QA Pilot Candidates

Working list for finding Pilot #1 while Stripe is on hold. Do not store ma_... keys here. Send keys only after a candidate accepts the pilot and has a private channel for secrets.

Candidate Tracker

Candidate	Contact	Stack	Signup flow	Status	Next action	Notes
TBD	TBD	Playwright/Cypress/other	signup / login / password reset	identified	ask if they want a 30 min QA pilot	Good fit if they have email verification in CI.

Statuses:

Status	Meaning
identified	Possible team/person, no message sent yet
contacted	First no-key outreach sent
accepted	They agreed to try it
key_sent	Scoped MAILAGENT_API_KEY sent privately
ci_green	Starter copied and npm test passed
staging_green	APP_SIGNUP_URL flow passed
feedback_done	Feedback captured in issue #5
declined	Not a fit now

Good Candidate Profile

• Uses Playwright or Cypress in CI.
• Has signup, login, invite, or password-reset email verification.
• Can add one GitHub Actions secret.
• Has a staging signup URL, or at least wants to start with simulated email.
• Feels pain from shared test inboxes, flaky OTP waits, or manual email checks.

Avoid for Pilot #1:

• Teams that require procurement, security review, or billing before a simple trial.
• Teams with no automated browser tests.
• Teams that cannot use external API keys in CI.

First Message (No Key)

Hey — I’m looking for one QA/dev team to try MailAgent for email verification in CI.

It replaces shared test inboxes with disposable inboxes per test run and works with Playwright/Cypress. Setup is meant to be ~30 minutes: copy a starter, add one CI secret, run npm test. The first test can use simulated email, then we can wire your staging signup URL.

Would you be open to trying it and telling me where the setup breaks or feels unclear?

Acceptance Reply

Great. I’ll send two things:

1. Setup instructions:
   https://github.com/Alex0nder/MailAgent/tree/main/examples/qa-pilot-starter

2. A scoped MAILAGENT_API_KEY separately through a private channel.

Start with:
  git clone https://github.com/Alex0nder/MailAgent.git /tmp/mailagent
  cp -R /tmp/mailagent/examples/qa-pilot-starter ./mailagent-qa
  cd mailagent-qa
  cp .env.example .env
  npm install && npm test

After simulate is green, send me:
- setup time
- test stack
- any error/confusing step
- staging signup URL/service preset if you want to try real E2E

Key Rules

• Never send MAILAGENT_API_KEY in a public issue, PR, screenshot, or CI log.
• Issue or reuse a scoped key only after acceptance.
• Prefer scoped keys with labelPrefix=ci-.
• Send the key separately from the invite text, via 1Password, encrypted DM, or another private channel.
• Record only status and feedback in issue #5.

Feedback Questions

Ask after npm test or staging E2E:

Question	Target
Minutes from first message to green npm test?	< 30
What was unclear?	docs / package install / CI secret / service preset
Did email wait flake?	< 2%
What sender/service do they use?	add preset if missing
Would they keep this in CI?	yes/no + why