Improvmx

ImprovMX — inbound email forwarding

Give a domain a working hello@ address in ten minutes, for free, forwarding to an inbox the user already has.

Argument: $ARGUMENTS is the domain and optionally the destination address (e.g. mytool.app me@gmail.com). Ask for whichever is missing.

ImprovMX only receives. Outbound programmatic email (forms, magic links, receipts) is /resend. They pair: Resend sends the notification, the reply comes back through ImprovMX.

Process

1. Read the current DNS

dig +short MX <domain>
dig +short TXT <domain> | grep -i spf
dig +short NS <domain>

From this you learn three things: whether MX records already exist (Google Workspace, Zoho, an old host), whether an SPF record exists that you must merge into rather than duplicate, and which provider hosts the DNS (the NS answer tells you Cloudflare vs Namecheap vs GoDaddy vs Vercel), which decides the instructions in step 3.

If MX records already point at a real mail provider, stop and say so. Adding ImprovMX on top would hijack the existing mailboxes.

2. Produce the records

Give the user this table, filled in:

If an SPF record already exists, replace the TXT row with the merged version. Common merges:

• With Resend: v=spf1 include:spf.improvmx.com include:_spf.resend.com ~all
• With Google Workspace sending: v=spf1 include:spf.improvmx.com include:_spf.google.com ~all

Never leave two v=spf1 TXT records on the same name. Receivers treat that as a permanent SPF failure and both senders go to spam.

3. Dashboard and DNS steps (the human part)

1. Sign up at improvmx.com. No card needed.
2. Add domain, enter the domain.
3. Add the records from step 2 in the DNS panel for the provider you detected:
   • Cloudflare: Websites → domain → DNS → Records. Set MX and TXT to DNS only (grey cloud). Proxied MX silently breaks delivery.
   • Namecheap: Domain List → Manage → Advanced DNS. Delete the default parking CNAME/URL-redirect on @ if it's still there.
   • GoDaddy: My Products → DNS → Manage DNS. Allow up to 30 minutes.
   • Vercel DNS: vercel dns add <domain> @ MX mx1.improvmx.com 10 etc. from the CLI.
4. Create aliases: hello@ and *@ (catch-all) → the destination address. Add press@, support@ if the project wants them.
5. Wait five minutes, click Verify.

4. Verify

dig +short MX <domain>          # expect both improvmx hosts
dig +short TXT <domain>         # expect exactly one v=spf1 line

Then have the user send a test from a different account to hello@<domain>. First forwarded message often lands in Gmail spam; marking it "not spam" once fixes it going forward.

5. Replying as hello@ (optional)

Forwarding is one-way. To reply from hello@<domain> inside Gmail: ImprovMX dashboard → the alias → SMTP credentials, then Gmail → Settings → Accounts → Send mail as. Free plan allows 25 SMTP sends a day, which is plenty for personal replies. Do not route app email through this; that's what /resend is for.

6. Report

ImprovMX
- Domain: mytool.app (DNS at Cloudflare)
- MX: mx1/mx2.improvmx.com — live
- SPF: merged with Resend — single record confirmed
- Aliases: hello@, *@ → me@gmail.com
- Test: waiting on user send / received

Gotchas

• Free tier is one domain, unlimited aliases, 25 SMTP sends/day. Premium ($9/mo) adds more domains.
• Catch-all collects spam eventually. Fine to start; switch to named aliases if it gets noisy.
• DNS propagation varies by registrar. dnschecker.org shows what different regions see if dig and the dashboard disagree.