Laravel email testing without the risk

MAIL_MAILER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=mail.maildog.io
MAIL_PORT=587
MAIL_USERNAME=your_sandbox_username
MAIL_PASSWORD=your_sandbox_password
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=tls
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS="hello@example.com"
MAIL_FROM_NAME="${APP_NAME}"

// config/mail.php

'default' => env('MAIL_MAILER', 'smtp'),

'mailers' => [
    'smtp' => [
        'transport'  => 'smtp',
        'host'       => env('MAIL_HOST', '127.0.0.1'),
        'port'       => env('MAIL_PORT', 2525),
        'encryption' => env('MAIL_ENCRYPTION', 'tls'),
        'username'   => env('MAIL_USERNAME'),
        'password'   => env('MAIL_PASSWORD'),
        'timeout'    => null,
    ],
],

php artisan make:mail OrderShipped --markdown=emails.orders.shipped

<?php

namespace App\Mail;

use Illuminate\Bus\Queueable;
use Illuminate\Mail\Mailable;
use Illuminate\Mail\Mailables\Content;
use Illuminate\Mail\Mailables\Envelope;
use Illuminate\Queue\SerializesModels;

class OrderShipped extends Mailable
{
    use Queueable, SerializesModels;

    public function __construct(public string $orderNumber)
    {
    }

    public function envelope(): Envelope
    {
        return new Envelope(
            subject: "Your order {$this->orderNumber} has shipped",
        );
    }

    public function content(): Content
    {
        return new Content(
            markdown: 'emails.orders.shipped',
        );
    }
}

use App\Mail\OrderShipped;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Mail;

Mail::to('customer@example.com')->send(new OrderShipped('A-1042'));

// The message appears instantly in your Maildog sandbox inbox.
// Preview the rendered HTML, the plain-text alternative, the raw
// source and headers, and the SPF / DKIM / DMARC results.
// customer@example.com is never actually contacted.

// Testing queued Mailables? Add "implements ShouldQueue" to the
// class and run: php artisan queue:work — the message still lands
// in Maildog, confirming worker, serialization, and queue connection.