Your verification code is 123456.
"], "seen": false, "hasAttachments": false, "attachments": [], "receivedAt": "2026-09-19T14:00:00+00:00", "downloadedAt": "2026-09-19T14:00:05.000Z" } ``` The values above are anonymized. Actual domain availability is controlled by mail.tm and changes over time. ### How much does it cost to create and poll a temporary email inbox? The Actor uses pay-per-event pricing: - **Start:** $0.00005 once per run. - **Item extracted:** one event for each useful mailbox, full message, or active domain row. - Empty polls, retries, filtered-out messages, and failed operations do not create result charges. Current result prices are: | Apify plan | Price per result | | --- | ---: | | Free | $0.00276 | | Bronze | $0.00240 | | Silver | $0.001872 | | Gold | $0.00144 | | Platinum | $0.00144 | | Diamond | $0.00144 | On the Bronze plan, a create-and-poll run that returns one mailbox and one message is about **$0.00485**. Ten useful results are about **$0.02405**, including the start event. One hundred useful results are about **$0.24005**. Infrastructure use can also count toward your Apify platform usage under your account plan. Refunds, disputes, taxes, fraud adjustments, and platform corrections can affect final billing. ### Signup-flow QA pattern Start the Actor asynchronously and watch its dataset. When the mailbox row appears, pass its `address` to the application under test. The same run continues polling and adds message rows as mail arrives. A robust workflow should: 1. set a bounded polling duration; 2. use `subjectContains` or `senderContains` when unrelated mail is possible; 3. fail the test if no expected message arrives; 4. parse the text or HTML body in a downstream step; 5. retain test evidence only as long as needed; and 6. let the Actor delete the disposable mailbox. ### Email-delivery monitoring pattern For a scheduled delivery check, use a retained mailbox: 1. run `createOnly` with `deleteAfterRun: false` and `includeCredentialsInOutput: true`; 2. move the credentials into your secret manager; 3. delete or restrict the original dataset; 4. send authorized test messages on your schedule; and 5. use `pollExisting` with the secret input to collect new messages. The Actor is not a durable mailbox service. mail.tm can rotate domains, expire accounts, or change limits. ### API access with cURL ```bash curl -X POST \ "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automation-lab~temporary-email-inbox-api/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "mode": "createAndPoll", "usernamePrefix": "signup-qa", "pollDurationSecs": 30, "maxMessages": 3, "deleteAfterRun": true }' ``` To wait for completion and receive dataset items directly, use the synchronous dataset endpoint supported by the Apify API. For longer polling windows, asynchronous runs are preferable. ### JavaScript integration ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN }); const run = await client.actor('automation-lab/temporary-email-inbox-api').call({ mode: 'createAndPoll', usernamePrefix: 'signup-qa', pollDurationSecs: 60, subjectContains: 'verification', maxMessages: 3, deleteAfterRun: true, }); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); const mailbox = items.find((item) => item.recordType === 'mailbox'); const messages = items.filter((item) => item.recordType === 'message'); console.log({ mailbox, messages }); ``` ### Python integration ```python import os from apify_client import ApifyClient client = ApifyClient(os.environ['APIFY_TOKEN']) run = client.actor('automation-lab/temporary-email-inbox-api').call(run_input={ 'mode': 'listDomains', }) items = client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items for item in items: print(item['domain']) ``` Do not hard-code retained mailbox passwords in source code. Pass them through a secret store or protected Actor input. ### Use with Apify MCP #### Claude Code Add this Actor from a terminal: ```bash claude mcp add --transport http apify \ "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automation-lab/temporary-email-inbox-api" ``` #### Claude Desktop Add this server object to the Claude Desktop MCP configuration: ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automation-lab/temporary-email-inbox-api" } } } ``` #### Cursor Add the same `apify` server object to Cursor's MCP settings and use the Actor-specific URL shown above. #### VS Code Add the same HTTP MCP server URL to your VS Code MCP configuration, then enable the `automation-lab/temporary-email-inbox-api` tool. Example prompts: - "List the active temporary email domains and return the shortest domain." - "Create a disposable signup-test inbox and poll for 30 seconds." - "Read my retained test mailbox once and return messages whose subject contains verification." Never paste a real mailbox password into a shared conversation. Use your client's secret-input mechanism. ### Limits and reliability - Polling is capped at 240 seconds per run. - The Actor reads the first current inbox page and accepts at most 100 matching messages. - The public provider advertises a 30-request-per-minute limit. - The minimum poll interval is two seconds. - Network errors, HTTP 429, and temporary 5xx responses retry up to three times. - Invalid credentials and other deterministic 4xx responses fail without blind retries. - No residential proxy or browser fallback is used. - Attachments are represented as metadata and provider URLs; binary files are not downloaded. - A newly generated address is unique but delivery from a third-party sender is never guaranteed. - Provider availability and retention are outside this Actor's control. ### Data handling and privacy Email messages may contain personal data, security codes, or private links. Only process messages you are authorized to receive. Minimize polling windows and delete datasets when the test evidence is no longer needed. Generated passwords are excluded from output by default. When `includeCredentialsInOutput` is enabled, anyone who can read the dataset may be able to access the retained mailbox. Restrict dataset access and rotate or delete the mailbox after use. The Actor sends mailbox registration and inbox requests to mail.tm. It does not use AI, train models, send outgoing email, or forward message content to another service. Apify stores run inputs and datasets according to your platform settings and retention policy. ### Legality and responsible use Use disposable addresses only for legitimate QA, development, privacy protection, and delivery testing. Do not use this Actor to create deceptive accounts, bypass access controls, abuse promotions, harvest private mail, or violate a website's terms. You are responsible for: - authorization to test the target application; - the content sent to the temporary address; - applicable privacy and data-retention rules; - protecting retained credentials and message content; and - complying with mail.tm and Apify terms. ### FAQ and troubleshooting #### Why did I get a mailbox but no message? The sender may not have sent yet, delivery may be delayed, the filter may not match, or the provider may have rejected the message. Increase `pollDurationSecs` within the 240-second limit and confirm the subject/sender filter. An empty inbox is valid and is not billed as a message. #### Why did authentication fail? Confirm that the address belongs to mail.tm, the mailbox was not deleted, and the password is exact. A mailbox created with `deleteAfterRun: true` cannot be reused after that run. #### Why is my preferred domain rejected? Domains rotate. Run `listDomains`, then use one of the current records or omit `domain` to select automatically. #### Can this Actor send email? No. It creates and reads disposable inboxes only. Use your application or authorized email provider to send the test message. #### Does it extract verification codes automatically? It returns normalized text and HTML bodies so a downstream step can extract the code or link. It does not guess which substring is a code. ### Related automation-lab Actor - [Bulk SMTP Email Verifier — Mailbox & Catch-All Checker](https://apify.com/automation-lab/smtp-email-verifier) checks whether supplied addresses are deliverable. Use it for list validation, not temporary inbox creation. ### Support If a run fails, include the public run URL, selected mode, and the non-secret part of the input in your report. Never include mailbox passwords, private verification links, or complete message bodies in a support request. # Changelog This Actor's version history is a separate document: https://apify.com/automation-lab/temporary-email-inbox-api/changelog.md # Actor input Schema ## `mode` (type: `string`): Create and poll a new mailbox, create it without waiting, poll an existing mailbox, or list currently available mail.tm domains. ## `address` (type: `string`): Full mail.tm address to access in pollExisting mode. It is treated as sensitive run input and is not logged. ## `password` (type: `string`): Password for pollExisting mode, or an optional password for a newly created mailbox. Store Actor inputs securely because this grants inbox access. ## `usernamePrefix` (type: `string`): Optional readable prefix for a generated address. A random suffix is always added to prevent collisions. ## `domain` (type: `string`): Optional active public mail.tm domain. Leave empty to use the first currently available domain. ## `pollDurationSecs` (type: `integer`): How long createAndPoll or pollExisting waits for messages. Use 0 for one immediate inbox read. ## `pollIntervalSecs` (type: `integer`): Delay between inbox checks. The minimum protects the provider's public API rate limit. ## `maxMessages` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of matching, fully downloaded messages written to the dataset. ## `subjectContains` (type: `string`): Optional case-insensitive subject substring, such as verification or one-time code. ## `senderContains` (type: `string`): Optional case-insensitive substring matched against the sender email address. ## `deleteAfterRun` (type: `boolean`): Deletes a mailbox created by this run after polling. Enabled by default for createAndPoll; disable only when you need to reuse the inbox. ## `includeCredentialsInOutput` (type: `boolean`): Writes the generated mailbox password to the mailbox dataset row. Enable only when you need a later pollExisting run, and protect the dataset as a secret. ## Actor input object example ```json { "mode": "createAndPoll", "usernamePrefix": "signup-qa", "pollDurationSecs": 10, "pollIntervalSecs": 5, "maxMessages": 10, "deleteAfterRun": true, "includeCredentialsInOutput": false } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `overview` (type: `string`): Default dataset view containing created mailboxes, received messages, and available domains. # 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 '