Email Inbox Node
The Email Inbox node connects to a mailbox via IMAP and waits for or searches for messages matching defined criteria. Ideal for validating email delivery, extracting OTPs, and capturing confirmation links in test flows.
Overview
| Property | Value |
|---|
| Type | email-inbox |
| Category | Utilities |
| Input | in |
| Output | out |
Prerequisite: Email Credential
Before using this node, create an Email Credential in the Credentials section. It stores the IMAP connection and authentication securely.
Configuration Fields
General
| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|
| Credential | select | — | Email credential to use |
| Operation | select | Extract Email | What to do when an email is found |
| Folder | text | INBOX | IMAP folder to monitor |
| Only Unread | boolean | true | Search only unread messages |
| Mark As Read | boolean | false | Mark found messages as read |
Available Operations
| Value | Description |
|---|
Extract Email | Wait for and return the full email |
Extract OTP | Extract a numeric code from the email body |
Extract Link | Extract a URL from the email body |
Search Filters
All filters are optional. When filled, the value must be contained in the email for it to match.
| Field | Description | Example |
|---|
| From Contains | Filter by sender | noreply@gmail.com |
| To Contains | Filter by recipient | myemail@ |
| Subject Contains | Filter by subject | Verification code |
| Body Contains | Filter by body text | your code is |
Date Filter
| Field | Options | Description |
|---|
| Received After Mode | Step Start / Absolute Date/Time / No Date Filter | Date filter mode |
| Received After | ISO 8601 | Used only when mode = Absolute Date/Time |
Step Start (recommended): the node uses the UID of the next email at the moment execution begins, reliably ignoring previous messages regardless of timezone.
Polling and Limits
| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|
| Timeout (ms) | number | 120000 | Maximum wait time (0 = no wait, checks once) |
| Poll Interval (ms) | number | 3000 | Interval between checks |
| Max Scan | number | 30 | Maximum emails to scan per cycle |
| Max Matches | number | 1 | Maximum emails to return |
OTP Extraction (when operation = Extract OTP)
| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|
| OTP Regex (optional) | regex | automatic | Custom expression to capture the code |
| OTP Min Length | number | 6 | Minimum code length |
| OTP Max Length | number | 6 | Maximum code length |
When no regex is provided, the node automatically searches for numeric sequences of the configured length.
Link Extraction (when operation = Extract Link)
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|
| Link Domain Contains | text | Filter links by domain (e.g. accounts.google.com) |
| Link Regex (optional) | regex | Custom expression to capture the URL |
Outputs
| Output | Type | Description |
|---|
found | boolean | Whether any email was found |
matchCount | number | Number of emails that matched |
attempts | number | Number of checks performed |
email | object | First email found (full object) |
emails | array | All emails found (up to maxMatches) |
links | array | URLs found in the first email |
otp | string | Extracted code (only in extractOtp) |
link | string | Extracted URL (only in extractLink) |
email Object Structure
{
"uid": 12345,
"messageId": "<abc@gmail.com>",
"subject": "Your verification code",
"from": "Company <noreply@company.com>",
"to": "user@gmail.com",
"date": "2026-03-08T12:00:00.000Z",
"text": "Your code is 482910. Valid for 10 minutes.",
"html": "<p>Your code is <strong>482910</strong>...</p>",
"links": ["https://company.com/confirm?token=xyz"]
}
Practical Examples
Wait for sign-up confirmation email
[Click "Create account" in the browser]
│
▼
[Email Inbox]
Operation: Extract Email
Subject Contains: "Confirm your email"
From Contains: noreply@service.com
Timeout: 60000ms
│
▼
[HTTP Request: GET {{ steps.emailInbox.outputs.links[0] }}]
Extract 6-digit OTP
[Click "Send code" in the app]
│
▼
[Email Inbox]
Operation: Extract OTP
Subject Contains: "verification code"
OTP Min Length: 6
OTP Max Length: 6
Timeout: 30000ms
│
▼
[Type in OTP field: {{ steps.emailInbox.outputs.otp }}]
Extract password reset link
[Click "Forgot password"]
│
▼
[Email Inbox]
Operation: Extract Link
Subject Contains: "reset password"
Link Domain Contains: accounts.company.com
Timeout: 30000ms
│
▼
[Navigate: {{ steps.emailInbox.outputs.link }}]
Provider Configuration
Gmail
| Mode | Required Setup |
|---|
| Password / App Password | Enable "Less secure app access" or generate an App Password |
| OAuth2 | Create an app in the Google Cloud Console with the credential's callback URI |
For Gmail with OAuth2, click Connect OAuth (Browser) in the credential screen. Google requires that the callback URI registered in the Console exactly matches the OAuth Callback URI field shown in the credential form.
Outlook / Microsoft 365
| Mode | Required Setup |
|---|
| Password / App Password | Works for accounts without MFA, or with app passwords |
| OAuth2 | Register the app in Azure Active Directory with IMAP.AccessAsUser.All permission |
Custom IMAP
Manually configure host, port, and security mode (SSL/TLS).
Tips
- Always use Received After Mode = Step Start — avoids capturing emails that arrived before the test
- Combine filters — the more specific (
from + subject), the more reliable the detection
- Mark as read — useful to avoid the same email being captured in consecutive runs
- Timeout 0 — runs a single check without waiting; useful for assertions on already-received emails
- Custom OTP Regex — use when the code has a non-numeric format or appears in ambiguous context (e.g.
code: ([A-Z0-9]{8}))
