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MailDev

What is MailDev?​

MailDev is a simple SMTP testing tool: it catches outgoing dev email and shows it in a web UI instead of delivering it, similar in purpose to Mailpit and MailHog. Laradock builds it as its own container from the official maildev/maildev image.

Start MailDev​

docker compose up -d maildev

Stop MailDev​

docker compose stop maildev

This stops the container without deleting its data. To remove the container: docker compose rm -f maildev.

Configuration​

All settings live in maildev/defaults.env and can be overridden by adding the same line to your own .env:

VariableDefaultWhat it does
MAILDEV_HTTP_PORT1080Host-side port for the web UI (container port 1080).
MAILDEV_SMTP_PORT25Host-side port for the SMTP catcher (container port 25).

Connect your app​

Open the web UI at http://localhost:1080. Point your app's SMTP settings at the maildev container name (not localhost) on its internal SMTP port:

MAIL_MAILER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=maildev
MAIL_PORT=25
MAIL_USERNAME=null
MAIL_PASSWORD=null

Common issues​

  • Mail isn't showing up in the UI. Confirm your app's .env uses MAIL_HOST=maildev (the container name), not localhost or 127.0.0.1, those only resolve from your host machine, not from inside another container.
  • Port 25 conflicts on your host. Port 25 is often reserved or blocked by ISPs/host mail agents. Change MAILDEV_SMTP_PORT in .env and restart: docker compose up -d maildev.
  • Port already in use for the web UI. Change MAILDEV_HTTP_PORT in .env and restart the container.

Prefer a more actively maintained, Go-based catcher? See Mailpit. New to Laradock? Start with Getting Started.