Self-Hosted Email Sorting: Deployment Checks

Self-hosted email sorting means deciding where the sorting application and model run. Hosting your mailbox on Mailcow, Mailu or another server does not automatically self-host the sorting application too.

Keep mail delivery separate from classification

An IMAP sorting application accesses messages after delivery. Connecting it does not require replacing your MX records. First verify the mailbox is reachable, credentials are supported and the desired folders are visible. The current production host guard rejects private or reserved addresses, so a private mail-server integration requires an administrator-reviewed deployment.

Native server rules can remain useful for exact sender or subject conditions. Add a model-based category only for a purpose that needs it, and avoid two mechanisms moving the same messages back and forth.

Review the complete model path

A local model is not a local-only guarantee. Verify which application accesses mail, the endpoint’s network access and whether the actual model is local. In the current code, a custom endpoint may have the default model provider configured as a fallback. A failed request may be retried there.

Production custom-endpoint settings also reject loopback and private addresses. Do not disable production protections or publish an unauthenticated model server as a shortcut. A strict private production setup needs a deployment review, not just a localhost URL pasted into Settings.

Test without confidential messages

Use a synthetic invoice, a promotion from the same sender and an ambiguous message. Record expected categories, preview and inspect applied moves in the real IMAP folders. Test a model outage separately and observe outbound requests before claiming local-only processing. No end-to-end self-hosted outage test is claimed here.

Keep a review routine and a backup/recovery plan for your deployment. History cannot undo permanent deletion or recall forwarding; an AI-summary forward includes the original message too.

Continue with Mailcow setup, model configuration and the Ollama guide.