Experience email the way you want with 0 – the first open source email app that puts your privacy and safety first (coming soon). Join the discord: https://discord.gg/0email

An Open-Source Gmail Alternative for the Future of Email

Zero is an open-source AI email solution that gives users the power to self-host their own email app while also integrating external services like Gmail and other email providers. Our goal is to modernize and improve emails through AI agents to truly modernize emails.

Most email services today are either closed-source, data-hungry, or too complex to self-host. 0.email is different:

• ✅ Open-Source – No hidden agendas, fully transparent.
• 🦾 AI Driven - Enhance your emails with Agents & LLMs.
• 🔒 Data Privacy First – Your emails, your data. Zero does not track, collect, or sell your data in any way. Please note: while we integrate with external services, the data passed through them is not under our control and falls under their respective privacy policies and terms of service.
• ⚙️ Self-Hosting Freedom – Run your own email app with ease.
• 📬 Unified Inbox – Connect multiple email providers like Gmail, Outlook, and more.
• 🎨 Customizable UI & Features – Tailor your email experience the way you want it.
• 🚀 Developer-Friendly – Built with extensibility and integrations in mind.

Zero is built with modern and reliable technologies:

• Frontend: Next.js, React, TypeScript, TailwindCSS, Shadcn UI
• Backend: Node.js, Drizzle ORM
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Authentication: Better Auth, Google OAuth

Required Versions:

• Node.js (v18 or higher)
• Bun (v1.2 or higher)
• Docker (v20 or higher)

Before running the application, you'll need to set up services and configure environment variables. For more details on environment variables, see the Environment Variables section.

You can set up Zero in two ways:

1. Better Auth Setup

   • Open the .env file and change the BETTER_AUTH_SECRET to a random string. (Use openssl rand -hex 32 to generate a 32 character string)

     BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=your_secret_key

2. Google OAuth Setup (Required for Gmail integration)

   • Go to Google Cloud Console

   • Create a new project

   • Add the following APIs in your Google Cloud Project: People API, Gmail API

     • Use the links above and click 'Enable' or
     • Go to 'APIs and Services' > 'Enable APIs and Services' > Search for 'Google People API' and click 'Enable'
     • Go to 'APIs and Services' > 'Enable APIs and Services' > Search for 'Gmail API' and click 'Enable'

   • Enable the Google OAuth2 API

   • Create OAuth 2.0 credentials (Web application type)

   • Add authorized redirect URIs:

     • Development:
       • http://localhost:3000/api/auth/callback/google
     • Production:
       • https://your-production-url/api/auth/callback/google

   • Add to .env:

     GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
     GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret

   • Add yourself as a test user:

     • Go to Audience
     • Under 'Test users' click 'Add Users'
     • Add your email and click 'Save'

Copy .env.example located in the project folder to .env in the same folder and configure the following variables:

# Auth
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=     # Required: Secret key for authentication

# Google OAuth (Required for Gmail integration)
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=       # Required for Gmail integration
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=   # Required for Gmail integration

# Database
DATABASE_URL=           # Required: PostgreSQL connection string for backend connection

# Redis
REDIS_URL=              # Redis URL for caching (http://localhost:8079 for local dev)
REDIS_TOKEN=            # Redis token (upstash-local-token for local dev)

For local development a connection string example is provided in the .env.example file located in the same folder as the database.

Zero uses PostgreSQL for storing data. Here's how to set it up:

1. Start the Database

   Run this command to start a local PostgreSQL instance:

   bun docker:up

   This creates a database with:

   • Name: zerodotemail
   • Username: postgres
   • Password: postgres
   • Port: 5432

2. Set Up Database Connection

   Make sure your database connection string is in .env file.

   For local development use:

   DATABASE_URL="postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/zerodotemail"
   

3. Database Commands

   • Set up database tables:

     bun db:push

   • Create migration files (after schema changes):

     bun db:generate

   • Apply migrations:

     bun db:migrate

   • View database content:

     bun db:studio

     If you run bun dev in your terminal, the studio command should be automatically running with the app.

Please refer to the contributing guide.

If you'd like to help with translating Zero to other languages, check out our translation guide.

Curious who makes Zero? Here are our contributors and maintainers