# haraka/Haraka

A fast, highly extensible, and event driven SMTP server

Repository: https://github.com/haraka/Haraka
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/haraka
Homepage: https://haraka.github.io
Language: JavaScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: smtp, mta, javascript, spf, dkim, nodejs, haraka
Last push: 2026-08-13T21:34:52+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 93/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 97, release rhythm 84, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5655, "days_push": 20, "days_rel": 29, "gap_med": 37, "n_releases_24m": 14}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 5613, forks 712 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:22.997030+00:00)

## What it is
Haraka is a fast, highly extensible, event-driven SMTP server written in Node.js with a modular plugin architecture. It is widely deployed as a filtering MTA or MSA, handling thousands of concurrent connections with built-in outbound delivery and strong spam protection.

## Use cases
- run a high-performance SMTP server in Node.js
- filter spam before forwarding mail to an IMAP backend
- build a custom mail transfer agent with JavaScript plugins
- accept authenticated mail submission on port 465 or 587
- add DKIM signing and SPF validation to email delivery
- rewrite recipient addresses before relaying to Exchange
- handle thousands of concurrent SMTP connections

## When to choose
- you need a scalable SMTP server or filtering MTA you can extend in JavaScript
- you want spam protection via plugins like SpamAssassin, rspamd, DNSBLs, or ClamAV
- you need an MSA with auth and DKIM for outbound mail submission
- you want hook-based customization of SMTP transactions without forking an MTA

## When to avoid
- you need a full mail store, IMAP server, or local delivery agent
- you want a turnkey mail server with a web admin UI and no coding
- your stack is not JavaScript/Node.js and you prefer a traditional MTA like Postfix or Exim

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: stable
- function: http-server, middleware, plugin-system, security, email
- domain: email, backend, self-hosted, security, developer-tools
- platform: cross-platform, self-hosted
- tags: smtp-server, mta, mail-transfer-agent, spam-filtering, dkim, spf, email-server, mail-server, nodejs, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- haraka/Haraka (main) score 93

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:22.997030+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:55:24.963212+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/haraka/Haraka (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:22.997030+00:00, sha ed173394146b)
  - homepage: https://haraka.github.io (fetched 2026-08-29T08:50:28.379962+00:00, sha 3ef52384df24)
  - registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/haraka (fetched 2026-08-29T08:50:28.382523+00:00, sha 6e2dbc5ef42b)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.