inbuxa/inbuxa-server
1
1 Fork 0
Code Issues Pull Requests Actions Packages Projects Releases 54 Wiki Activity Sponsor

README: describe inbuxa as its own project #285

Merged
jcoffey-dev merged 2 commits from docs/readme-own-path into main 2026-11-03 01:09:35 +00:00
Conversation 0 Commits 2 Files Changed 1
+58 -39
1 changed files with 58 additions and 39 deletions
Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files
README.md
+58 -39
View File
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
</p>
<h3 align="center">
A complete mail and collaboration server, every feature included, under the AGPL
Self-hosted mail, calendars, contacts and files, enterprise features included
</h3>
<p align="center">
@@ -20,35 +20,59 @@
> Development happens on [git.coffeylabs.org/inbuxa/inbuxa-server](https://git.coffeylabs.org/inbuxa/inbuxa-server); the copy on GitHub is a read-only mirror.
> Report issues at **[git.coffeylabs.org/inbuxa/inbuxa-server/issues](https://git.coffeylabs.org/inbuxa/inbuxa-server/issues)**, join discussions at **[community.coffeylabs.org](https://community.coffeylabs.org)**, or chat on **[Discord](https://discord.gg/nqcY4TKfAn)**.
**inbuxa** is a mail and collaboration server: JMAP, IMAP, POP3, SMTP,
CalDAV, CardDAV and WebDAV, in one Rust binary, with ihasmail as its web front
end. It is a fork of [Stalwart](https://github.com/stalwartlabs/stalwart).
Project site: [inbuxa.org](https://inbuxa.org). Documentation: [docs.inbuxa.org](https://docs.inbuxa.org).
**inbuxa** is a self-hosted mail and collaboration server from Coffey Labs. It
speaks JMAP, IMAP, POP3, SMTP, CalDAV, CardDAV and WebDAV from one Rust binary.
Project site: [inbuxa.org](https://inbuxa.org). Documentation:
[docs.inbuxa.org](https://docs.inbuxa.org).
Stalwart ships some features only in a paid Enterprise Edition: multi-tenancy,
masked email, undelete and others. **inbuxa** ships everything to everybody under
the AGPL-3.0, rebuilding those features independently and without using any
of Stalwart's Enterprise code.
The server is one part of a suite. [inbuxa Admin](https://git.coffeylabs.org/inbuxa/inbuxa-admin)
is the console that runs it, and [inbuxa Webmail](https://git.coffeylabs.org/inbuxa/inbuxa-webmail)
is where people read their mail. Each is its own program, so the mail host
doesn't have to serve a web front end at all.
## What's different from Stalwart
## What's included
- **Every feature, one edition.** No license key, no edition checks, no
upsell. See `docs/spec/SPEC.md` §4 for the features being rebuilt, and
`docs/spec/features/` for each one's specification.
- **Webmail and administration by ihasmail,** as a separate service that can
run beside the server or elsewhere. Stalwart's own web interface is removed,
so there's no web front end on the mail host.
- **Clean-room rebuilds.** Enterprise-only code is stripped from every
upstream release before it's imported. The rebuilt features are written
from specifications that use only public sources (`docs/spec/SPEC.md` §3).
There is one edition and no paid tier. Nothing checks a license key.
## How the fork is kept
- **For organizations:** tenants, SCIM provisioning, single sign-on, per-domain
directories and branding.
- **For compliance:** audit log, [legal holds](https://docs.inbuxa.org/run/legal-holds/),
data loss prevention, mail flow rules and journaling.
- **For people:** masked addresses, undelete, shared mailboxes, calendars,
contacts and files.
- **For operators:** monitoring and alerts, [clustering](https://docs.inbuxa.org/run/clustering/)
and scale-out storage, plus [inbuxa Relay](https://docs.inbuxa.org/run/relay/)
for a server that can't take mail from the internet directly.
- **Local AI, if you want it:** a model you run yourself. It stays off until you
turn it on.
Upstream releases arrive as stripped snapshots, never with upstream's git
history, which contains Enterprise code. `tools/fork/strip.py` builds each
snapshot on top of upstream's own `ossify.py`, then verifies it independently.
The report for every import is in `docs/fork/strip-reports/`. See
`docs/spec/SPEC.md` §2.
## Where it's going
**inbuxa** is its own project now, and it's built to stay that way.
- **Its own release line.** Two series a year, in January and July, with one
version number across the suite. 27.1 ships in January 2027, and its release
candidates are out now. See [Versions and upgrades](https://docs.inbuxa.org/versions/).
- **Its own data layout.** From 27.1 the store's format belongs to **inbuxa** and
changes when **inbuxa** needs it to.
- **Its own security work.** Fixes are written and released here, under a
published support window. See [SECURITY.md](./SECURITY.md).
- **Your way out stays open.** inbuxa-migrate brings accounts in from other mail
servers. It also writes them back out as plain files, in a
[published layout](https://coffeylabs.org/specs/account-export/) that any
software can read. See [Leaving inbuxa](https://docs.inbuxa.org/install/accounts/#leaving).
- **Open standards.** We work on JMAP at the IETF. Our undelete work is now part
of [JMAP Object History](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-jmap-object-history/),
a working group draft we co-author.
- **Source you can check.** A running server names the exact source of its build
at `/.well-known/source`.
## Where it came from
**inbuxa** started as a fork of Stalwart.
[Where the code comes from](https://docs.inbuxa.org/provenance/) has the full
record. Moving from a Stalwart 0.16 server is an export and an import, covered
in [Coming from Stalwart](https://docs.inbuxa.org/install/migrating/).
## Building
@@ -57,33 +81,28 @@ cargo build --release -p inbuxa # the binary is target/release/inbuxa
docker build -t inbuxa . # or the container image
```
Settings are read from `INBUXA_*` environment variables. An existing Stalwart
install's `STALWART_*` variables aren't read: the server stops at startup and
names each one to rename.
New installs keep their data in `/var/lib/inbuxa` and logs in
`/var/log/inbuxa`. Existing installs keep the paths their configuration
already names, so none of their data moves.
Settings are read from `INBUXA_*` environment variables. New installs keep
their data in `/var/lib/inbuxa` and logs in `/var/log/inbuxa`. Existing installs
keep the paths their configuration already names, so none of their data moves.
## License and credits
**inbuxa** is free software under the [GNU Affero General Public License,
version 3](./LICENSES/AGPL-3.0-only.txt).
version 3](./LICENSES/AGPL-3.0-only.txt). It is a Coffey Labs project.
It is a fork of Stalwart, copyright © Stalwart Labs LLC, **modified by
It started as a fork of Stalwart, copyright © Stalwart Labs LLC, **modified by
Coffey Labs in 2026**. Upstream's copyright notices are kept on every file
they cover, and every upstream file this fork changed says so in its header,
they cover, and every upstream file changed for **inbuxa** says so in its header,
under the notice it came with. Stalwart's files are dual-licensed
AGPL-3.0-only or Stalwart's Enterprise License, and **inbuxa** takes them under
the AGPL-3.0 only. A few of those files also carry code from other projects
under MIT or BSD licenses, which stays under those licenses;
[THIRD-PARTY.md](./THIRD-PARTY.md) lists it with its notices. "Stalwart" is
Stalwart Labs' name. **inbuxa** isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Stalwart
Labs.
[THIRD-PARTY.md](./THIRD-PARTY.md) lists it with its notices. Stalwart is a
trademark of Stalwart Labs LLC. **inbuxa** is not affiliated with or endorsed by
Stalwart Labs.
`LICENSES/LicenseRef-SEL.txt` (and its copy in `vendor/sieve-rs/`) is there
only because the inherited headers name it as upstream's other option, and
a license a header names has to be in `LICENSES/`. It isn't a license for
**inbuxa** and grants nothing: **inbuxa** is distributed under the
AGPL-3.0-only.
The **inbuxa** mark reuses ihasmail's cat-and-envelope artwork.