Mail2News Gateway

Post to Usenet newsgroups using your email client

Mail2News Gateway Overview

The Mail2News gateway bridges email and Usenet NNTP protocols, enabling posting without dedicated newsreader software.

Gateway Endpoints

Two Mail2News addresses are available for posting:

mail2news@xilb7y4kj6u6qfo45o3yk2kilfv54ffukzei3puonuqlncy7cn2afwyd.onion
mail2news@mail2news.tcpreset.net

Both relay to our Tor hidden NNTP server:

peannyjkqwqfynd24p6dszvtchkq7hfkwymi5by5y332wmosy5dwfaqd.onion

Features

Address Format Specification

Basic Syntax

mail2news-YYYYMMDD-newsgroup@mail2news.tcpreset.net
Example: Post to comp.os.linux.misc on April 25, 2025: 
mail2news-20250425-comp.os.linux.misc@mail2news.tcpreset.net

Privacy-Preserving Variant

Obfuscate sender address ("@" → "<AT>", "." → "<DOT>"):

mail2news_nospam-YYYYMMDD-newsgroup@mail2news.tcpreset.net

Cross-Posting

Post to multiple newsgroups (max 3) using "=" separator:

mail2news-YYYYMMDD-group1=group2=group3@mail2news.tcpreset.net
Example: Cross-post to three groups: 
mail2news-20250425-comp.os.linux.misc=alt.os.linux=comp.os.unix@mail2news.tcpreset.net

Temporal Constraint: Timestamp must be within ±48 hours of server time. Stale dates trigger rejection.

Email Client Configuration

Gmail (Web)

  1. Compose → Enter mail2news address in "To:"
  2. ⋮ (three dots) → "Plain text mode"
  3. Compose subject and message → Send

Microsoft Outlook

  1. New Message → Enter mail2news address
  2. Format → Plain Text
  3. Compose and send

Mozilla Thunderbird

  1. Write → Enter mail2news address
  2. Options → Delivery Format → Plain Text Only
  3. Send

Apple Mail

  1. New Message → Enter mail2news address
  2. Format → Make Plain Text (⇧⌘T)
  3. Send

Proton Mail

  1. New Message → Enter mail2news address
  2. Editor toolbar → Plain Text
  3. Send

Command Line

echo "Message body" | mail -s "Subject" mail2news-20250425-alt.test@mail2news.tcpreset.net

Usage Examples

Use Case Address
Standard post mail2news-20250425-alt.test@mail2news.tcpreset.net
Obfuscated sender mail2news_nospam-20250425-comp.os.linux.misc@mail2news.tcpreset.net
Cross-post (3 groups) mail2news-20250425-alt.test=misc.test=comp.test@mail2news.tcpreset.net

Complete Message Example

To: mail2news-20250425-comp.os.linux.misc@mail2news.tcpreset.net
From: user@example.com
Subject: vm.swappiness tuning query

What value for vm.swappiness on 16GB desktop (Ubuntu 24.04)?
Current: 60 (default). Workload: development + browsing.

Thanks.

Troubleshooting

Common Rejection Causes

Error Cause Solution
Invalid date Timestamp outside ±48h window Use current YYYYMMDD
No valid newsgroups Typo or non-existent hierarchy Verify newsgroup name
Crosspost limit exceeded More than 3 groups Reduce to ≤3 groups
Content garbled HTML formatting Use plain text mode

Best Practices

Debugging

If post doesn't appear within 5 minutes:

  1. Check bounce messages in inbox
  2. Test with alt.test first
  3. Verify newsgroup exists via NNTP LIST command
  4. Contact: abuse (a) tcpreset.net with headers