{"slug": "swaks", "name": "swaks", "category": "terminal", "category_name": "Terminal and shell", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 3, "warners": 0, "score": 2.542, "rising": -0.98, "first": "2026-02-10", "latest": "2026-02-13", "why": "use the SWAKS testing tool for various testing attempts", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "use the SWAKS testing tool for various testing attempts", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "jetmore.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.jetmore.org/john/code/swaks/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["swaks", "Swaks"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 752119602, "item_id": 47007475, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47007475", "by": "stevekemp", "date": "2026-02-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "use the SWAKS testing tool for various testing attempts", "excerpt": "Edge cases have probably slipped past my memory, but back in the day I iused to use qpsmtpd as an incoming SMTP server for processing a decent volume of mail. As you'll see the core of qpsmtpd was very light but it was very extensible and allowed plugins to make changes/rejections to incoming mail at SMTP-time and that was very useful. These days the project was superseded by https://haraka.github.io/ The only specif", "context": "", "use_case": "SMTP testing", "switched_from": "", "story": "SMTP server from scratch in Go \u2013 FSM, raw TCP, and buffer-oriented I/O"}, {"id": 751513232, "item_id": 46969577, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46969577", "by": "ozarkerD", "date": "2026-02-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "god I love that tool", "excerpt": "I discovered swaks recently, god I love that tool", "context": "", "use_case": "testing SMTP servers", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Day the Telnet Died"}, {"id": 751499440, "item_id": 46968715, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46968715", "by": "ktpsns", "date": "2026-02-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Never heard about https://jetmore.org/john/code/swaks/, thanks for the tip.", "excerpt": "I used telnet(1) as a generic TCP text client for many years before switching to GNU/BSD netcat. Nowadays, netcat is more prominent then telnet, and telnet had its corner cases with control characters. Never heard about https://jetmore.org/john/code/swaks/, thanks for the tip.", "context": "", "use_case": "SMTP testing", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Day the Telnet Died"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["smtp testing", "testing smtp servers"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46967772", "title": "The Day the Telnet Died", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47000757", "title": "SMTP server from scratch in Go \u2013 FSM, raw TCP, and buffer-oriented I/O", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 3}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 752119602, "item_id": 47007475, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47007475", "by": "stevekemp", "date": "2026-02-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "use the SWAKS testing tool for various testing attempts", "excerpt": "Edge cases have probably slipped past my memory, but back in the day I iused to use qpsmtpd as an incoming SMTP server for processing a decent volume of mail. As you'll see the core of qpsmtpd was very light but it was very extensible and allowed plugins to make changes/rejections to incoming mail at SMTP-time and that was very useful. These days the project was superseded by https://haraka.github.io/ The only specif", "context": "", "use_case": "SMTP testing", "switched_from": "", "story": "SMTP server from scratch in Go \u2013 FSM, raw TCP, and buffer-oriented I/O"}, {"id": 751513232, "item_id": 46969577, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46969577", "by": "ozarkerD", "date": "2026-02-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "god I love that tool", "excerpt": "I discovered swaks recently, god I love that tool", "context": "", "use_case": "testing SMTP servers", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Day the Telnet Died"}, {"id": 751499440, "item_id": 46968715, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46968715", "by": "ktpsns", "date": "2026-02-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Never heard about https://jetmore.org/john/code/swaks/, thanks for the tip.", "excerpt": "I used telnet(1) as a generic TCP text client for many years before switching to GNU/BSD netcat. Nowadays, netcat is more prominent then telnet, and telnet had its corner cases with control characters. Never heard about https://jetmore.org/john/code/swaks/, thanks for the tip.", "context": "", "use_case": "SMTP testing", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Day the Telnet Died"}]}