Email Guardian Documentation

Complete guide to installing, configuring, and using Email Guardian for Jira Service Management. Protect your service desk from fake, disposable, and invalid email addresses.

Overview

Email Guardian is a Jira app that validates email addresses during issue transitions. It detects and blocks disposable emails, catches typos, and ensures you can always contact your customers.

Key Features

• Disposable email blocking — Block 5,100+ known disposable and temporary email domains
• Format validation — Catch invalid email formats before tickets are created
• Typo detection — Suggest corrections for common typos (gmial.com → gmail.com)
• Workflow validation — Validate emails during issue transitions
• Runs on Atlassian — Built on Forge, 100% hosted on Atlassian infrastructure

Standard vs Advanced

Email Guardian comes in two editions:

Installation

Email Guardian can be installed from the Atlassian Marketplace by a Jira administrator.

Requirements

• Jira Cloud (Software, Service Management, or Work Management)
• Jira administrator permissions to install apps

Installation Steps

1. Go to Jira Settings → Apps → Find new apps
2. Search for "Email Guardian"
3. Click Get app and follow the prompts
4. Once installed, add the workflow validator to your transitions

Quick Start

Get up and running with Email Guardian in 5 minutes:

1. Install the app from the Atlassian Marketplace
2. Add to workflows — Add the validator to your issue transitions
3. Test it — Try creating an issue with a disposable email

Workflow Validator

Email Guardian works as a workflow validator that blocks issue transitions if email fields contain invalid addresses.

Adding to a Workflow

1. Go to Project Settings → Workflows
2. Edit the workflow containing your email-related transitions
3. Select a transition (e.g., "Create", "Submit")
4. Under Validators, click Add validator
5. Select Email Guardian (or Email Guardian Advanced)
6. Publish the workflow changes

How It Works

When a user attempts the transition:

1. Email Guardian scans all email-type fields being modified
2. Each email is validated against the configured rules
3. If any email fails validation, the transition is blocked
4. The user sees an error message explaining the problem

Disposable Detection

Email Guardian maintains a database of 5,100+ known disposable email domains including temporary mail services like Mailinator, Guerrilla Mail, 10 Minute Mail, YOPmail, and thousands of others.

How It Works

When an email is submitted, the domain is checked against the blocklist. Common disposable patterns include:

• Known temporary mail services (10minutemail, tempmail, etc.)
• Throwaway email providers (mailinator, guerrillamail, etc.)
• Anonymous email services (yopmail, sharklasers, etc.)

Blocked Example

If a user enters test@mailinator.com, they will see:

Disposable email addresses are not allowed

Typo Detection

Email Guardian detects common domain typos and blocks submissions with a helpful suggestion. This catches honest mistakes before they result in undeliverable tickets.

Detection Patterns

The typo detector catches common mistakes including:

Error Message

If a user enters test@gmial.com, they will see:

Possible typo - did you mean @gmail.com?

SMTP Mailbox Verification Advanced

Email Guardian Advanced adds real-time SMTP verification to confirm that mailboxes actually exist.

How It Works

1. After local validation passes, the email is sent to our verification API
2. The API connects to the mail server and verifies the mailbox exists
3. If the mailbox doesn't exist, the transition is blocked

Error Message

If a user enters an email with a non-existent mailbox, they will see:

Mailbox does not exist

Validation Order

Email Guardian applies validation checks in this sequence:

Email Guardian (Standard)

1. Format validation — Is the email syntactically valid?
2. Disposable check — Is it a known disposable domain?
3. Typo detection — Does the domain look like a typo?

Email Guardian Advanced

1. Format validation — Is the email syntactically valid?
2. Disposable check — Is it a known disposable domain?
3. Typo detection — Does the domain look like a typo?
4. SMTP verification — Does the mailbox exist?

If any check fails, the transition is blocked immediately with the relevant error message.

Error Messages

Users will see clear error messages when validation fails:

Troubleshooting

Emails aren't being validated

1. Verify the workflow validator is added to your transitions
2. Check that the workflow has been published after adding the validator
3. Ensure the field contains an @ symbol (Email Guardian looks for email-like content)

Legitimate emails are being blocked as disposable

1. Contact us to report the false positive
2. We'll review and update the blocklist if appropriate

Typo suggestions are incorrect

1. Some legitimate domains look like typos of common providers
2. Contact us to report consistent false positives

Workflow validator not appearing

1. Ensure the app is installed and active
2. Try refreshing the workflow editor
3. Check you have admin permissions

Frequently Asked Questions