zerodrop/create-inbox

GitHub Action for email verification in CI pipelines — generates an isolated inbox per run, catches real emails, and gives your tests email.otp and email.magicLink without Docker, SMTP, or signup.

- name: Generate test inbox
  id: inbox
  uses: zerodrop-dev/create-inbox@v1

- name: Run Playwright tests
  run: npx playwright test
  env:
    TEST_INBOX: ${{ steps.inbox.outputs.inbox }}

Documentation · GitHub · npm

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What it does

Generates a disposable @zerodrop-sandbox.online inbox as a CI step and exposes it as an output variable. Your tests use the inbox to catch real emails — password resets, magic links, verification codes — without any infrastructure.

Each inbox is isolated per-run — parallel matrix builds work out of the box with zero cross-test contamination.

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Usage

Basic (free sandbox)

steps:
  - uses: zerodrop-dev/create-inbox@v1
    id: inbox
  - run: npx playwright test
    env:
      TEST_INBOX: ${{ steps.inbox.outputs.inbox }}

With Workspace API key

steps:
  - uses: zerodrop-dev/create-inbox@v1
    id: inbox
    with:
      api_key: ${{ secrets.ZERODROP_API_KEY }}
  - run: npx playwright test
    env:
      TEST_INBOX: ${{ steps.inbox.outputs.inbox }}

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Inputs

Input	Required	Default	Description
api_key	No	''	ZeroDrop Workspace API key. Omit for free sandbox mode.

Outputs

Output	Description	Example
inbox	Full email address	swift-x7k2m@zerodrop-sandbox.online
inbox_name	Inbox name without domain	swift-x7k2m

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In your test

import { ZeroDrop } from 'zerodrop-client';

const mail = new ZeroDrop();

// Use the inbox injected by the Action, or generate one locally
const inbox = process.env.TEST_INBOX ?? mail.generateInbox();

// waitForLatest uses SSE by default — sub-second delivery in CI
const email = await mail.waitForLatest(inbox, { timeout: 15000 });

// Auto-extracted — no regex needed
email.otp        // "123456"
email.magicLink  // "https://..."

await page.goto(email.magicLink);

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Security

The inbox generation runs entirely locally — no network request is made during the Action step. The generated address is a random string; no data leaves the runner until your tests poll the ZeroDrop API.

Supply chain hardening — pin to a commit SHA:

# Floating tag (convenient)
uses: zerodrop-dev/create-inbox@v1

# Pinned to specific commit (recommended for production)
uses: zerodrop-dev/create-inbox@8706a59  # v1.0.0 initial release

The edge worker that receives and stores emails is fully open source: → zerodrop-dev/zerodrop-worker

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Free tier limits

• Shared domain (zerodrop-sandbox.online)
• AI spam filtering
• 30-minute email TTL
• No signup required

Workspaces

For teams who need custom domains, extended retention, and dedicated rate limits: → zerodrop.dev

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License

MIT