Asopitech With · Mail client
Gmail with Alopex DB
Gmail is a mail service for sending, storing and searching mail. What if we rebuilt it with Alopex DB?
Updated: Oct 12, 2026
What the service does
A Gmail-like mail service sends, receives and stores mail, and adds search that answers questions about the inbox, summaries of long threads, and help with drafting replies. The data is messages, threads, labels, contacts and attachment details.
Where the data lives
- SQL tables: messages, threads, labels and the link between messages and labels live in tables. Filtering by sender, date or label is plain SQL.
- Vectors: body embeddings sit in a vector column, so a question such as “last week’s mail about booking the business trip” finds the right messages.
- Full-text search: subjects and bodies carry a full-text index, so a word such as an order number is found as written.
- Columnar tables: the send and receive log is loaded into a columnar table through HTTP ingest, where counts by sender or by month are aggregated.
The app writes each incoming message as one unit. The message row, its labels and its body embedding are committed in the same transaction. The app creates the embeddings. Search never sees a half-written message.
Deployment
Alopex DB is embedded in the mail client on the user’s device. The mailbox is a single .alopex file. Inbox search and semantic search run on the device, so the client works offline and message bodies stay on the device.
Why Alopex DB fits
Mail search becomes useful when filters, exact words and closeness in meaning work together. Alopex DB handles all three inside SQL and protects every write with a transaction.
Alopex DB writes mail, labels and embeddings in one transaction. Prototype a mail client with it; the steps are in the quickstart.