at a browser.