Cloudflare Email Routing

Cloudflare Email Routing

Status: Production Ready ✅ Last Updated: 2025-10-23 Latest Versions: postal-mime@2.5.0, mimetext@3.0.27

What is Cloudflare Email Routing?

Cloudflare Email Routing provides two complementary capabilities:

1. Email Workers - Receive and process incoming emails with custom logic (allowlists, blocklists, forwarding, parsing, replying)
2. Send Email - Send emails from Workers to verified destination addresses (notifications, alerts, confirmations)

Both capabilities are free and work together to enable complete email functionality in Cloudflare Workers.

Quick Start (10 Minutes)

Part 1: Enable Email Routing (Dashboard)

Prerequisites: Domain must be on Cloudflare DNS

1. Log in to Cloudflare Dashboard → select your domain
2. Go to Email > Email Routing
3. Select Enable Email Routing → Add records and enable
   • This automatically adds MX records, SPF, and DKIM to your DNS
4. Create a destination address:
   • Custom address: hello@yourdomain.com
   • Destination: Your personal email (e.g., you@gmail.com)
   • Verify the destination address via email
5. ✅ Basic email forwarding is now active

What you just did: Configured DNS and basic forwarding. Now let's add Workers for custom logic.

Part 2: Receiving Emails with Email Workers

1. Install Dependencies

npm install postal-mime@2.5.0 mimetext@3.0.27

Why these packages:

• postal-mime - Parse incoming email messages (headers, body, attachments)
• mimetext - Create email messages for sending/replying

2. Create Email Worker

Create src/email.ts:

import { EmailMessage } from 'cloudflare:email';
import PostalMime from 'postal-mime';

export default {
  async email(message, env, ctx) {
    // Parse the incoming message
    const parser = new PostalMime.default();
    const email = await parser.parse(await new Response(message.raw).arrayBuffer());

    console.log('From:', message.from);
    console.log('To:', message.to);
    console.log('Subject:', email.subject);

    // Forward to verified destination
    await message.forward('your-email@example.com');
  },
};

3. Configure Wrangler

Update wrangler.jsonc:

{
  "name": "email-worker",
  "main": "src/email.ts",
  "compatibility_date": "2025-10-11"
}

4. Deploy and Bind

npx wrangler deploy

# In Cloudflare Dashboard:
# Email > Email Routing > Email Workers
# Select your worker → Create route → Enter address (e.g., hello@yourdomain.com)

What you just did: Created a Worker that logs and forwards emails.

Part 3: Sending Emails from Workers

1. Configure Send Email Binding

Update wrangler.jsonc:

{
  "name": "my-worker",
  "main": "src/index.ts",
  "compatibility_date": "2025-10-11",
  "send_email": [
    {
      "name": "EMAIL",
      "destination_address": "notifications@yourdomain.com"
    }
  ]
}

CRITICAL: destination_address must be:

• A domain where you have Email Routing enabled
• A verified destination address in Email Routing settings

2. Send Email from Worker

import { EmailMessage } from 'cloudflare:email';
import { createMimeMessage } from 'mimetext';

export default {
  async fetch(request, env, ctx) {
    // Create email message
    const msg = createMimeMessage();
    msg.setSender({ name: 'My App', addr: 'noreply@yourdomain.com' });
    msg.setRecipient('user@example.com');
    msg.setSubject('Welcome to My App');
    msg.addMessage({
      contentType: 'text/plain',
      data: 'Thank you for signing up!',
    });

    // Send via binding
    const message = new EmailMessage(
      'noreply@yourdomain.com',
      'user@example.com',
      msg.asRaw()
    );

    await env.EMAIL.send(message);

    return new Response('Email sent!');
  },
};

3. Deploy

npx wrangler deploy

What you just did: Configured your Worker to send emails to verified addresses.

Email Workers: Complete Guide

Runtime API

EmailEvent Handler

export default {
  async email(message: ForwardableEmailMessage, env: Env, ctx: ExecutionContext) {
    // Process email here
  },
};

Parameters:

• message - ForwardableEmailMessage object
• env - Environment bindings (KV, D1, secrets, etc.)
• ctx - Execution context (waitUntil for async operations)

ForwardableEmailMessage Properties

interface ForwardableEmailMessage {
  readonly from: string;          // Sender email
  readonly to: string;            // Recipient email
  readonly headers: Headers;      // Email headers
  readonly raw: ReadableStream;   // Raw email message
  readonly rawSize: number;       // Size in bytes

  // Methods
  setReject(reason: string): void;
  forward(rcptTo: string, headers?: Headers): Promise<void>;
  reply(message: EmailMessage): Promise<void>;
}

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Allowlist

Only accept emails from approved senders:

export default {
  async email(message, env, ctx) {
    const allowList = [
      'friend@example.com',
      'coworker@company.com',
      'support@vendor.com',
    ];

    if (!allowList.includes(message.from)) {
      message.setReject('Address not on allowlist');
      return;
    }

    await message.forward('inbox@yourdomain.com');
  },
};

When to use: Contact forms, private email addresses, team inboxes

Pattern 2: Blocklist

Reject emails from specific senders or domains:

export default {
  async email(message, env, ctx) {
    const blockList = [
      'spam@badactor.com',
      '@suspicious-domain.com', // Block entire domain
    ];

    const isBlocked = blockList.some(pattern =>
      message.from.includes(pattern)
    );

    if (isBlocked) {
      message.setReject('Sender blocked');
      return;
    }

    await message.forward('inbox@yourdomain.com');
  },
};

When to use: Spam filtering, blocking harassers, domain-level blocks

Pattern 3: Parse and Store

Extract email content and store in D1 or KV:

import PostalMime from 'postal-mime';

export default {
  async email(message, env, ctx) {
    // Parse email
    const parser = new PostalMime.default();
    const rawEmail = new Response(message.raw);
    const email = await parser.parse(await rawEmail.arrayBuffer());

    // Store in D1
    await env.DB.prepare(
      'INSERT INTO emails (from_addr, subject, text, received_at) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)'
    ).bind(
      message.from,
      email.subject,
      email.text,
      new Date().toISOString()
    ).run();

    // Forward to inbox
    await message.forward('inbox@yourdomain.com');
  },
};

When to use: Email archiving, ticket systems, support inboxes, audit logs

Pattern 4: Auto-Reply

Send automatic replies with custom logic:

import PostalMime from 'postal-mime';
import { createMimeMessage } from 'mimetext';
import { EmailMessage } from 'cloudflare:email';

export default {
  async email(message, env, ctx) {
    // Parse incoming email
    const parser = new PostalMime.default();
    const email = await parser.parse(await new Response(message.raw).arrayBuffer());

    // Create reply
    const msg = createMimeMessage();
    msg.setSender({ name: 'Support Team', addr: 'support@yourdomain.com' });
    msg.setRecipient(message.from);
    msg.setHeader('In-Reply-To', message.headers.get('Message-ID'));
    msg.setSubject(`Re: ${email.subject}`);
    msg.addMessage({
      contentType: 'text/plain',
      data: `Thank you for your message about "${email.subject}". We'll respond within 24 hours.`,
    });

    // Send reply
    const replyMessage = new EmailMessage(
      'support@yourdomain.com',
      message.from,
      msg.asRaw()
    );

    await message.reply(replyMessage);

    // Also forward to team inbox
    await message.forward('team@yourdomain.com');
  },
};

When to use: Out-of-office replies, support ticket acknowledgments, automated responses

Pattern 5: Conditional Routing

Route emails to different destinations based on content:

import PostalMime from 'postal-mime';

export default {
  async email(message, env, ctx) {
    const parser = new PostalMime.default();
    const email = await parser.parse(await new Response(message.raw).arrayBuffer());

    const subject = email.subject.toLowerCase();

    // Route based on subject keywords
    if (subject.includes('urgent') || subject.includes('critical')) {
      await message.forward('oncall@yourdomain.com');
    } else if (subject.includes('invoice') || subject.includes('payment')) {
      await message.forward('billing@yourdomain.com');
    } else if (subject.includes('support') || subject.includes('help')) {
      await message.forward('support@yourdomain.com');
    } else {
      await message.forward('inbox@yourdomain.com');
    }
  },
};

When to use: Department routing, priority filtering, category-based inboxes

Send Email: Complete Guide

Configuration

Single Destination (Simple)

{
  "send_email": [
    {
      "name": "EMAIL",
      "destination_address": "notifications@yourdomain.com"
    }
  ]
}

Behavior: All emails sent via env.EMAIL go to this address.

Multiple Destinations (Flexible)

{
  "send_email": [
    {
      "name": "EMAIL",
      "allowed_destination_addresses": [
        "notifications@yourdomain.com",
        "alerts@yourdomain.com",
        "user@gmail.com"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Behavior: Can send to any address in the list.

Multiple Bindings (Organized)

{
  "send_email": [
    {
      "name": "NOTIFICATIONS",
      "destination_address": "notifications@yourdomain.com"
    },
    {
      "name": "ALERTS",
      "destination_address": "alerts@yourdomain.com"
    }
  ]
}

Behavior: Use different bindings for different purposes.

Sending Emails

Basic Text Email

import { EmailMessage } from 'cloudflare:email';
import { createMimeMessage } from 'mimetext';

const msg = createMimeMessage();
msg.setSender({ name: 'My App', addr: 'noreply@yourdomain.com' });
msg.setRecipient('user@example.com');
msg.setSubject('Welcome!');
msg.addMessage({
  contentType: 'text/plain',
  data: 'Welcome to our service!',
});

const email = new EmailMessage(
  'noreply@yourdomain.com',
  'user@example.com',
  msg.asRaw()
);

await env.EMAIL.send(email);

HTML Email

import { EmailMessage } from 'cloudflare:email';
import { createMimeMessage } from 'mimetext';

const msg = createMimeMessage();
msg.setSender({ name: 'My App', addr: 'noreply@yourdomain.com' });
msg.setRecipient('user@example.com');
msg.setSubject('Welcome!');

// Add both plain text and HTML versions
msg.addMessage({
  contentType: 'text/plain',
  data: 'Welcome to our service!',
});

msg.addMessage({
  contentType: 'text/html',
  data: '<h1>Welcome!</h1><p>Thanks for joining us.</p>',
});

const email = new EmailMessage(
  'noreply@yourdomain.com',
  'user@example.com',
  msg.asRaw()
);

await env.EMAIL.send(email);

Email with Custom Headers

import { EmailMessage } from 'cloudflare:email';
import { createMimeMessage } from 'mimetext';

const msg = createMimeMessage();
msg.setSender({ name: 'My App', addr: 'noreply@yourdomain.com' });
msg.setRecipient('user@example.com');
msg.setSubject('Password Reset');

// Add custom headers
msg.setHeader('X-Priority', '1');
msg.setHeader('X-Application-ID', 'my-app-123');

msg.addMessage({
  contentType: 'text/plain',
  data: 'Click here to reset your password...',
});

const email = new EmailMessage(
  'noreply@yourdomain.com',
  'user@example.com',
  msg.asRaw()
);

await env.EMAIL.send(email);

DNS Configuration

Automatic Setup (Recommended)

When you enable Email Routing in the dashboard, Cloudflare automatically adds:

1. MX Records - Direct email to Cloudflare's servers

   yourdomain.com. 300 IN MX 13 amir.mx.cloudflare.net.
   yourdomain.com. 300 IN MX 86 linda.mx.cloudflare.net.
   yourdomain.com. 300 IN MX 24 isaac.mx.cloudflare.net.
   

2. SPF Record - Authorize Cloudflare to send on your behalf

   yourdomain.com. 300 IN TXT "v=spf1 include:_spf.mx.cloudflare.net ~all"
   

3. DKIM Records - Sign outgoing emails

   Automatically configured per domain
   

Manual Setup (Advanced)

If you need to migrate from another provider:

1. Go to Email > Email Routing > Settings
2. Select Start disabling > Unlock records and continue
3. Edit DNS records as needed
4. When ready, Lock DNS records to protect Email Routing

WARNING: Changing MX records will break Email Routing. Only do this if migrating providers.

Known Issues Prevention

This skill prevents 8 documented issues:

Issue #1: "Email Trigger not available to this workers"

Error: Testing email workers fails with "Email Trigger not available to this workers"

Source: workers-sdk #3751

Why It Happens: Wrangler dev doesn't fully support email triggers; testing must be done via deployed Workers

Prevention:

• Always deploy email workers before testing
• Use wrangler tail for live debugging
• Use dashboard "Test Email Event" feature (when working)

Issue #2: Destination Address Verification Bug

Error: Verified destination addresses show as "unverified" in Email Worker forwarding

Source: Community reports (Cloudflare Community)

Why It Happens: Bug in dashboard where addresses only show verified if also used in regular routing rules

Prevention:

• Create a regular forward rule for each destination address first
• Then use the same addresses in Email Workers
• Verify addresses before deploying workers

Issue #3: Gmail Rate Limiting

Error: "421: Our system has detected an unusual rate of unsolicited mail originating from your IP address"

Source: Community reports

Why It Happens: Gmail may flag Cloudflare's IP ranges as suspicious due to shared infrastructure

Prevention:

• Implement proper SPF/DKIM/DMARC records
• Don't send bulk emails through Email Routing
• Use transactional email services (e.g., SendGrid, Mailgun) for high volume
• Rate-limit your sending (max 50-100 emails/hour for personal use)

Issue #4: SPF Permerror with MailChannels

Error: SPF permerror when routing through MailChannels

Source: Community discussion

Why It Happens: SPF record chain breaks when forwarding through multiple services

Prevention:

• Use Email Routing's native send capabilities instead of MailChannels
• If using MailChannels, configure SPF includes correctly
• Test with MXToolbox SPF checker

Issue #5: Limited Logging on Free Plan

Error: Cannot see worker logs or email processing details

Source: Community reports

Why It Happens: Free plan has limited log retention and streaming

Prevention:

• Use wrangler tail during development for live logs
• Use console.log() extensively in email workers
• Store critical data in D1/KV for debugging
• Upgrade to Workers Paid plan for better observability

Issue #6: Activity Log Discrepancies

Error: Emails show as "Dropped" in Activity Log even when successfully forwarded

Source: Community reports

Why It Happens: Dashboard bug showing incorrect status

Prevention:

• Check actual email delivery instead of relying on dashboard
• Use wrangler tail to verify processing
• Implement your own logging in D1/KV
• Test with real emails to confirm delivery

Issue #7: Test Email Event Loading Indefinitely

Error: Dashboard "Test Email Event" button remains in loading state forever

Source: workers-sdk #9195

Why It Happens: Bug in dashboard testing interface (unresolved as of 2025-10)

Prevention:

• Don't rely on dashboard testing feature
• Use curl with local development instead (see Local Development section)
• Deploy and test with real emails
• Use wrangler tail to monitor processing

Issue #8: Worker Call Failures

Error: "Rejected reason: Unknown error: failed to call worker: Worker call failed for 3 times, aborting…"

Source: workers-sdk #9069, Community reports

Why It Happens: Worker crashes due to runtime errors, timeouts, or memory issues

Prevention:

• Add comprehensive error handling with try/catch
• Set timeouts for external API calls
• Log errors to D1/KV before rejecting
• Use ctx.waitUntil() for non-critical operations
• Test with various email formats (plain text, HTML, attachments)

Local Development

Receiving Emails

Wrangler simulates email reception via HTTP POST:

# Start dev server
npx wrangler dev

# In another terminal, send test email
curl http://localhost:8787 -X POST \
  --data-binary @- << EOF
From: sender@example.com
To: recipient@yourdomain.com
Subject: Test Email

This is a test email body.
EOF

What happens: Wrangler logs the email processing and shows where forwarded emails would go.

Sending Emails

Wrangler writes sent emails to local .eml files:

// Your worker code
await env.EMAIL.send(message);

Output in terminal:

[wrangler:inf] send_email binding called with the following message:
  /tmp/miniflare-abc123/files/email/message-123.eml

View the email:

cat /tmp/miniflare-abc123/files/email/message-123.eml

Configuration Files Reference

Complete wrangler.jsonc (Both Receive + Send)

{
  "$schema": "node_modules/wrangler/config-schema.json",
  "name": "email-worker",
  "main": "src/email.ts",
  "account_id": "YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID",
  "compatibility_date": "2025-10-11",
  "observability": {
    "enabled": true
  },

  // Send email binding
  "send_email": [
    {
      "name": "NOTIFICATIONS",
      "destination_address": "notifications@yourdomain.com"
    },
    {
      "name": "ALERTS",
      "allowed_destination_addresses": [
        "alerts@yourdomain.com",
        "admin@yourdomain.com"
      ]
    }
  ],

  // Optional: Add other bindings
  "d1_databases": [
    {
      "binding": "DB",
      "database_name": "email-archive",
      "database_id": "YOUR_DATABASE_ID"
    }
  ],

  "kv_namespaces": [
    {
      "binding": "EMAIL_CACHE",
      "id": "YOUR_KV_ID"
    }
  ]
}

TypeScript Types

Environment Bindings

interface Env {
  // Send email bindings
  EMAIL: SendEmail;
  NOTIFICATIONS: SendEmail;
  ALERTS: SendEmail;

  // Other bindings
  DB: D1Database;
  EMAIL_CACHE: KVNamespace;
}

interface SendEmail {
  send(message: EmailMessage): Promise<void>;
}

Full Type Definitions

import { EmailMessage } from 'cloudflare:email';

interface ForwardableEmailMessage {
  readonly from: string;
  readonly to: string;
  readonly headers: Headers;
  readonly raw: ReadableStream;
  readonly rawSize: number;

  setReject(reason: string): void;
  forward(rcptTo: string, headers?: Headers): Promise<void>;
  reply(message: EmailMessage): Promise<void>;
}

declare module 'cloudflare:email' {
  export class EmailMessage {
    constructor(from: string, to: string, raw: string | ReadableStream);
  }
}

Complete Setup Checklist

Email Routing Setup

• Domain is on Cloudflare DNS
• Email Routing enabled in dashboard
• MX, SPF, DKIM records automatically added
• At least one destination address verified
• Test basic forwarding with a custom address

Email Workers (Receiving)

• postal-mime@2.5.0 installed
• mimetext@3.0.27 installed
• Email worker created with async email() handler
• Worker deployed: npx wrangler deploy
• Worker bound to email route in dashboard
• Test with real email to route address
• Verify logs with wrangler tail

Send Email (Sending)

• send_email binding configured in wrangler.jsonc
• destination_address or allowed_destination_addresses specified
• All destination addresses verified in Email Routing
• Worker code uses env.EMAIL.send()
• Worker deployed: npx wrangler deploy
• Test sending email via Worker endpoint
• Confirm email delivery to recipient

Troubleshooting

Problem: "Email Trigger not available to this workers"

Solution:

• Deploy your worker: npx wrangler deploy
• Test with real emails, not local simulation
• Use wrangler tail to monitor processing

Problem: "Destination address not verified"

Solution:

• Check Email Routing > Destination addresses in dashboard
• Click "Resend verification" if needed
• Create a regular forwarding rule first (workaround for bug)
• Verify all addresses before deploying workers

Problem: Gmail rejects emails with 421 error

Solution:

• Verify SPF/DKIM records are configured (automatic with Email Routing)
• Reduce sending rate (max 50-100/hour for personal use)
• Don't send unsolicited emails or bulk mail
• Consider transactional email service for high volume

Problem: Emails not forwarding from Email Worker

Solution:

• Check worker is bound to correct email route in dashboard
• Verify destination address is verified
• Use wrangler tail to see processing logs
• Check for errors in worker code (try/catch around forward())
• Confirm MX records are still pointing to Cloudflare

Problem: Cannot see worker logs

Solution:

• Use wrangler tail --format pretty for live logs
• Add extensive console.log() statements in worker
• Store debug info in D1 or KV for later inspection
• Upgrade to Workers Paid plan for better log retention

Problem: Worker crashes with "failed to call worker"

Solution:

• Add try/catch error handling around all operations
• Set timeouts for external API calls
• Test with different email formats (plain text, HTML, attachments)
• Check worker doesn't exceed CPU/memory limits
• Use ctx.waitUntil() for non-blocking operations

Advanced Topics

Parsing Email Attachments

import PostalMime from 'postal-mime';

export default {
  async email(message, env, ctx) {
    const parser = new PostalMime.default();
    const email = await parser.parse(await new Response(message.raw).arrayBuffer());

    // Access attachments
    if (email.attachments && email.attachments.length > 0) {
      for (const attachment of email.attachments) {
        console.log('Attachment:', attachment.filename);
        console.log('Type:', attachment.mimeType);
        console.log('Size:', attachment.content.length);

        // Store in R2
        await env.BUCKET.put(
          `emails/${Date.now()}-${attachment.filename}`,
          attachment.content
        );
      }
    }

    await message.forward('inbox@yourdomain.com');
  },
};

Email-Based Task Creation

import PostalMime from 'postal-mime';

export default {
  async email(message, env, ctx) {
    const parser = new PostalMime.default();
    const email = await parser.parse(await new Response(message.raw).arrayBuffer());

    // Extract task from email subject
    const taskMatch = email.subject.match(/\[TASK\](.*)/i);

    if (taskMatch) {
      const taskDescription = taskMatch[1].trim();

      // Create task in D1
      await env.DB.prepare(
        'INSERT INTO tasks (description, created_by, created_at) VALUES (?, ?, ?)'
      ).bind(
        taskDescription,
        message.from,
        new Date().toISOString()
      ).run();

      // Send confirmation
      await message.reply(new EmailMessage(
        'tasks@yourdomain.com',
        message.from,
        `Task created: ${taskDescription}`
      ));
    }
  },
};

Email-Triggered Workflows

export default {
  async email(message, env, ctx) {
    // Trigger Cloudflare Workflow based on email
    if (message.from.endsWith('@trusted-domain.com')) {
      await env.WORKFLOW.create({
        params: {
          emailFrom: message.from,
          emailTo: message.to,
          receivedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
        },
      });
    }

    await message.forward('inbox@yourdomain.com');
  },
};

Dependencies

Required:

• postal-mime@2.5.0 - Parse incoming email messages
• mimetext@3.0.27 - Create email messages for sending

Built-in:

• cloudflare:email - EmailMessage class (no installation needed)

Optional:

• @cloudflare/workers-types - TypeScript type definitions

Official Documentation

• Email Routing: https://developers.cloudflare.com/email-routing/
• Email Workers: https://developers.cloudflare.com/email-routing/email-workers/
• Send Email: https://developers.cloudflare.com/email-routing/email-workers/send-email-workers/
• Runtime API: https://developers.cloudflare.com/email-routing/email-workers/runtime-api/
• Local Development: https://developers.cloudflare.com/email-routing/email-workers/local-development/
• postal-mime: https://www.npmjs.com/package/postal-mime
• mimetext: https://www.npmjs.com/package/mimetext

Package Versions (Verified 2025-10-23)

{
  "dependencies": {
    "postal-mime": "^2.5.0",
    "mimetext": "^3.0.27"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@cloudflare/workers-types": "^4.20251014.0",
    "wrangler": "^4.44.0"
  }
}

Questions? Issues?

1. Check references/common-errors.md for detailed troubleshooting
2. Review references/dns-setup.md for DNS configuration help
3. See references/local-development.md for testing patterns
4. Check official docs: https://developers.cloudflare.com/email-routing/
5. Use wrangler tail for live debugging
6. Verify all destination addresses are verified in dashboard