Email Sending & MailDev Workflow

This environment routes all transactional mail through the local MailDev SMTP sink so we can test WooCommerce notifications without delivering anything to real customers.

Architecture Overview

MailDev container (docker-compose.yml, service maildev)
- Image: ghcr.io/wilsonify/maildev/maildev:2.2.1
- SMTP listener: maildev:1025
- Web UI: exposed on your host at http://localhost:31080
WordPress container
- Runs the WP Mail SMTP plugin.
- Plugin is configured to use the SMTP mailer pointing at MailDev (host maildev, port 1025, no TLS, no auth).
- From address defaults to [email protected].

Because MailDev captures messages in-memory, nothing leaves the workstation. When you need to resend email through a real ESP (SendGrid, SES, etc.), swap the WP Mail SMTP settings.

Verifying the Configuration

1. Inspect WP Mail SMTP options

cd /mnt/SSD1/mrepos/bitbucket.org/wilsonify/renewed-renaissance-woocommerce
docker compose run --rm wordpress wp option get wp_mail_smtp

You should see mailer => smtp, host => maildev, port => 1025, and auth => false. If not, apply the default profile:

docker compose run --rm wordpress wp option update wp_mail_smtp '{"mail":{"from_email":"[email protected]","from_name":"Renewed Renaissance","mailer":"smtp","return_path":true,"from_email_force":true,"from_name_force":false},"smtp":{"host":"maildev","port":1025,"encryption":"none","autotls":false,"auth":false,"user":"","pass":""},"general":{"summary_report_email_disabled":false}}' --format=json

2. Run the WP-CLI doctor check

docker compose run --rm -e WP_CLI_PACKAGES_DIR=/var/www/html/.wp-cli/packages wordpress \
  wp doctor check wp-mail-smtp-mailer --config=wpdoctor/doctor.yml

A success status confirms the MailDev mailer is wired up.

3. Send a test email

Browse to https://www.renewed-renaissance.com/wp-admin/admin.php?page=wp-mail-smtp-tools&tab=test
Send a test message to any address.
Open http://localhost:31080 to view the MailDev inbox.

Troubleshooting Checklist

Symptom	Checks
No emails appear in MailDev	`docker compose ps maildev` (should be `Up`), then `docker compose logs maildev --tail=200`.
WP Mail SMTP warns "mailer setup incomplete"	Re-run the option update command or configure the plugin through the admin UI.
Test email fails with connection errors	Confirm `wordpress` container can resolve `maildev`: `docker compose exec wordpress ping -c1 maildev`.
Need to deliver real emails	Replace SMTP settings with your production ESP credentials, revert to MailDev afterward.

Operational Tips

MailDev wipes its in-memory store whenever the container restarts. Export important test emails via the Web UI.
Automate regression checks by adding the doctor command to CI pipelines.
The maildev service is intentionally not exposed publicly—only the web UI is mapped to localhost:31080.