Email Validator Pro 📧

Advanced email validation actor for Apify platform with comprehensive verification capabilities including SMTP verification, MX record checks, and disposable email detection.

🚀 Features

• 📝 Format Validation: RFC 5322 compliant email format checking
• 🌐 MX Records Check: Validates domain has valid mail exchange records
• ✉️ SMTP Verification: Real-time email existence verification via SMTP
• 🔍 Provider Detection: Identifies free and disposable email providers
• 💡 Smart Suggestions: Suggests corrections for common domain typos
• ⚡ Batch Processing: Efficiently processes large email lists
• 🛡️ Rate Limiting: Built-in delays to prevent abuse
• 📊 Detailed Reporting: Comprehensive validation results and statistics

📋 Input Configuration

Required Fields

• emails (array): List of email addresses to validate

Optional Settings

• checkSMTP (boolean, default: true): Enable SMTP verification
• rejectDisposable (boolean, default: false): Mark disposable emails as invalid
• batchSize (integer, default: 50): Number of emails per batch (1-100)
• delayBetweenChecks (number, default: 0.1): Delay between validations in seconds
• maxRetries (integer, default: 2): Maximum retry attempts for SMTP connections
• timeout (integer, default: 10): SMTP connection timeout in seconds

📤 Output Format

Each email validation returns a detailed result object:

{
  "email": "user@example.com",
  "original_email": "User@Example.com",
  "is_valid": true,
  "valid_format": true,
  "valid_mx": true,
  "valid_smtp": true,
  "is_free": false,
  "is_disposable": false,
  "domain": "example.com",
  "errors": [],
  "warnings": [],
  "suggestions": [],
  "mx_records": ["10:mail.example.com"],
  "smtp_response": "250 OK",
  "validation_time": 1642789123.456
}

Final Summary Object

{
  "summary": true,
  "total_emails": 1000,
  "valid_emails": 847,
  "invalid_emails": 153,
  "free_emails": 234,
  "disposable_emails": 12,
  "validation_rate": 84.7,
  "processing_time_seconds": 45.2,
  "emails_per_second": 22.1,
  "common_errors": {
    "Invalid email format": 89,
    "Domain has no MX records": 34,
    "Email address does not exist": 30
  },
  "options_used": {...},
  "checks_performed": [...]
}

🎯 Use Cases

Marketing & Lead Generation

• Email List Cleaning: Remove invalid emails before campaigns
• Lead Qualification: Verify prospect contact information
• Bounce Rate Reduction: Improve email deliverability rates

E-commerce & SaaS

• User Registration: Validate emails during signup
• Account Recovery: Ensure password reset emails reach users
• Newsletter Management: Clean subscriber lists

Data Quality & Compliance

• Database Maintenance: Regular email list hygiene
• GDPR Compliance: Verify contact consent accuracy
• CRM Integration: Enhance customer data quality

🛠️ Technical Details

Validation Process

1. Format Check: RFC 5322 regex validation
2. Domain Extraction: Parse email domain
3. Provider Classification: Check against free/disposable lists
4. MX Records: DNS lookup for mail exchange records
5. SMTP Verification: Connect to mail server and verify recipient
6. Result Compilation: Generate comprehensive validation report

Supported Email Providers

Free Providers (200+)

• Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, Hotmail, AOL
• iCloud, Protonmail, Yandex, Mail.ru
• And many more regional providers

Disposable Providers (100+)

• 10minutemail, Tempmail, Guerrillamail
• Mailinator, YOPmail, Maildrop
• Comprehensive list of temporary email services

Performance & Limits

• Throughput: Up to 50+ emails/second (depending on SMTP response times)
• Batch Processing: Configurable batch sizes (1-100 emails)
• Rate Limiting: Customizable delays to prevent blocking
• Retry Logic: Automatic retries for failed connections
• Timeout Handling: Configurable connection timeouts

🚨 Important Notes

SMTP Verification Considerations

• Rate Limits: Some mail servers implement rate limiting
• False Positives: Yahoo and some providers may return positive responses for non-existent emails
• Temporary Failures: Network issues may cause temporary validation failures
• Privacy: SMTP checks involve connecting to external mail servers

Best Practices

1. Start Small: Test with small batches first
2. Monitor Results: Check for high error rates or timeouts
3. Respect Limits: Use appropriate delays between checks
4. Handle Failures: Plan for temporary network issues
5. Regular Updates: Disposable provider lists change frequently

📊 Example Usage

Basic Email Validation

{
  "emails": [
    "user@gmail.com",
    "test@example.com",
    "invalid@nonexistent.xyz"
  ]
}

Advanced Configuration

{
  "emails": ["user1@example.com", "user2@test.com"],
  "checkSMTP": true,
  "rejectDisposable": true,
  "batchSize": 25,
  "delayBetweenChecks": 0.2,
  "maxRetries": 3,
  "timeout": 15
}

Large Scale Processing

{
  "emails": [...], // 10,000+ emails
  "checkSMTP": false, // Faster processing
  "batchSize": 100,
  "delayBetweenChecks": 0.05
}

🔧 Error Handling

The actor handles various error scenarios gracefully:

• Invalid Input: Clear error messages for malformed input
• Network Issues: Retry logic for temporary failures
• Rate Limiting: Automatic backoff and retry
• Server Errors: Detailed error reporting and logging
• Timeout Handling: Configurable timeouts with fallback

📈 Performance Optimization

Speed vs Accuracy Trade-offs

• Fast Mode: Disable SMTP checking for format/MX validation only
• Balanced Mode: Default settings with moderate SMTP verification
• Thorough Mode: Enable all checks with retries for maximum accuracy

Batch Size Recommendations

• Small Lists (< 100): Batch size 10-25
• Medium Lists (100-1000): Batch size 25-50
• Large Lists (1000+): Batch size 50-100

🆘 Support & Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. High Invalid Rate: Check for data quality issues in input
2. Slow Processing: Reduce batch size or increase delays
3. SMTP Timeouts: Increase timeout values or reduce retries
4. Memory Issues: Process very large lists in smaller chunks

Getting Help

• Check actor logs for detailed error information
• Review input format and configuration options
• Contact Apify support for platform-specific issues

📄 License & Terms

This actor is provided as-is for email validation purposes. Users are responsible for:

• Complying with applicable data protection laws
• Respecting email provider terms of service
• Using validated data ethically and legally
• Maintaining data security and privacy

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🏷️ Tags

email validation smtp mx-records verification email-checker disposable-email bulk-validation data-quality lead-generation

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Built with ❤️ for the Apify platform