Email Address Validation

1.3 · maintenance · verified Sat Apr 11

The `validate-email` library (version 1.3, last updated in 2015) provides basic functionality to verify if an email address is valid, properly formatted, and optionally checks for the existence of its domain's MX record and the email address itself via an SMTP check. Due to its age, it is largely unmaintained. More robust and actively developed alternatives are recommended for modern Python projects.

Warnings

deprecated The `validate-email` library (version 1.3) was last updated in 2015 and is largely unmaintained. It may not fully comply with modern RFC standards or integrate well with newer Python versions and asynchronous patterns. Consider using more actively maintained alternatives like `py3-validate-email` or `email-validator` for better support and features.
Fix: Migrate to a contemporary and maintained email validation library for improved reliability and future compatibility.
gotcha Performing real-time MX record lookups (`check_mx=True`) and SMTP server verification (`verify=True`) involves network requests, which are inherently slow and can introduce significant latency to your application. This is often the primary bottleneck when validating many emails.
Fix: Minimize calls to network-dependent validation (check_mx, verify). Perform these checks asynchronously or in batch processes, if absolutely necessary, and prefer syntax-only validation for user input in real-time interfaces.
breaking Using `verify=True` for bulk email verification can lead to your server's IP address being blacklisted by email providers (e.g., Gmail, Outlook). Frequent attempts to connect to SMTP servers for non-delivery purposes can be flagged as spamming activity.
Fix: Avoid using `verify=True` for large lists or automated scripts. Reserve it for single, user-initiated validations (e.g., during registration) and ensure your usage adheres to responsible network behavior to prevent IP blacklisting.
gotcha The `pyDNS` dependency, crucial for MX/SMTP checks, can be problematic to install or use on certain Python 3 environments due to conflicts with other DNS libraries (`dnspython`) or general compatibility issues with older versions of Python 3.
Fix: Ensure `pyDNS` is correctly installed. If encountering issues, try `pip uninstall py3dns dnspython` before `pip install pydns` or consider using a different validation library that relies on `dnspython` directly, which is more robust for modern Python.

Install

pip install validate_email Install `validate_email`
pip install validate_email pyDNS Install with `pyDNS` for MX/SMTP checks

Imports

validate_email
```
from validate_email import validate_email
```
The function is directly exposed at the top level of the package.

Quickstart

Demonstrates basic email validation, including optional MX record and SMTP verification checks. Note that `check_mx` and `verify` require the `pyDNS` dependency to be installed.

from validate_email import validate_email

# Basic syntax validation
is_valid_syntax = validate_email('test@example.com')
print(f"Syntax valid: {is_valid_syntax}")

# With MX record check (requires pyDNS)
is_valid_mx = validate_email('test@example.com', check_mx=True)
print(f"MX valid (requires pyDNS): {is_valid_mx}")

# With MX and SMTP verification (requires pyDNS)
is_valid_smtp = validate_email('test@example.com', check_mx=True, verify=True)
print(f"SMTP verified (requires pyDNS): {is_valid_smtp}")

# Example of an invalid email
is_invalid = validate_email('invalid-email')
print(f"Invalid email: {is_invalid}")

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