Nova EmailRelay

1.0 · 2026-10-02

The MRS replacement for Nova: a Windows service that sends Nova's outgoing mail and stores replies, bounces and receipts on the case over IMAP/SMTP or Microsoft Graph with OAuth2 — the same database tables, the same behaviour, and a command line that tests every link of the chain before anything is installed.

• Drop-in for MRS. Reads and writes Nova's existing email tables with the same status codes, recipient types, importance levels and attachment handling; delivery reports, non-delivery reports and read receipts are recognised and stored as the message classes Nova expects. A sent document's status is updated on the case.

• OAuth2, two ways. Client credentials for unattended operation, or a one-time device-code sign-in with automatic token renewal, through a multi-tenant app registration or one of your own. Client secrets are encrypted in the configuration file the moment they are set, and masked whenever configuration is shown.

• IMAP/SMTP, or Microsoft Graph. Standard IMAP and SMTP against Office 365 or any other mail server, with OAuth2 or a plain username and password; Microsoft Graph as an alternative transport for tenants that do not allow IMAP and SMTP.

• A command line that diagnoses itself. test db, test send and test receive check the database, the token — decoded, with the roles it carries — and the mail server separately, and say which permission is missing and where in the Azure Portal to add it.

• Test mode. Only the addresses and domains on an allow-list are delivered; everything else is saved as an .eml file for inspection, so a rehearsal on live data emails nobody.

• Mail as files. Optionally route every message through .eml files on disk — an archive of what was sent, a manual approval step, or Outlook messages imported straight into Nova — with export and import commands.

• Retries that know when to stop. Temporary faults are retried up to a limit; permanent ones, such as a rejected recipient, fail at once and are flagged in Nova instead of clogging the queue.

• Readable mail in both directions. Plain-text letters go out as multipart text and HTML with a configurable font and style; incoming HTML is converted to clean text, with the original kept as an attachment if wanted.

• Built to be monitored. Structured rolling log files, optional Grafana Loki output, and a webhook after every cycle reporting status, counts and duration.

• One command to install. emailrelay install registers the Windows service; several named instances run side by side for several companies or mailboxes. Self-contained: nothing to install on the host.