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App Information

Bichon

A self-hosted webmail client built in Rust.

About

Bichon is a lightweight, self-hosted webmail application written in Rust. It provides a web interface for reading and managing email, keeping your email access private and independent of third-party webmail providers.

AlternativeTo

Cloud Hosted

ToolOpen SourceFree TierMonthly Cost
GmailNoYesFree / From $7/seat
Outlook WebNoYesFree / From $6/seat

Self Hosted

ToolOpen SourceFull FeaturesNotes
RoundcubeYesYesMature PHP webmail
SnappymailYesYesLightweight PHP webmail

Installation

From kustomize build k8s/apps/talos/bichon:

  • Deployment: Single bichon deployment in the bichon namespace
  • Image: rustmailer/bichon:0.3.7
  • Storage: Three Longhorn PVCs — bichon (app data), index (search index), mails (mail storage); all SOPS-encrypted at rest
  • Config: BICHON_DATA_DIR, BICHON_INDEX_DIR, BICHON_ROOT_DIR, and BICHON_ENCRYPT_PASSWORD injected from SOPS secret
  • Networking: ClusterIP service, HTTPRoute via gateway

Administration

  • Backups: k8up Schedule with restic backs up Longhorn PVCs to Hetzner S3
  • OpenID/SSO: No OIDC configuration present in manifests
  • Security: All secrets SOPS-encrypted with age; Longhorn volumes encrypted at rest

Usage

Access the web UI to read, compose, and organize email. The search index enables full-text search across stored mail. All mail data is persisted in the encrypted Longhorn volumes on-cluster.

Metadata

Kubernetes Metadata
  • Image: rustmailer/bichon:0.3.7@sha256:d88d4807689dcc22358d341b5ce66cb0783e74946857a32362c021a2e8154430