Email Finder

# Email Finder

Discover email addresses associated with a domain using multiple methods.

How It Works

1. Website Scraping — Fetches homepage, /contact, /about, /team pages and extracts emails via regex
2. Search Dorking — Searches for published emails in directories and search engines
3. Pattern Guessing — If a name is provided, generates common patterns (first@, first.last@, flast@, etc.)
4. DNS Hints — Checks MX/SPF/DMARC records to identify the email provider
5. SMTP Verification — Verifies all found/guessed emails using RCPT TO

Dependencies

```bash pip3 install dnspython ```

Usage

Basic domain search ```bash python3 scripts/find_emails.py example.com ```

With name for pattern guessing ```bash python3 scripts/find_emails.py example.com --name "John Smith" ```

Skip SMTP verification ```bash python3 scripts/find_emails.py example.com --no-verify ```

Options - `--name "First Last"` — Enable pattern guessing for a specific person - `--no-verify` — Skip SMTP verification step - `--timeout SECONDS` — Connection timeout (default: 10)

Output

JSON to stdout:

```json { "domain": "example.com", "provider": "Google Workspace", "mx": ["aspmx.l.google.com"], "spf": "v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all", "dmarc": "v=DMARC1; p=reject; rua=mailto:[email protected]", "emails_found": 2, "emails": [ { "email": "[email protected]", "source": "scraped", "deliverable": "yes", "smtp_detail": "2.1.5 OK" }, { "email": "[email protected]", "source": "guessed", "deliverable": "catch-all", "smtp_detail": "2.1.5 OK" } ] } ```

Source values

| Value | Meaning | |-------|---------| | `scraped` | Found on the domain's website | | `searched` | Found via search/directory lookup | | `guessed` | Generated from name patterns | | `dns` | Found in DNS records (DMARC reports, etc.) |

Deliverable values

| Value | Meaning | |-------|---------| | `yes` | Server accepted the recipient | | `no` | Server rejected the recipient (invalid) | | `catch-all` | Server accepts all addresses | | `unknown` | Could not determine | | `not_checked` | Verification was skipped |

Rate Limiting

The script includes built-in rate limiting at every stage to protect your IP:

```bash # Defaults: 0.5s between page fetches, 2s between SMTP checks, max 15 SMTP checks python3 scripts/find_emails.py example.com --name "John Smith"

# Conservative settings for sensitive environments python3 scripts/find_emails.py example.com --scrape-delay 1.0 --smtp-delay 4 --max-smtp-checks 8

# Just scrape, no SMTP (zero risk) python3 scripts/find_emails.py example.com --no-verify ```

Options - `--scrape-delay SECONDS` — Pause between website page fetches (default: 0.5) - `--smtp-delay SECONDS` — Pause between SMTP verification checks (default: 2.0) - `--max-smtp-checks N` — Max SMTP verifications per run (default: 15). Remaining emails get `not_checked` status.

Why rate limiting matters

• This tool hits both web servers and mail servers. Without rate limiting:
• Web scraping — Aggressive crawling gets your IP blocked by WAFs (Cloudflare, etc.) and makes you look like a bot. Respectful delays avoid this.
• SMTP verification — Mail servers flag IPs making rapid RCPT TO requests. Your IP can get blacklisted, affecting your ability to send real email.
• Residential IPs are fragile — Unlike datacenter IPs, your home/office IP is shared across all your internet activity. Getting it blacklisted affects everything.

Guidelines for agents

| Scenario | Recommended approach | |----------|---------------------| | Single domain lookup | Defaults are fine | | Domain + name pattern guessing | Defaults are fine (15 SMTP checks covers all patterns) | | Multiple domains in sequence | Add 5-10s pause between domains. Don't run more than 20 domains/day | | Just need the email provider | Use `--no-verify` — DNS-only, zero risk | | Bulk prospecting (50+ domains) | Use a paid service (Hunter.io, Apollo) or spread across multiple days |

Key principle: The script is designed for targeted lookups, not mass scraping. If you need to process hundreds of domains, use a dedicated service with proper IP reputation management.

Limitations

• Website scraping depends on emails being visible in page source (won't find obfuscated/JS-rendered emails)
• Search engines may block automated queries
• SMTP verification requires outbound port 25 access
• Catch-all domains accept all addresses — can't confirm real inboxes
• Be respectful: the script adds delays between requests but don't run it in tight loops