# MailFinder: a two-file Python script that looks up email addresses by name

> MailFinder is a small OSINT script that takes a first and last name and tries to find the associated email address, with a separate validation module for checking what it finds. The repository is marked as stopped, the code is a single entry script, and the surrounding project list is worth reading before you install anything.

**mishakorzik/MailFinder** — OSINT tool for finding email by first and last name

- Repository: https://github.com/mishakorzik/MailFinder
- Stars: 601 · Forks: 65
- Language: Python
- License: GPL-3.0
- Published: 2026-10-22 · Updated: 2026-10-22 · Language: en
- Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/mishakorzik-mailfinder

## The whole project is one entry script and one validation module

The repository is remarkably small, and understanding its shape is most of understanding what it does. The top-level listing holds MailFinder.py as the main script, mail_validator.py as a separate module, a LICENSE file, the README, an .validator file, and two screenshot images. That is the entire codebase. The project description calls it an OSINT tool for finding email by first and last name, and the screenshot section of the README shows the author running it and noting that everything works without glitches or lags. A tool this size does one thing, and it does it through the standard Python requests library rather than through a framework. There is no configuration file, no database, no model file and no plugin system. The practical consequence is that you can read the whole implementation in one sitting, which is either the strongest argument for using it or the strongest argument against, depending on whether you wanted a library or a working script. The email verification library is called out explicitly in the repository warning, which says the full source code is publicly available including it, so the checking logic is readable rather than hidden behind a service.

## Installation is apt, pip and a git clone

The install section of the README is a short command list, and it assumes a Linux or Termux style environment:

```bash
apt update
apt upgrade
apt install git
apt install python
pip3 install requests
git clone https://github.com/mishakorzik/MailFinder
```

The README also folds in a troubleshooting panel for people who get stuck, and the advice is practical rather than defensive. If you have trouble installing the requests library, it suggests running python3 -m pip install requests instead, which is the answer to a pip that is bound to the wrong interpreter. If modules cannot be downloaded, it says to replace pkg with apt, and if you do not know how to remove the repository, it gives rm -rf MailFinder. The repository link in the clone command has no .git suffix and no trailing slash, which is the form GitHub accepts. Two of the topics the repository carries are termux-hacking and termux-tool, and the apt based instructions are consistent with running the tool on an Android phone through Termux, which is a more plausible use for a script this size than a server-side pipeline.

## Running it is cd and python

Starting the tool is two commands:

```bash
cd MailFinder
python MailFinder.py
```

There is no documented set of flags, no argument list and no mention of a batch mode, and the README does not show what the interactive session looks like beyond the screenshot. That is the documentation gap to be aware of before you commit to it. For a script whose entire job is to take a name and return candidates, the interesting questions are what it queries, how many sources it tries, whether it can be pointed at a list of names, and what it does with the results, and none of those are answered in the README. The repository topics list includes username and information gathering alongside email-finder and mail-finder, and the directory listing includes a mail_validator.py, so the shape of the workflow is name input, candidate lookup, then validation of the candidates. But how the lookup is performed, which sites are consulted and in what order, is only visible in the source. If that matters to you, open MailFinder.py first and read it, because for a tool this small that is a ten minute job rather than an archaeological dig.

## The project is stopped, and the author says so in a warning

The most important line in the README is a warning block that states the project is stopped. The surrounding context is that the full source code of the project is publicly available, including the email verification library. That is an unusual combination: the project is not moving, but it is not being taken down either, and the code is left in a readable state. In practice, that means you should treat MailFinder as a frozen reference implementation rather than a tool with a bug fix channel. If a source it queries changes its markup, or a dependency it relies on stops working, nothing upstream will respond. The version badge in the README reads 1.7.1 and the copyright badge reads 2021, while the last push to the repository was on 2026-09-10, so the code has been touched more recently than the version badge suggests but the project itself is described as finished or abandoned. The licence is GPL-3.0, and the badge links to the LICENSE file in the repository. A GPL-3.0 tool that you run against a third party's name has an additional property worth naming: if you modify and distribute it, the copyleft terms travel with your distributed version.

## The recommended projects next to it tell you about the maintainer

The README has a recommendation section that points to other projects by the same author, and it is worth reading as a signal rather than skipping. The list includes qiq, described as a useful batch installer, and then a set of tools with more aggressive names: Gmail-Hack, described as easy email hacking, AdminHack, described as hacking bad sites, Infect, described as easy virus creation, Free-Proxy, IpHack, described as tracking smartphones, and Ultra-DDos, described as hitting sites with a denial of service. Whether or not you install any of them, this tells you something about the ecosystem the tool comes from and the audience its author is writing for. It also tells you the security posture of the dependency chain you are pulling in when you clone a repository from the same account, since those are separate repositories with their own maintenance state. The one that is directly relevant to a legitimate use of MailFinder is Free-Proxy, since a script that queries public sites may need a proxy or may get blocked. The others are attack tooling, and the honest reading is that MailFinder is one research tool in a set whose purpose is mostly offensive. If your use of it is defensive research or your own footprint, that is fine. If it is part of a targeting workflow, the surrounding context makes a different judgement call than the tool on its own.

## Name to email lookup is where this stops being a research tool

The mechanism of an OSINT email finder is straightforward and worth spelling out, because the boundary the tool crosses is a legal and ethical one rather than a technical one. You supply a person's name, the tool queries public sources where people publish contact details, it assembles candidate addresses, and the validator checks whether those addresses are deliverable by attempting an interaction with the mail server. Each of those steps is a normal part of open source intelligence work, and the same technique is used by journalists, by security researchers looking for exposed addresses, and by people checking whether their own address has been published. The step that changes the character of the tool is scale and intent. Pointed at yourself, or at a domain you own, it is a verification utility. Pointed at a list of people, it is a way to build a contact database, and that is the shape of thing that turns a lookup tool into a spam or phishing input. The project even carries the term hacking in its topic list alongside email-finder, and the author maintains a separate tool for email hacking in the same list, which tells you the intended use is not research. Nothing in the code prevents either use. The script has no consent check, no scope check and no rate limit that the documentation mentions, because the tool's design assumes the person running it already knows what they are entitled to look for.

## Conclusion

MailFinder suits a researcher who wants to read a short, readable script for a single OSINT task, or who wants to study the email verification module that the repository ships alongside it, and it suits a Termux user who wants the tool on a phone. It is the wrong choice if you need a maintained, packaged OSINT toolkit, because the project states plainly that it is stopped, and it is the wrong choice if you intend to run it against people who have not consented, since a name to email lookup is exactly the kind of action that turns a research tool into a targeting tool. Verify first what the script actually queries before you point it at a real name, and read the licence file rather than the badge.

## FAQ

### What does MailFinder do?

It is an OSINT tool for finding email addresses from a first and last name, with a separate mail_validator.py module for verifying the addresses it finds. The repository contains MailFinder.py, the validator module, a LICENSE file and screenshots.

### How do I install and run MailFinder?

The README lists apt update, apt upgrade, apt install git, apt install python, pip3 install requests and the git clone command. You then change into the MailFinder directory and run python MailFinder.py.

### Is MailFinder still maintained?

No. The README carries an explicit warning that the project is stopped, while noting that the full source code, including the email verification library, is publicly available. The last push to the repository was on 2026-09-10.

### What licence is MailFinder under?

The README badge indicates the GNU General Public License, and the repository contains a LICENSE file. The project is under GPL-3.0, so terms travel with a modified and distributed copy.

## Sources

- [Issues](https://github.com/mishakorzik/MailFinder/issues)
- [License: GPL-3.0](https://github.com/mishakorzik/MailFinder/blob/main/LICENSE)
- [mishakorzik/MailFinder on GitHub](https://github.com/mishakorzik/MailFinder)
- [README](https://github.com/mishakorzik/MailFinder/blob/main/README.md)

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Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/mishakorzik-mailfinder