Hey everyone,
I’m working on a Rails app that uses Mailgun for handling incoming emails. It’s currently deployed on Heroku, but I’m having trouble figuring out how to test the email processing locally.
Right now, I have to push every change to Heroku to see if it works. This is getting pretty time-consuming, especially since I’m the only one using this test app.
Does anyone know if it’s possible to work with Mailgun on localhost? If so, could you share some tips on how to set it up? I’d really appreciate any advice on making my local development process smoother.
Thanks a bunch for your help!
hey sparklinggem, have u tried using ngrok? it lets u expose ur local server to the internet. set it up, point mailgun to ur ngrok url, and u can test locally. saves a ton of time! lemme know if u need help setting it up
I’ve been in a similar situation, and I found that using a combination of letter_opener gem and mailcatcher can be quite effective for local testing. Letter_opener allows you to preview emails in the browser without actually sending them, which is great for quick checks. Mailcatcher, on the other hand, sets up a simple SMTP server that catches all outgoing emails and displays them in a web interface. This setup doesn’t require exposing your local environment to the internet, which can be a plus for some developers. Just remember to configure your development environment to use these tools instead of your production Mailgun settings. It takes a bit of initial setup, but it’s well worth it for streamlining your workflow.
As someone who’s dealt with this exact issue, I can tell you that using a fake SMTP server like Mailtrap is a game-changer for local development. It’s super easy to set up – just create a free account, get your SMTP credentials, and add them to your Rails config for the development environment. This way, all your emails get caught in a virtual inbox that you can check online, without the need to expose your local machine to the internet or mess with your production Mailgun setup.
I’ve found it incredibly useful for debugging email content, testing different scenarios, and ensuring everything works as expected before pushing to Heroku. Plus, it’s much faster than deploying every single change. Give it a shot – it’ll save you loads of time and headaches in the long run.