GideonMail is a focused, privacy-first email client built for people who run their own mail servers. It connects to a single IMAP/SMTP account and adds what traditional email clients don't: an AI assistant that reads, triages, and acts on your email — plus SMS alerts, Google Calendar integration, and smart sender management.
No cloud sync. No telemetry. No account linking. Everything runs locally.
Coming June 1: Relegate — the background service version of GideonMail. Same AI engine, no desktop UI, runs on boot. GideonMail is the testing ground for every Relegate feature.
Most email clients handle mail. GideonMail manages it.
- You get a text message when someone important emails you
- Your AI assistant triages your inbox, drafts replies, deletes spam, and creates calendar events
- Security filters scan every email from unknown senders
- Smart sender lists control who triggers alerts, who gets blocked, and who gets analyzed
- Meeting detection finds calendar-worthy emails and queues them for you
All from a lightweight Electron app that sits in your system tray.
- Single IMAP/SMTP account (ISPConfig, Dovecot, Postfix, Zimbra, etc.)
- Folder browsing with drag-and-drop to move emails
- HTML email rendering in a sandboxed iframe
- Compose with rich text — reply, reply all, forward
- File attachments (send and download)
- Full-text search (subject, from, to, body)
- Star/flag messages
- Links open in your default browser
- Triage — AI reviews your inbox and prioritizes every email
- Analyze — one-click summary of any open email with suggested actions
- Draft Reply — AI writes a reply matching the tone of the conversation
- Chat — conversational assistant with full email context
- Email Actions — AI can forward, reply, delete, flag, search, and bulk-delete
- Standing Instructions — persistent rules the AI follows on every check (e.g., "always flag emails from my accountant")
- Save as Instruction — liked what the AI did? One click to make it a permanent rule
One unified list for all your sender rules:
- VIP — always texts you, white highlight in inbox, spam filters skipped
- Watch — AI analyzes every email, configurable actions (SMS, auto-calendar, flag)
- Blocked — dark red in inbox, auto-deleted after 7 days, always spam-filtered
- Muted — grey in inbox, no notifications, spam filters skipped
- Change roles inline with a dropdown — no removing and re-adding
- Add senders from the "Add sender to..." dropdown on any open email
- VIP sender alerts with AI-generated summaries
- Meeting detection — "MEETING from Nicole: Dinner Friday 7pm"
- Conversation alerts — texts you when someone replies to a thread you've been active in
- Configurable: message format, quiet hours (10pm–7am), rate limits, batch mode
- History lookback — catches emails that arrived while app was closed
- Task button on any email — AI extracts date, time, location, attendees
- Visual day timeline — see your schedule with the proposed event highlighted
- Conflict detection — overlapping events shown in red
- Attendee approval — detected attendees shown for your approval before inviting
- Meeting detection — VIP emails that look like meetings get queued as pending appointments
- Auto-calendar — Watch list senders can auto-create events (no invites sent)
- Permanent OAuth with refresh tokens — stays connected
8 toggleable filters (Rules → Security tab):
- SpamAssassin Headers — reads existing server-side spam scores
- Spamhaus ZEN — DNS blocklist for sender IP (free)
- VirusTotal — scans URLs against 70+ antivirus engines (free tier)
- Google Safe Browsing — URL threat check (free tier)
- PhishTank — phishing URL database (free)
- AbuseIPDB — sender IP reputation (free tier)
- ClamAV — local antivirus for attachments (free, requires install)
- Built-in Bayesian — learns from your delete/flag actions over time
VIP, Watch, and Muted senders are immune from spam filters. Only Blocked and unknown senders get scanned.
- System tray with unread count
- Start on Windows login (minimized to tray)
- Single instance lock — no duplicate tray icons
- Windows notifications for meeting detection and auto-calendar events
- Close dialog: "Minimize to Tray" or "Quit"
- Desktop shortcut creator
- Modern 2026 dark theme (charcoal + indigo-violet accent)
- Three-pane layout (folders / message list / read pane)
- Sender status badges on emails (VIP, WATCH, BLOCKED, MUTED)
- Color-coded message list by sender role
- Setup wizard on first launch
- Help button re-opens setup guide anytime
git clone https://github.com/gbroeckling/gideonmail.git
cd gideonmail
npm install
npm startThe setup wizard walks you through connecting your email, AI, SMS, and calendar.
- Node.js 18+ and npm
- An IMAP/SMTP email account
- Windows 10/11 (Electron supports macOS/Linux but tested on Windows)
- Anthropic API — AI assistant (~$0.003/email, ~$40/year for a busy account)
- Textbelt — SMS notifications ($10/1000 texts)
- Google Calendar API — calendar integration (free)
- VirusTotal — URL/attachment scanning (free tier)
- AbuseIPDB — IP reputation (free tier)
The beta is actively used daily with this stack — the most tested combination right now:
- SMS: Textbelt for real-time text alerts
- Email: High-volume IMAP account as an alternative to checking email manually
- AI: Anthropic Console (Claude Haiku) for all AI features
If you're setting up for the first time, this combination gives you the most reliable experience.
| Guide | Description |
|---|---|
| Setup Guide | First-run setup: email, AI, SMS, calendar |
| API Setup | Step-by-step for each API key |
| Features Guide | Complete feature reference |
| Security | Security architecture and filters |
| Architecture | Technical architecture |
main.js Electron main process: IMAP, SMTP, AI, SMS, calendar, security
preload.js IPC bridge (contextIsolation: true)
renderer/
index.html UI structure: sidebar, panes, modals, wizard
styles.css 2026 dark theme with CSS variables
app.js UI logic: message list, compose, AI panel, rules, wizard
security.js 8 security filter implementations
google-auth.js OAuth 2.0 with refresh tokens
assets/ Icons (target + arrow, multiple sizes)
All email processing, AI calls, and security scanning happen in the main process. The renderer communicates via IPC through a secure preload bridge. Email HTML is rendered in a sandboxed iframe. No nodeIntegration, full contextIsolation.
npm start # launch the app
npm run dev # launch with verbose loggingBuilt by Garry Broeckling. Implementation is AI-assisted using Claude by Anthropic — all architecture, product decisions, and testing are human-directed.
MIT — see LICENSE.
Copyright (c) 2026 Garry Broeckling.