# Bulk Email Validator (syntax, MX, disposable, role) (`authenticgrowth/bulk-email-validator-mx`) Actor

Cleans an email list without sending mail: RFC syntax, domain MX records, disposable-domain and role-account detection. Does not confirm that a mailbox exists on the Apify cloud (port 25 is blocked). Pay per email. No scraping, no login, no LLM.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/authenticgrowth/bulk-email-validator-mx.md
- **Developed by:** [Authentic Growth LLC](https://apify.com/authenticgrowth) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Lead generation
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.30 / 1,000 email verifieds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Bulk Email Validator (syntax · MX · disposable · role)

Cleans an email list **without sending any mail**. For each address it checks RFC syntax, resolves the domain's MX (or A) records, and flags disposable domains and role accounts (`info@`, `support@`, …).

**What it does not do on the Apify cloud:** it does not confirm that a mailbox exists, because outbound port 25 is blocked there. A `valid` result with `reason: mx_only` means "well-formed, and the domain accepts mail", not "this person's mailbox exists". If you run the Actor on your own infrastructure with `smtpCheck: true`, it also asks the mail server about the mailbox (`RCPT TO`, then `RSET`; nothing is delivered) and detects catch-all domains.

No scraping, no login, no third-party API key, no LLM. Public DNS and SMTP only.

### Output (one row per email)

| field | meaning |
|---|---|
| `status` | `valid` / `invalid` / `risky` / `unknown` |
| `reason` | `syntax`, `no_mx`, `smtp_rejected`, `smtp_accepted`, `mx_only`, `disposable`, `role_account`, `catch_all`, `smtp_timeout`, `smtp_tempfail`, … |
| `domain`, `mx` | domain and the MX host that answered |
| `disposable`, `role_account`, `catch_all` | booleans (catch-all is `null` when SMTP check is off or inconclusive) |
| `smtp_code`, `smtp_message` | raw SMTP reply for your own rules |

A `SUMMARY` record in the key-value store gives totals per status.

### Pricing

Pay per event: one `email-verified` event per input address. Duplicates are removed before counting. The run stops when your spending limit is reached, and you are never charged beyond it.

### Limits and honesty

- Some providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) answer `RCPT TO` for every mailbox or throttle unknown senders. Those come back as `catch_all` or `unknown`; that is a property of the provider, not a bug.
- **On the Apify cloud outbound port 25 is blocked**, so the SMTP mailbox check cannot run there: `smtpCheck` is off by default and the Actor returns syntax + MX + disposable + role results (`reason: mx_only`). Run the Actor locally (`apify run`) or on your own server with `smtpCheck: true` for mailbox-level results and catch-all detection.
- The disposable-domain list is small and built in; it will grow in later versions.

### Local run

```
pip install -r requirements.txt
python -m src.main   # reads ./storage/key_value_stores/default/INPUT.json
```

Published by オーセンティック・グロース合同会社 (Authentic Growth LLC, Japan). Support is handled by an automated agent and answered as such.

# Actor input Schema

## `emails` (type: `array`):

List of email addresses to verify (one per item). Up to 50,000 per run.

## `smtpCheck` (type: `boolean`):

Connect to the domain's MX server and ask whether the mailbox exists (RCPT TO; no mail is sent). Outbound port 25 is blocked on the Apify cloud, so on the platform this returns 'unknown' — leave it off there. Turn it on when running the Actor locally or on your own infrastructure.

## `smtpTimeoutSec` (type: `integer`):

Per-connection timeout for the SMTP check.

## `fromAddress` (type: `string`):

Only used in the handshake; nothing is sent. Use an address at a domain you control.

## `concurrency` (type: `integer`):

Parallel verifications.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "emails": [
    "info@example.com",
    "no-reply@github.com",
    "someone@mailinator.com",
    "not an email"
  ],
  "smtpCheck": false,
  "smtpTimeoutSec": 8,
  "fromAddress": "verify@example.com",
  "concurrency": 20
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One record per input email with status (valid / invalid / risky / unknown), reason, domain, MX host, disposable, role_account, catch_all, smtp_code.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Totals per status for the run.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "emails": [
        "info@example.com",
        "no-reply@github.com",
        "someone@mailinator.com",
        "not an email"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("authenticgrowth/bulk-email-validator-mx").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "emails": [
        "info@example.com",
        "no-reply@github.com",
        "someone@mailinator.com",
        "not an email",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("authenticgrowth/bulk-email-validator-mx").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "emails": [
    "info@example.com",
    "no-reply@github.com",
    "someone@mailinator.com",
    "not an email"
  ]
}' |
apify call authenticgrowth/bulk-email-validator-mx --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,authenticgrowth/bulk-email-validator-mx"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/nwCPtAnYKkFVDAod3/builds/j7XdX5GxTuAwZcYrz/openapi.json