Haraka

# Haraka — a Node.js Mail Server

[![Build][ci-img]][ci-url] [![Cover][cov-img]][cov-url] [![Qlty][qlty-img]][qlty-url]

Haraka is a highly scalable [Node.js][1] SMTP server with a modular plugin architecture. It handles thousands of concurrent connections and delivers thousands of messages per second. Haraka and its plugins are written in asynchronous JavaScript, optimised for throughput and low latency.

Haraka offers strong spam protection (see [Plugins.md][plugins]) and is widely deployed as a filtering [MTA][3] or as a [MSA][5] on port 465 (and legacy 587) with the auth and [DKIM][6] plugins enabled.

Haraka is not a mail store, an [LDA][7], or an IMAP server. It is designed to work **alongside** those systems. A scalable outbound delivery engine is built in: mail flagged as `relaying` (for example, by an auth plugin) is queued for
outbound delivery automatically.

## Plugin Architecture

Haraka's defining feature is its plugin system. Every SMTP transaction is a sequence of well-defined hooks — `connect`, `helo`, `mail`, `rcpt`, `data`, `data_post`, `queue`, and more — and each hook can be extended with a few lines of JavaScript. Plugins are asynchronous by default, so a slow lookup against DNS, Redis, or an HTTP API never blocks the server.

The result is that behaviours which would require a custom MTA elsewhere are typically a small file in Haraka. For example, accepting qmail-style tagged addresses (`user-anything@domain.com`) and rewriting them to `user@domain.com` before forwarding to an Exchange or IMAP backend looks roughly like this:

```js
exports.hook_rcpt = (next, connection, params) => {
  const rcpt = params[0]
  const [user] = rcpt.user.split('-')
  rcpt.user = user
  next()
}
```

A comprehensive registry of community and core plugins — auth, DNSBLs, DKIM, SpamAssassin, rspamd, Redis, ClamAV, queue backends, and many others — lives in [Plugins.md][plugins]. To write your own, see the [plugin tutorial][tutorial].

## Documentation

- [Plugins.md][plugins] — plugin registry and configuration reference
- [docs/][docs] — core documentation (Connection, Transaction, Outbound, …)
- [Tutorial][tutorial] — step-by-step getting started guide
- [CHANGELOG.md][changelog] — release notes
- [SECURITY.md][security] — security policy and reporting

## Getting Help

- [GitHub Issues][issues]
- [Mailing list][mailing-list] (implemented as a Haraka plugin)
- [Screencast: Getting started with Haraka][screencast]

## Installation

Haraka requires [Node.js][1]. Install via [npm][npm]:

```sh
npm install -g Haraka
```

Create a service directory:

```sh
haraka -i /path/to/haraka_test
```

This creates `haraka_test` with `config/` and `plugins/` subdirectories and sets the host name from `hostname(1)`. Edit `config/host_list` to add the domains for which Haraka should accept mail.

Start Haraka:

```sh
haraka -c /path/to/haraka_test
```

## Configuration

Edit `config/plugins` to select active plugins. By default, mail addressed to domains in `config/host_list` is accepted and forwarded via the `smtp-forward` plugin (configured in `config/smtp_forward.ini`).

Per-plugin documentation is available via:

```sh
haraka -h plugins/<name>
```

See [Plugins.md][plugins] for the full registry.

## Running from Source

```sh
git clone https://github.com/haraka/Haraka.git
cd Haraka
npm install
node haraka.js
```

## Authorship and Maintenance

Haraka was created by [Matt Sergeant][matt-sergeant] (`baudehlo`), formerly project leader of [SpamAssassin][spamassassin] and a contributor to [Qpsmtpd][qpsmtpd]. The project is currently maintained by
[Matt Simerson][msimerson] (`msimerson`).

Haraka is the work of many hands. See [CONTRIBUTORS.md][contributors] for the full list of people who have contributed code, documentation, and plugins.

## License

Haraka is released under the MIT License. See [LICENSE][license] for details.

[1]: https://nodejs.org/
[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_transfer_agent
[5]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_submission_agent
[6]: https://github.com/haraka/haraka-plugin-dkim
[7]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_delivery_agent
[npm]: https://www.npmjs.com/package/Haraka
[plugins]: https://github.com/haraka/Haraka/blob/master/Plugins.md
[docs]: https://github.com/haraka/Haraka/tree/master/docs
[tutorial]: https://github.com/haraka/Haraka/blob/master/docs/Tutorial.md
[changelog]: https://github.com/haraka/Haraka/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md
[security]: https://github.com/haraka/Haraka/blob/master/SECURITY.md
[contributors]: https://github.com/haraka/Haraka/blob/master/CONTRIBUTORS.md
[license]: https://github.com/haraka/Haraka/blob/master/LICENSE
[issues]: https://github.com/haraka/Haraka/issues
[mailing-list]: mailto:haraka-sub@harakamail.com
[screencast]: https://youtu.be/6twKXMAsPsw
[matt-sergeant]: https://github.com/baudehlo
[msimerson]: https://github.com/msimerson
[spamassassin]: https://spamassassin.apache.org/
[qpsmtpd]: https://github.com/smtpd/qpsmtpd/
[ci-img]: https://github.com/haraka/Haraka/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg
[ci-url]: https://github.com/haraka/Haraka/actions/workflows/ci.yml
[cov-img]: https://codecov.io/github/haraka/Haraka/coverage.svg
[cov-url]: https://codecov.io/github/haraka/Haraka
[qlty-img]: https://qlty.sh/gh/haraka/projects/Haraka/maintainability.svg
[qlty-url]: https://qlty.sh/gh/haraka/projects/Haraka