I organize email before it reaches my inbox, starting with the address I give out. I use SimpleLogin to forward mail from different addresses to the right inbox, then labels to sort it there.
An alias is an email address that forwards to an existing mailbox. It does not give me another inbox to check.
Different domains, different destinations
The domain—the part after @—decides where my mail goes:
| Domain | Destination |
|---|---|
antoinemenard.com |
My Gmail inbox |
| A shorter domain, kept private here | My personal inbox; quicker to type or give out |
| A shared domain | Both my inbox and my partner’s |
| Project domains | My professional inbox |
The shared domain is useful when we both need the same message. SimpleLogin supports multiple destination mailboxes per alias, so neither of us has to remember to forward it.
One address per service
I use a service’s name in its address: [email protected] is the pattern, with my own domain in place of example.com. That lets me recognize which address received a message and control it separately.
I do not create every alias by hand. With catch-all enabled on a domain, I can make up an address at signup. SimpleLogin creates the alias when the first email arrives.
To reproduce this, you need a domain you control and SimpleLogin Premium for custom domains, catch-all, and multiple mailboxes. Connect the domain, confirm and select its destination mailboxes, and enable Catch All. Changing an existing domain’s mail routing affects its other addresses too, so account for those before switching.
Check that a test message reaches the intended inbox—or both inboxes for a shared address—before relying on it.
Catch-all also accepts mail sent to new addresses I never chose. It saves setup work; it does not prevent someone from inventing another address at my domain.
Newsletters go to Later
For newsletters, I use the pattern newsletter.*@antoinemenard.com, where * stands for the service’s name—for example, [email protected]. This describes the address names, not a Gmail wildcard search.
I filter mail addressed to that newsletter prefix into a Later label. Choosing the address at signup gives those messages a category before they arrive.
A Gmail label is a tag, not a folder: one message can have several. Applying Later does not by itself remove mail from the inbox. Archiving removes it from the inbox without deleting it.
To try the idea with one newsletter, create a Gmail filter using its full alias in the To field. Search first to check that it catches the intended messages, then choose Create filter → Apply the label, select or create Later, and save the filter. Leave automatic archiving off until you trust the matches.
Keep optional reading separate from payment failures, account warnings, and messages that need a reply. Labeling those messages does not mean they are dealt with.
Seeing where an address travels
One of the more interesting parts is seeing unexpected mailing lists or strange spam arrive at an address I gave to a particular service. Using a separate alias makes that much easier to spot.
It can suggest that an address was shared or leaked, but it does not prove that a company sold it or was hacked. Addresses can also be guessed, especially when they use predictable service names.
Switching off a noisy alias
When an alias starts attracting spam, I can disable it in SimpleLogin. That stops mail through that address without changing my main inbox or the aliases I use elsewhere.
Disabling blocks legitimate mail too, including receipts and password resets. If you still need an account, change its email address and check delivery before switching off the old alias. You can re-enable an alias, but messages discarded while it was disabled are not recovered.
Letting AI agents use the same system
I also want AI agents to work with this setup. I built simplelogin-mcp, a server that uses the Model Context Protocol to connect AI assistants to SimpleLogin. A compatible agent can create an alias, look up an existing one to reuse, or change where it forwards mail. That helps organize incoming mail at the address level; it does not read message bodies or apply Gmail labels. The API key gives full access to your SimpleLogin account; keep it private and review changes before letting an agent apply them.