Email aliases (atproto-bound forwarding)
This feature is in testing. Alias forwarding ships behind the alias_forwarding feature flag and is off by default. If you do not see Aliases at /account/aliases, the flag is not enabled for your account yet, and details on this page may change before general release.
What an alias is
Section titled “What an alias is”An alias is an extra address on a domain you have enrolled with comail, for example news@yourdomain.com, that forwards incoming mail to one or more mailboxes. A multi-recipient alias sends a copy to each listed recipient. Recipients continue to read mail in their existing mailboxes.
You can give out the alias instead of your mailbox address. Give a different alias to a newsletter, a shop, or a conference signup, and revoke it when you no longer want mail from that source.
Why aliases are bound to your DID
Section titled “Why aliases are bound to your DID”Comail binds each alias to your atproto DID, the same identifier that owns your enrolled domains and reputation labels.
This binding means:
- If you switch mail providers, you can point the alias to the new mailbox without changing the public address.
- Whoever controls the DID manages the alias. The alias uses your domain.
Creating and revoking aliases
Section titled “Creating and revoking aliases”Sign in and open /account/aliases.
- Create: pick the local part (the text left of the
@) on one of your enrolled domains, then enter one mailbox or up to 10 comma-separated recipients. - Edit: change the recipient list without changing the public address or its delivery history.
- Revoke: revoking stops forwarding for that alias, and mail sent to it is no longer delivered to its recipients. Revoke an alias when it starts collecting spam or when you are done with the sender you created it for.
What senders and publishers see
Section titled “What senders and publishers see”Anyone who writes to the alias sees only the alias. The alias-to-recipient mapping is not published anywhere: it is not in DNS, not in an atproto record, and not visible to the sender. A publisher who has news@yourdomain.com cannot look up the mailboxes behind it.
Forwarding is one-way. If you reply to a forwarded message from your real mailbox, the reply carries your real address in its headers. Reply masking is not part of the current test, so replying reveals your real address to that recipient.
The bounce count
Section titled “The bounce count”The aliases page shows a bounce count next to each alias. For a circle, a rejection from any recipient can increase this alias-level count. A count that keeps rising usually means one of:
- a recipient address has a typo or was closed,
- a recipient mailbox is full or otherwise rejecting mail,
- a recipient provider is refusing the forwarded messages.
Check every recipient first. Fix the recipient list, or revoke the alias if you no longer need it.
Current limitations
Section titled “Current limitations”- In testing. The feature is flag-gated and off by default. Screens, names, and limits can change before general release.
- The mapping lives at comail today. comail stores the alias-to-recipient mapping in its own database, covered by comail’s GDPR data-protection program like the rest of your member data. Moving that binding into atproto Permissioned Data on your own PDS is planned; until then, comail holds it.
- Forwarding only. Replies are not masked; see the caveat above.