Send & Receive Mail Steps

The Send Mail and Receive Mail steps integrate email into test automation — useful for account verification, password reset and notification workflows.

When to Use

Testing email-based flows: verification codes, password resets, notifications.
Asserting that a system sent the expected message to a mailbox.
Extracting a link or code from an email to drive the next step.

Why: Email is often the only observable side-effect of a workflow (a verification link, a reset token). These steps let you drive and assert that channel like any other.

Send Mail Step

Display name: Send Mail (SMTP). Sends an email over SMTP.

Configuration (SMTP Settings tab)

Field	Description
Server Address	SMTP host (default `smtp.yourprovider.xyz`). Supports `${VariableName}`.
Port	SMTP port (default `587`).
SSL	Use SSL/TLS (`true` by default).
STARTTLS	Use STARTTLS (`true` by default).
Username	SMTP authentication username.
Password	SMTP password — stored encrypted; use `${VariableName}` for secrets.
Server Response	Read-only response returned by the server.

A Connection Profile picker (type Smtp) can supply all of the above; when active, the inline fields are hidden. Two further tabs are available:

MIME Message — the MailMessage editor (MimeMessageEditor).
Raw Message — read-only rendered raw message.

Attachments are configured as a list of file names (relative, resolved from the project files/ folder); ${VariableName} substitution is supported on each entry. Missing files are logged as diagnostics and skipped.

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The MIME message and attachments are combined at send time. The step returns RunResult.Success on a successful SmtpClient.Send, otherwise RunResult.Failure.

Receive Mail Step

Display name: Receive Mail. Connects to a mailbox over IMAP or POP3 and selects matching messages.

Configuration (Server Configuration tab)

Field	Description
Protocol	`IMAP` (default) or `POP3`.
Server Address	IMAP/POP3 host (e.g. `imap.yourserver.com`). Supports `${VariableName}`.
Port	Server port (default `993`).
SSL/TLS	Enable TLS (`true` by default).
STARTTLS	Enable STARTTLS (`false` by default).
Username	Mailbox username. Supports `${VariableName}`.
Password	Mailbox password (or app password). Stored encrypted.

A Connection Profile picker (type MailInbox) can supply the protocol, server, port, TLS options and credentials; when active the inline fields are hidden.

Configuration (Mail filter tab)

The Filters expander contains:

Field	Description
Subject Filter	Selects mail by subject; supports `${VariableName}`.
Filtering Mode	An Action (compare action: `AreEqual`, `Contains`, `GreaterThan`, …) and a Mode (compare mode: `Binary`, `CaseInsensitive`, `Loose`, `RegularExpression`, `RegularExpressionIgnoreCase`, `NodeExists`, `NodeNotExists`).
Time Filter	Only select mail received within this `TimeSpan`.
Limit	Maximum number of recent mails to check (default `10`).
Wait Timeout	Maximum time to wait for a matching mail (default `2` minutes). The step re-checks every 15 seconds until a match or the timeout.

Matched messages are listed in the Retrived Messages grid (Action / Subject / From / Date) with an Open button. Selected messages are available in MimeMessages.

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If no mail matches the subject filter before the wait timeout, the step returns RunResult.Failure with "No Email matchs the Subject filter. Test failed."

Common Pattern: Email Verification Flow

Step 1: Send Request (POST /register) → stores ${VerificationCode}
Step 2: Wait (00:00:05) — wait for email delivery
Step 3: Receive Mail
        Protocol: IMAP
        Subject Filter: "Verify your account"  (Mode: Contains)
        → matched messages in MimeMessages
Step 4: C# Script — extract verification link from the message
Step 5: Send Request (GET <link>)
Step 6: Assert (Status Code = 200)

When to Use​

Send Mail Step​

Configuration (SMTP Settings tab)​

Receive Mail Step​

Configuration (Server Configuration tab)​

Configuration (Mail filter tab)​

Common Pattern: Email Verification Flow​

See Also​