Python email API: send and receive (no smtplib)

A Python email API that sends and receives over HTTP — no smtplib. Send and receive with httpx or requests, OTP extraction, and why it beats SMTP.

A Python email API done over HTTP beats smtplib on every axis that matters: no SMTP host or app password to manage, structured errors instead of connection exceptions, and — the big one — it can receive mail, which smtplib never could.

Send and receive (httpx)

import httpx

api = httpx.Client(
    base_url="https://login.ollastack.com",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer fmd_…"},
)

# create a mailbox once
mbx = api.post("/api/mailboxes",
               json={"name": "py", "mode": "agent", "handle": "py"}).json()

# send
api.post(f"/api/mailboxes/{mbx['id']}/send",
         json={"to": "user@example.com", "subject": "Hi", "text": "From Python."})

# receive the reply
msg = api.get(f"/api/mailboxes/{mbx['id']}/wait", params={"timeout": 60}).json()
print(msg["subject"], msg["codes"])   # OTP extracted for you

requests is the same with a requests.Session() carrying the auth header; httpx also gives you AsyncClient for async code.

Why not smtplib

smtplib makes you own the SMTP transport — host, port 587, starttls(), credentials, timeouts — and only sends. The API is one call that returns a msg_… id or a clear error, and it receives too. For OTP flows you read codes[0] instead of scraping HTML — see read an OTP code in an agent.

Async and robust error handling

For concurrent work, httpx.AsyncClient gives the same API with await, and you should branch on the response status rather than assume success:

import httpx, asyncio

async def send(api, mbx_id, to, subject, text):
    r = await api.post(f"/api/mailboxes/{mbx_id}/send",
                       json={"to": to, "subject": subject, "text": text})
    if r.status_code == 429:        # rate limited — back off and retry
        await asyncio.sleep(2)
        return await send(api, mbx_id, to, subject, text)
    r.raise_for_status()            # 4xx/5xx -> exception you can log
    return r.json()                 # { "id": "msg_…", "status": "sent" }

async def main():
    async with httpx.AsyncClient(
        base_url="https://login.ollastack.com",
        headers={"Authorization": "Bearer fmd_…"},
    ) as api:
        await send(api, "mbx_…", "user@example.com", "Hi", "Async send.")

asyncio.run(main())

The send endpoint returns a structured error body (a code and message) on failure, so you log a real reason instead of catching an opaque SMTP exception. The same pattern wraps wait for receiving.

Where it fits

This is the Python view of the email API. See also send email in Python (free) and the Node.js version.

Get a free token — send and receive from Python, no card.

Last updated June 21, 2026. Spotted something out of date? Email hello@ollastack.com.