# collective.email

A shared email inbox for communities: one address (you@collective.email) that a whole
collective can read and answer, with assignments, internal notes and @mentions.

This site is plain HTML forms over HTTP — no JavaScript required. An agent acting for a
human can drive every flow below with form-encoded POSTs and a cookie jar. Email
verification codes (6 digits, 10-minute expiry) are sent to the human's inbox; reading
them requires their mailbox access, which is the intended human-in-the-loop.

## Create a collective address

1. Check availability (JSON):
   GET https://collective.email/claim/oc?slug=<name>
   → {"unavailable": null|string, "oc": {"kind": "none"|"contactable"|"uncontactable"}}
   Names are 6–40 chars, [a-z0-9] only. kind != "none" means the name belongs to a
   collective on opencollective.com and needs an ownership proof (see the /claim pages).

2. Reserve it (sends a 6-digit code to the human's personal email):
   POST https://collective.email/claim
   form fields: address=<name>, name=<first name>, email=<their personal email>

3. Verify the code (sets the session cookie; the reservation holds for 48 hours):
   POST https://collective.email/verify
   form fields: email=<same email>, code=<6 digits>
   → 302 to /claim/<name> (the activation page)

4. Get the invite link (requires the session cookie):
   GET https://collective.email/claim/<name>/invite
   The page contains one URL of the form https://collective.email/join/<token>, valid 24 hours.
   Share it with the human's collective.

5. Activation — one of:
   - A second person accepts the invite (any role). The address goes live
     immediately with a 30-day free trial. This is the normal path: a collective
     is at least two people, and reserved names that nobody joins expire.
   - Subscribe (Stripe) or redeem a discount code on https://collective.email/claim/<name>.

## Join a collective (invite link in hand)

GET https://collective.email/join/<token> shows the form. Then:
POST https://collective.email/join/<token>
  form fields: name=<first name>, level=every|daily|weekly, and EITHER
  account=<an email this cookie jar is already signed in as> (joins instantly, no code)
  OR account=other, email=<new personal email> (a 6-digit code is emailed; verify as above).

## Sign in / multiple accounts

POST https://collective.email/login   form fields: email=<member email>  → code emailed → POST /verify.
The cookie can hold up to five signed-in accounts (add one via https://collective.email/login?add=1);
each /inbox/<name>/… page acts as whichever account is a member there.
POST https://collective.email/logout  form field email=<address> signs out that account only.

## After activation

Inbox:        https://collective.email/inbox/<name>            (HTML; threads, assignment, notes)
Compose:      POST https://collective.email/inbox/<name>/compose
              form fields: to, cc, bcc (comma-separated), subject, body,
              action=send|draft. "draft" creates a thread with a shareable URL
              where teammates can discuss via internal notes before sending.
Members:      https://collective.email/inbox/<name>/members    (invite links per role: reader/commenter/sender)
Settings:     https://collective.email/inbox/<name>/settings   (rename collective; address changes only before first email)
Export:       https://collective.email/inbox/<name>/export     (full zip archive — admin only)
Docs:         https://collective.email/docs   Pricing & FAQ:   https://collective.email/faq