What I Built

I created the ReadLater Email Web App, a sleek, multi-user web application designed to transform your chaotic email inbox into a serene personal reading space. Think of it as your dedicated digital library for valuable emails. Instead of letting important articles, newsletters, or even personal notes get buried, you can now effortlessly save them for later consumption in a clean, distraction-free environment.

Demo

Here's how to try it out:

Forward or send an email from your personal email to this Postmark address: 1ec7cccf281e3ae5274b1ce1f0598e6d@inbound.postmarkapp.com

Now, visit the live demo URL for the ReadLater app.

Log in using the exact same email address you just sent from. This is how the app recognizes you.

You'll then see the emails you personally forward, displayed in a clean, reader-friendly format. If you don't see your email immediately, give it a moment and try refreshing the page a couple of times.

Code Repository

Bridgetamana / readlater-app

The app parses these emails, stores them as structured entries, and provides a minimal dashboard for viewing, marking as read, or deleting them.

ReadLater Email App

Bridget Amana · 2025-06-09T00:50:00Z

This is a submission for the Postmark Challenge: Inbox Innovators . What I Built I created the ReadLater Email Web App , a sleek, multi-user web application designed to transform your chaotic email inbox into a serene personal reading space. Think of it as your dedicated digital library for valuable emails. Instead of letting important articles, newsletters, or even personal notes get buried, you can now effortlessly save them for later consumption in a clean, distraction-free environment. Demo ReadLater Here's how to try it out: Forward or send an email from your personal email to this Postmark address: 1ec7cccf281e3ae5274b1ce1f0598e6d@inbound.postmarkapp.com Now, visit the live demo URL for the ReadLater app. Log in using the exact same email address you just sent from. This is how the app recognizes you. You'll then see the emails you personally forward, displayed in a clean, reader-friendly format. If you don't see your email immediately, give it a moment and try refreshing the page a couple of times. Code Repository Bridgetamana / readlater-app The app parses these emails, stores them as structured entries, and provides a minimal dashboard for viewing, marking as read, or deleting them. ReadLater Email App Features Forward emails to shared Postmark address Private inboxes - users only see emails they forwarded Auto-mark emails as read when viewing Delete emails Full email viewer with HTML/text content Arrow keys (↑↓) to navigate email list Enter to open selected email Space to mark selected email as read Delete key to remove selected email Escape to close email viewer Setup Install dependencies: npm install Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode Configure environment variables in .env.local : JSONBIN_API_KEY=your_jsonbin_api_key JSONBIN_BIN_ID=your_jsonbin_bin_id Run development server: npm run dev Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode Configure Postmark webhook URL to point to: your-domain.com/api/inbound-email How It Works Users login with their email address Users forward emails FROM their email address TO your Postmark inbound address Each user sees only emails they personally forwarded Complete user isolation based on sender email address Deployment Deploy to Vercel, Netlify, or any Node.js hosting platform. Ensure environment variables are configured in production. View on GitHub How I Built It Frontend: I used Next.js and styled with Tailwind CSS Email Processing: This was built using Postmark , specifically its Inbound Email feature. Data Storage: I utilized JSONBin.io for quick, serverless data persistence. I started with a Next.js boilerplate, then quickly integrated the core functionality. The most easiest part was setting up Postmark's Inbound Email . This involved signing up for Postmark, creating a new server, and then configuring the "Inbound" tab to point its webhook URL to my https://your-domain.com/api/inbound-email endpoint. Postmark's system then reliably catches incoming emails, parses them, and sends the structured data (like sender, subject, and body) directly to my application as a JSON payload. This streamlined process meant I didn't have to build complex email parsing logic from scratch. For data storage, JSONBin.io proved invaluable, allowing me to store each user's emails easily without the overhead of a traditional database. The frontend then pulls and displays these emails, offering the refined reading experience with intuitive navigation. My Experience with Postmark: Working with Postmark was easy like i said and seamless. Seamless Integration: Setting up the inbound webhook was incredibly straightforward, letting me focus on the app's unique features rather than email handling complexities. Reliable Performance: Postmark reliably processes and delivers emails, ensuring my app always has the latest content within few seconds. Valuable Analytics: I appreciate being able to see detailed analytics from Postmark, which gives insights into email flow and helps monitor any email failure. Conclusion Creating the ReadLater Email App for this challenge has been a fantastic experience. I am really excited about this project, and after the hackathon, I plan to make it open source. My hope is that others can join in and help make it better.

Features

Forward emails to shared Postmark address
Private inboxes - users only see emails they forwarded
Auto-mark emails as read when viewing
Delete emails
Full email viewer with HTML/text content
Arrow keys (↑↓) to navigate email list
Enter to open selected email
Space to mark selected email as read
Delete key to remove selected email
Escape to close email viewer

Setup

Install dependencies:

npm install

Configure environment variables in .env.local:

JSONBIN_API_KEY=your_jsonbin_api_key
JSONBIN_BIN_ID=your_jsonbin_bin_id

Run development server:

npm run dev

Configure Postmark webhook URL to point to: your-domain.com/api/inbound-email

How It Works

Users login with their email address
Users forward emails FROM their email address TO your Postmark inbound address
Each user sees only emails they personally forwarded
Complete user isolation based on sender email address

Deployment

Deploy to Vercel, Netlify, or any Node.js hosting platform. Ensure environment variables are configured in production.

View on GitHub

How I Built It

Frontend: I used Next.js and styled with Tailwind CSS

Email Processing: This was built using Postmark, specifically its Inbound Email feature.

Data Storage: I utilized JSONBin.io for quick, serverless data persistence.

I started with a Next.js boilerplate, then quickly integrated the core functionality. The most easiest part was setting up Postmark's Inbound Email. This involved signing up for Postmark, creating a new server, and then configuring the "Inbound" tab to point its webhook URL to my https://your-domain.com/api/inbound-email endpoint. Postmark's system then reliably catches incoming emails, parses them, and sends the structured data (like sender, subject, and body) directly to my application as a JSON payload. This streamlined process meant I didn't have to build complex email parsing logic from scratch.

For data storage, JSONBin.io proved invaluable, allowing me to store each user's emails easily without the overhead of a traditional database. The frontend then pulls and displays these emails, offering the refined reading experience with intuitive navigation.

My Experience with Postmark:

Working with Postmark was easy like i said and seamless.

Seamless Integration: Setting up the inbound webhook was incredibly straightforward, letting me focus on the app's unique features rather than email handling complexities.

Reliable Performance: Postmark reliably processes and delivers emails, ensuring my app always has the latest content within few seconds.

Valuable Analytics: I appreciate being able to see detailed analytics from Postmark, which gives insights into email flow and helps monitor any email failure.

Postmark analytics for readlater app server

Top comments (6)

Ananya Kallankudlu • Jun 9

Nice and simple, and such a cool original idea!

Bridget Amana • Jun 11

Thank you @ananyakallankudlu

Nevo David • Jun 9

Pretty cool seeing folks ship something clean like this. Would totally use it myself.

🤭🤭

Meenakshi Agarwal • Jun 9

Really cool concept! Turning forwarded emails into a clean reading space is a smart and thoughtful use of Postmark. Feels both practical and user-friendly!