From 3a4c7766e95046e117660782c83fd94aca9224a8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Ralph Slooten <axllent@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2026 17:29:02 +1300
Subject: [PATCH] Feature: Add option to disable auto-VACUUMing of the SQLite
 database (#661)

---
 cmd/root.go              |  3 +++
 config/config.go         |  4 ++++
 internal/storage/cron.go | 10 +++++++++-
 3 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index a232016..ddb9b89 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ func init() {
 	rootCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&config.Database, "database", "d", config.Database, "Database to store persistent data")
 	rootCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&config.DisableWAL, "disable-wal", config.DisableWAL, "Disable WAL for local database (allows NFS mounted DBs)")
 	rootCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&config.DisableVersionCheck, "disable-version-check", config.DisableVersionCheck, "Disable version update checking")
+	rootCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&config.DisableAutoVACUUM, "disable-auto-vacuum", config.DisableAutoVACUUM, "Disable auto-VACUUM for the database")
 	rootCmd.Flags().IntVar(&config.Compression, "compression", config.Compression, "Compression level to store raw messages (0-3)")
 	rootCmd.Flags().StringVar(&config.Label, "label", config.Label, "Optional label identify this Mailpit instance")
 	rootCmd.Flags().StringVar(&config.TenantID, "tenant-id", config.TenantID, "Database tenant ID to isolate data")
@@ -202,6 +203,8 @@ func initConfigFromEnv() {
 
 	config.DisableVersionCheck = getEnabledFromEnv("MP_DISABLE_VERSION_CHECK")
 
+	config.DisableAutoVACUUM = getEnabledFromEnv("MP_DISABLE_AUTO_VACUUM")
+
 	if len(os.Getenv("MP_COMPRESSION")) > 0 {
 		config.Compression, _ = strconv.Atoi(os.Getenv("MP_COMPRESSION"))
 	}
diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index ff2bfea..bc10097 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@ var (
 	// @see https://sqlite.org/wal.html
 	DisableWAL bool
 
+	// DisableAutoVACUUM will disable the auto-VACUUM of the local SQLite database when messages
+	// are deleted and a preconfigured threshold is reached.
+	DisableAutoVACUUM bool
+
 	// Compression is the compression level used to store raw messages in the database:
 	// 0 = off, 1 = fastest (default), 2 = standard, 3 = best compression
 	Compression = 1
diff --git a/internal/storage/cron.go b/internal/storage/cron.go
index 3286ffd..52b29d7 100644
--- a/internal/storage/cron.go
+++ b/internal/storage/cron.go
@@ -16,6 +16,14 @@ import (
 
 // Database cron runs every minute
 func dbCron() {
+	if config.DisableAutoVACUUM {
+		if sqlDriver == "rqlite" {
+			logger.Log().Warn("[db] disable-auto-vacuum has no effect as rqlite handles vacuuming automatically")
+		} else {
+			logger.Log().Infof("[db] auto-VACUUM is disabled")
+		}
+	}
+
 	for {
 		time.Sleep(60 * time.Second)
 
@@ -35,7 +43,7 @@ func dbCron() {
 					deletedPercent = float64(deletedSize * 100 / total)
 				}
 				// only vacuum the DB if at least 1% of mail storage size has been deleted
-				if deletedPercent >= 1 {
+				if !config.DisableAutoVACUUM && deletedPercent >= 1 {
 					logger.Log().Debugf("[db] deleted messages is %f%% of total size, reclaim space", deletedPercent)
 					vacuumDb()
 				}