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Proton Mail Bridge docker

A docker version of the Proton mail Bridge command line interface. It creates a local SMTP server, so other docker containers can send emails via your Proton email account.

!WARNING! As of the time of this writing, you need a paid plan (Mail Plus, Proton Unlimited or Proton for Business) to be able to log in. It won't work for free account.

Logo Proton Mail Bridge docker (Merci Korben pour le logo)

Install

Download the latest docker image from:

docker pull ghcr.io/videocurio/proton-mail-bridge:latest

(Optional) It is recommended to set up a custom docker network for all of your containers to use, for DNS / network-alias resolution:

sudo docker network create --subnet 172.20.0.0/16 network20

Launch it with the following command to expose TCP ports 12025 for SMTP and 12143 for IMAP on your local network interface. You MUST provide a path volume storage (mkdir /path/to/your/volume/storage).

docker run -d --name=protonmail_bridge -v /path/to/your/volume/storage:/root -p 127.0.0.1:12025:25/tcp -p 127.0.0.1:12143:143/tcp --network network20 --restart=unless-stopped ghcr.io/videocurio/proton-mail-bridge:latest

OR (docker compose version):

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/VideoCurio/ProtonMailBridgeDocker/master/compose.yaml
docker compose up -d

(Optional) Make sure the container is running:

docker ps
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE                                          COMMAND                  CREATED              STATUS              PORTS                                                  NAMES
d9932fb7136b   ghcr.io/videocurio/proton-mail-bridge:latest   "/app/entrypoint.sh"     About a minute ago   Up About a minute   127.0.0.1:12025->25/tcp, 127.0.0.1:12143->143/tcp   protonmail_bridge

(Optional) You can check the bridge command line output with, you should see a bridge in ASCII art:

docker container logs protonmail_bridge

OR (docker compose version):

docker compose logs

Notes

The following error messages are expected in the container logs after the first run or when launching the command /usr/bin/bridge --cli:

WARN[Apr 20 14:13:49.022] An issue occurred when reading the cache file  error="open /root/.cache/protonmail/bridge-v3/unleash_startup_cache/unleash_startup_flags.json: no such file or directory" pkg=unleash-startup
WARN[Apr 20 14:13:50.310] Failed to add test credentials to keychain    error="failed to open dbus connection: exec: \"dbus-launch\": executable file not found in $PATH" helper="*keychain.SecretServiceDBusHelper"
WARN[Apr 20 14:13:50.369] no vault key found, generating new            error="could not get keychain item: credentials not found in native keychain"

The docker container will use gpg and pass to store credentials not the DBUS secret-service.

Quick Management with Just

If you have just installed, you can manage the container with these simple commands:

  • Start: just run
  • Stop: just stop
  • Logs: just logs
  • Setup/Login: just setup
  • Terminal: just terminal
  • Health: just health

Setup

Now, you need to login to your Proton account. Open a bash terminal on the current running container:

docker exec -it protonmail_bridge /bin/bash

Once the interactive shell is open:

# First we need to kill the default bridge startup instance (only one instance of bridge can run at the same time)
root@8972584f86d4:/app# pkill bridge
# Login to your Proton account:
root@8972584f86d4:/app# /usr/bin/bridge --cli
....
      Welcome to Proton Mail Bridge interactive shell
....
>>> info
No active accounts. Please add account to continue.

# Type help for a list of all commands
>>> help
# Login to a Proton account (!MUST! be a paid plan to use this client), follow the instructions on screen
# Tip: Use Ctrl+Shift+V to paste on most Linux terminal
>>> login
Username: test_account@proton.me
Password:
Authenticating ...
Two factor code: 123456
Account test_account was added successfully.
>>> A sync has begun for test_account.
Sync (test_account): 1.0% (Elapsed: 0.5s, ETA: 46.0s)
...
Sync (test_account): 99.9% (Elapsed: 50.4s, ETA: 0.4s)
A sync has finished for test_account.
>>>
# Success

IF you are using multiple domain names or email addresses, you SHOULD switch to split address mode (it will set credentials for each address in the account).

It will sync the account again, time to grab a coffee.

>>> change mode 0
Are you sure you want to change the mode for account test_account to split? yes/no: yes
Address mode for account test_account changed to split
>>> A sync has begun for test_account.
Sync (test_account): 1.0% (Elapsed: 0.3s, ETA: 32.6s)
...
Sync (test_account): 99.9% (Elapsed: 50.4s, ETA: 0.4s)
A sync has finished for test_account.
>>>

Use the following information to connect via an SMTP client. The port numbers for the SMTP/IMAP connections are 12025 and 12143 (see command docker ps), NOT the one provided by the infocommand.

You MUST copy the username AND password from the info command (the password is random and different from your Proton account):

>>> info
Configuration for test_account@proton.me
IMAP Settings
Address:   127.0.0.1
IMAP port: 1143
Username:  test_account@proton.me
Password:  abcedfGHI12345
Security:  STARTTLS

SMTP Settings
Address:   127.0.0.1
SMTP port: 1025
Username:  test_account@proton.me
Password:  abcedfGHI12345
Security:  STARTTLS

Configuration for another_account@proton.me
....

# Exit
>>> exit
root@8972584f86d4:/app# exit

See a list of all Proton bridge commands available here or use the help command.

We have killed the default bridge instance by exiting it during the previous step, so we MUST restart the container:

docker container restart protonmail_bridge

OR (docker compose version):

docker compose restart

(Optional) You can check the bridge command line output with:

docker container logs protonmail_bridge

It should end with A sync has finished for <name_of_your_account>

Notes

  1. Your email client might complain about the self-signed certificate used by Proton mail bridge server.
  2. If you want other docker containers to only be able to send emails, you should only expose SMTP port 25.

TrueNAS Scale 24.10 or superior (TrueNAS apps as docker containers)

The docker image was tested on the latest stable version of TrueNAS Scale 24.10 (at the time of writing), follow the installation custom app screen documentation. You should define a Dataset to save your Proton mail data before installing the app.

The recommended parameters are:

  1. Image Configuration - Image repository: ghcr.io/videocurio/proton-mail-bridge / Image tag: latest / Pull policy: Always pull...
  2. Container Configuration - Entrypoint: /app/entrypoint.sh / Restart Policy: Unless stopped
  3. Network Configuration - Add > Container Port: 25 / Host Port: 12025 (Or any other non-used port) / Protocol: TCP
  4. Storage Configuration - Storage Add > Type: Host path / Mount Path: /root / Host path: /mnt/path/to/your/protonmail-dataset
  5. Resource Configuration - Check Enable resource limits, configure the limits to your liking.

Changelog

  • 2026/04/21:
    • Added tini as entrypoint.
    • Added docker health check.
    • Updated to Proton Mail Bridge v3.24.2
  • 2026/04/19:
    • Alpine image marked as DEPRECATED and replaced by a Debian slim image.
    • Updated to Proton Mail Bridge v3.24.1
  • 2025/07/30: Added multi-platform docker buildx support.
  • 2025/07/15: Added ARM64/v8 platform image for the Alpine version.
  • 2025/07/12: updated to Proton Mail Bridge v3.21.2 (bug fix update)
  • 2025/06/16: updated to Proton Mail Bridge v3.21.1
  • 2025/06/10: updated to Proton Mail Bridge v3.21.0
  • 2025/06/03: updated to Proton Mail Bridge v3.20.1
  • 2025/05/27: updated to Proton Mail Bridge v3.20.0
  • 2025/03/21: updated to Proton Mail Bridge v3.19.0
  • 2025/02/28: updated to Proton Mail Bridge v3.18.0, added environment variables CONTAINER_SMTP_PORT (default set to 25) and CONTAINER_IMAP_PORT (default set to 143), change this only if you have another MTA on the same docker network to prevent port conflict.
  • 2025/02/21: updated to Proton Mail Bridge v3.17.0
  • 2024/10/02: updated to Proton Mail Bridge v3.14.0
  • 2024/09/13: updated to Proton Mail Bridge v3.13.0
  • 2024/09/12: added a default compose yaml file for docker compose users.
  • 2024/09/05: updated to Proton Mail Bridge v3.12.0, Alpine version: update to Golang 1.23
  • 2024/04/30: updated to Proton Mail Bridge v3.11.0
  • 2024/03/04: Initial public release, Proton Mail Bridge v3.9.1

Developers notes

There is a testing branch available if you want to submit a Pull Request. Images ghcr.io/videocurio/dev-debian is build on the testing branch. For development purpose only ! Do NOT use it in production.

License

Copyright (C) 2024-2026 David BASTIEN

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

Sources

Made from Debian 13 (trixie) Go 1.26 image and latest Proton Mail Bridge sources

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A docker version of the Proton mail bridge command line interface. It creates a local SMTP server, so other docker containers can send emails via your proton mail account.

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docker proton protonmail protonmail-bridge

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