mailflare/docs/deployment.md

Deployment and configuration

This guide covers Cloudflare deployment, runtime configuration, database backups, and application updates.

Overview

Set up Mailflare in three steps:

1. Deploy the app: use the Deploy to Cloudflare button, set the app name to mailflare, and provide the required CF_TOKEN.
2. Complete setup: open the deployed app and follow /setup to check the installation and create the first admin account.
3. Connect your domain: add a domain managed by the same Cloudflare account. Mailflare configures email routing and, when available and selected, email sending before helping you create the first mailbox.

The Worker name must remain mailflare. Before starting, create the required CF_TOKEN with Zone Read, DNS Edit, Email Routing Edit, and Email Routing Rules Write permissions for every domain you plan to connect. DNS Edit lets the confirmed setup flow replace conflicting MX records. Add Email Sending Edit when Mailflare should send email; it is optional for receive-only domains.

Step 1: Deploy mailflare

1. Click Deploy to Cloudflare above and sign in to Cloudflare if prompted.
2. Choose the Cloudflare account that owns the domain you want to use.
3. Set the app name to exactly mailflare. Do not rename it.
4. Add CF_TOKEN when Cloudflare asks for the app's runtime variables or secrets.
5. Start the deployment and wait for Cloudflare to finish provisioning and deploying the Worker.

Required configuration

Mailflare requires this runtime value:

• CF_TOKEN — a scoped Cloudflare API token with Zone Read, DNS Edit, Email Routing Edit, and Email Routing Rules Write access for the domains you will connect. Add Email Sending Edit to enable outbound mail. This is separate from the token Cloudflare uses to deploy the app.

Paste only the token secret into CF_TOKEN. Do not include the word Bearer and do not use the token ID. The token must belong to the same Cloudflare account as the domains you connect.

Step 2: Complete mailflare setup

1. Open the URL of the deployed mailflare Worker.
2. Go to /setup if Mailflare does not take you there automatically.
3. Let Mailflare check the required Cloudflare configuration and initialize the empty D1 database.
4. Create the first admin account when prompted.

Setup applies the committed migrations through the Worker's D1 binding before creating the first admin account.

Step 3: Connect your primary domain and create an account

1. Enter a domain that already uses Cloudflare DNS on the same account as CF_TOKEN.
2. Continue while Mailflare enables Email Routing and configures the required routing and sending DNS.
3. Choose the address for your first mailbox and finish setup.
4. Open the inbox and send a test message to the new address.

To connect more domains later, open Admin → Domains, select New domain, and enter the hostname. Mailflare configures Email Routing and Email Sending automatically.

Your inbox should be ready to send and receive emails

---

Manual deployment

Install dependencies, configure the Cloudflare bindings in wrangler.jsonc, and run:

npm install
npm run deploy:local

The local deploy command builds with vinext and uploads the complete Worker with Wrangler. The Cloudflare Vite plugin generates dist/server/wrangler.json and redirects Wrangler to that build. It does not modify D1. The complete Worker is required because worker.ts also handles inbound email, queues, scheduled backups, and the real-time Durable Object.

For manual recovery, pending migrations can still be applied with:

npm run db:migrate:remote

Remote migrations require the target account's database_id in your local wrangler.jsonc. Do not commit an account-specific database ID to a reusable repository.

Database backups

Mailflare exports its D1 records as JSON and stores the backup files in the configured R2 bucket. A cron trigger in wrangler.jsonc runs daily at 02:00 UTC and applies the schedule selected under Admin → Backups. Manual backups run the same record export directly from the admin API.

Deploy the complete Worker with npm run deploy whenever the cron trigger is added or changed.

After upgrading an existing installation and confirming the cron trigger is active, the old Workflow can be removed with npx wrangler workflows delete mailflare-database-backup. Deleting it also removes its historical Workflow instances; backup files in R2 and rows in Mailflare's backup history are unaffected.

Email assistant and MCP

The assistant uses the Workers AI AI binding and a separate mailflare-agent queue. Provision the queue in the Cloudflare account before deploying a configuration that declares it, and apply migration 0032_add_agentic_mail.sql before opening the new UI on an existing database. The five-minute cron recovers pending auto-draft work; the 02:00 UTC cron still runs backups.

In the inbox, open Assistant → Settings for a mailbox, select its reviewer, and enable the assistant. Auto-drafting is a separate opt-in. It skips spam, automated mail, and mailboxes with out-of-office replies enabled. Generated replies appear as ordinary drafts assigned to the reviewer. The reviewer must open the draft and confirm the exact content before delivery.

The assistant panel no longer exposes MCP key management. External MCP clients can still connect to https://<your-mailflare-origin>/mcp with a mailbox-scoped Bearer key created through the authenticated /api/agent/mcp-keys endpoint. Keys can be listed and revoked through that endpoint; a new key is shown only once. The server uses Streamable HTTP and accepts clients that can set a Bearer header. Its request_send tool returns a Mailflare review URL; the MCP key cannot confirm or deliver messages directly. MCP does not require Workers AI for read and draft tools.

Updating Mailflare

The Update Mailflare button in the admin dashboard dispatches .github/workflows/deploy-update.yml in the installation repository. The workflow replaces the installation branch's complete tracked tree with the latest upstream source, commits that replacement, and pushes it. This avoids merge conflicts between independently created installation and upstream histories. Target-only committed files and code changes are intentionally removed; repository variables, secrets, and other GitHub or Cloudflare configuration remain unchanged. A connected Cloudflare Git integration then builds and deploys the change.

Auto update

Create a fine-grained personal access token for the installation repository with these repository permissions:

Permission	Access	Used for
Actions	Read and write	Dispatching deploy-update.yml from the Mailflare admin dashboard
Contents	Read and write	Committing and pushing the upstream source into the installation repository
Workflows	Read and write	Replacing files inside .github/workflows during an update

Configure the token and repository details in both Cloudflare and GitHub:

Location	Name	Type	Value
Cloudflare Worker	GITHUB_UPDATE_TOKEN	Secret	The fine-grained personal access token
Cloudflare Worker	GITHUB_UPDATE_REPO	Variable	The installation repository in owner/repository format
Cloudflare Worker	GITHUB_UPDATE_REF	Optional variable	The installation branch to update; omit it to use the repository's default branch
GitHub repository → Actions	MAILFLARE_UPDATE_TOKEN	Repository secret	The same fine-grained personal access token
GitHub repository → Actions	UPDATE_SOURCE_REPOSITORY	Optional repository variable	The upstream repository; defaults to hieunc229/mailflare

The same token can be used for GITHUB_UPDATE_TOKEN and MAILFLARE_UPDATE_TOKEN when it has all three permissions above. Keep both values secret and limit the token's repository access to the installation repository.

Make sure .github/workflows/deploy-update.yml exists on the installation branch. If it is missing, create the file and copy its contents from the canonical Mailflare update workflow. If an older installation has a different updater, replace it with the latest canonical workflow once. A running workflow cannot create or replace itself until the current workflow has been installed manually.

After the GitHub Action completes successfully, wait for the connected Cloudflare deployment to finish before refreshing Mailflare or applying pending database migrations. The workflow updates the repository first; the new application version is not live until Cloudflare completes its deployment.

Deployment and database migration are separate. After Cloudflare deploys a repository push or an admin-triggered update, open or refresh Admin settings. The application update card shows any pending database migrations. Select Update database to apply them through the Worker's D1 binding. The same runner initializes a new database during setup.

If the Cloudflare dashboard has a custom deploy command containing wrangler d1 migrations apply DB --remote, remove that part and use npm run deploy.

Each migration and its d1_migrations history entry run in one D1 batch. If a migration fails, its changes are rolled back, the failed filename is shown, and it can be retried after the problem is corrected. Wrangler remains available as a manual recovery tool.

New application releases must remain compatible with the previous schema until an administrator applies their migrations. Prefer additive changes, keep old columns during the transition, and avoid making authentication or the admin settings page depend immediately on a newly added column. Plan a maintenance window for an incompatible schema change.

When adding a schema change, create a new uniquely named SQL file in drizzle/migrations and do not edit an applied migration. Build and development commands generate the Worker migration bundle from those files. npm run db:bundle can generate it explicitly.

Branding license

Activate a purchased Pro or Team key from Admin → Licenses. Mailflare sends the key to Paymug and stores only a one-way hash and the activation state. Apply all D1 migrations before activating a license.