Demo mode

Demo mode runs the web interface against in-memory sample data. It is useful for evaluation, UI development, screenshots, and automated tests without connecting real services.

Behavior

• PostgreSQL, authentication providers, IMAP, SMTP, and the worker are not required.
• Login and setup requirements are bypassed.
• Sample mail, threads, contacts, settings, filters, AI responses, shares, and operations are served from the web process.
• Changes are temporary and reset when the web process restarts.
• External services are not contacted by mail and AI demo paths.
• The external REST API, MCP integration, OpenPGP operations, and composed mailboxes are unavailable or limited where they require persistent or external state.

Do not use demo mode as a production deployment or expect it to preserve user data.

Configuration

Item	Setting name	Environment variable	Requirement
Enable demo mode	None	DEMO_MODE	Set to 1, true, yes, or on (case-insensitive). Default is false.
Database	None	DATABASE_URL	Not required in demo mode.
Authentication	None	ORIGIN and BETTER_AUTH_SECRET	Not required for demo data.
Mail services	None	IMAP_HOST, IMAP_USER, IMAP_PASSWORD, SMTP_HOST, SMTP_USER, and SMTP_PASSWORD	Not required and not contacted.
Worker	None	None	Do not run it for demo data; in-memory state belongs to the web process.

Start a local demo with DEMO_MODE=true pnpm dev.