Run Guide

Friendly PowerShell commands for starting the app, creating a customer, sending a local test, and fixing common local errors.

Open PowerShell Here

Open PowerShell and move into the project folder.

cd C:\Users\USER\Documents\Codex\2026-06-10\i-to-build-a-company-tha\outputs\independent-smtp-provider

Start The App

This starts the dashboard, SMTP listener, and 20 worker engines.

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\start-dev.ps1

# Or run manually:
node cli.js init
npm run dev

Open Dashboard

Keep PowerShell running, then open this URL in your browser.

http://127.0.0.1:8080/

Create A Test Customer

node cli.js create-account "Test Company" admin@testcompany.com
node cli.js create-domain <accountId> testcompany.com
node cli.js dev-verify-domain <domainId>
node cli.js create-smtp-key <accountId>

Send A Local Test

File mode writes the accepted email to data/delivered.

node scripts/send-test.js <username> <password> sender@testcompany.com you@example.com

If The Site Refuses Connection

The app is not running, or another process is using the port.

npm run dev

Production Gate

Dedicated hostname and TLS
Forward DNS and reverse DNS/PTR
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC
Abuse and postmaster mailboxes
IP/domain warmup before high volume

What The Browser Cannot Do

A website should not silently open PowerShell or run arbitrary commands on your computer. This dashboard gives copyable commands, and Codex can run setup commands here when you approve them.