diff --git a/.changeset/giant-knives-dance.md b/.changeset/giant-knives-dance.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ea369839
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/giant-knives-dance.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@pockethost/plugin-maildev': patch
+---
+
+At launch, instances are configured to use maildev settings
diff --git a/packages/plugin-maildev/package.json b/packages/plugin-maildev/package.json
index 94c87fcf..7fb3ef1f 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-maildev/package.json
+++ b/packages/plugin-maildev/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@pockethost/plugin-maildev",
-  "version": "1.0.0",
+  "version": "0.0.0",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
     "url": "http://github.com/pockethost/pockethost/packages/plugin-maildev"
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
   "license": "MIT",
   "dependencies": {
     "commander": "^11.1.0",
+    "immer": "^10.1.1",
     "maildev": "^2.1.0"
   },
   "peerDependencies": {
diff --git a/packages/plugin-maildev/src/constants.ts b/packages/plugin-maildev/src/constants.ts
index 8ef2064f..60ccef78 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-maildev/src/constants.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-maildev/src/constants.ts
@@ -1,22 +1,30 @@
-import { join } from 'path'
+import { dirname, join } from 'path'
 import { DEBUG } from 'pockethost'
 import {
   PH_HOME,
   Settings,
   logSettings,
+  mkBoolean,
   mkNumber,
   mkPath,
 } from 'pockethost/core'
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'url'
 
 export const PLUGIN_NAME = `plugin-maildev`
 
 export const HOME_DIR =
   process.env.PH_MAILDEV_HOME || join(PH_HOME(), PLUGIN_NAME)
 
+const __dirname = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url))
+
+export const PROJECT_DIR = (...paths: string[]) =>
+  join(__dirname, '..', ...paths)
+
 const settings = Settings({
   PH_MAILDEV_HOME: mkPath(HOME_DIR, { create: true }),
   PH_MAILDEV_SMTP_PORT: mkNumber(1025),
   PH_MAILDEV_WEB_ADMIN_PORT: mkNumber(1080),
+  PH_MAILDEV_ALWAYS_USE_LOCAL: mkBoolean(true),
 })
 
 export const PORT = () => settings.PH_MAILDEV_SMTP_PORT
diff --git a/packages/plugin-maildev/src/index.ts b/packages/plugin-maildev/src/index.ts
index 9e8c14fd..e7b78e63 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-maildev/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-maildev/src/index.ts
@@ -1,13 +1,15 @@
 import { Command } from 'commander'
+import { produce } from 'immer'
 import MailDev from 'maildev'
 import {
   IS_DEV,
   PocketHostPlugin,
   onCliCommandsFilter,
+  onInstanceConfigFilter,
   onServeAction,
   onServeSlugsFilter,
 } from 'pockethost'
-import { PLUGIN_NAME, PORT, WEB_ADMIN_PORT } from './constants'
+import { PLUGIN_NAME, PORT, PROJECT_DIR, WEB_ADMIN_PORT } from './constants'
 import { dbg } from './log'
 
 const serve = () => {
@@ -44,6 +46,16 @@ const plugin: PocketHostPlugin = async ({}) => {
   //   }
   // })
 
+  onInstanceConfigFilter(async (config) => {
+    return produce(config, (draft) => {
+      draft.env.PH_MAILDEV_PORT = PORT().toString()
+      draft.binds.hooks.push({
+        src: PROJECT_DIR(`src/instance-app/hooks/**/*`),
+        base: PROJECT_DIR(`src/instance-app/hooks`),
+      })
+    })
+  })
+
   onCliCommandsFilter(async (commands) => {
     return [...commands, MailDevCommand()]
   })
diff --git a/packages/plugin-maildev/src/instance-app/hooks/plugin-maildev-smtp-settings.pb.js b/packages/plugin-maildev/src/instance-app/hooks/plugin-maildev-smtp-settings.pb.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..08420166
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/plugin-maildev/src/instance-app/hooks/plugin-maildev-smtp-settings.pb.js
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+/// <reference path="../../../../pockethost/src/instance-app/types/all.d.ts" />
+
+$app.onBeforeServe().add((e) => {
+  return
+  const dao = $app.dao()
+  const { mkLog } = /** @type {Lib} */ (require(`${__hooks}/_ph_lib.js`))
+
+  const log = mkLog(`plugin-maildev`)
+  log(`Starting plugin-maildev`)
+
+  const APP_DEFAULTS = {
+    appName: 'Acme',
+    appUrl: 'http://localhost:8090',
+    senderName: 'Support',
+    senderAddress: 'support@example.com',
+  }
+
+  try {
+    const settings = dao.findSettings()
+    if (!settings) {
+      throw new Error(`Expected settings here`)
+    }
+
+    const fix = (field, newValue) => {
+      if (!newValue || settings.meta[field] !== APP_DEFAULTS[field]) return
+      settings.meta[field] = newValue
+    }
+    fix(`appName`, PH_APP_NAME)
+    fix(`appUrl`, PH_INSTANCE_URL)
+    fix(`senderName`, PH_APP_NAME)
+    fix(`senderAddress`, `${PH_APP_NAME}@app.pockethost.io`)
+
+    dao.saveSettings(settings)
+
+    log(`***defaults successfully applied`)
+  } catch (e) {
+    log(`***error applying defaults: ${e}`)
+  }
+})
+
+$app.onBeforeServe().add((e) => {
+  return
+  const dao = $app.dao()
+  const { mkLog } = /** @type {Lib} */ (require(`${__hooks}/_ph_lib.js`))
+
+  const log = mkLog(`plugin-maildev`)
+  log(`Starting plugin-maildev`)
+
+  const { id, email, tokenKey, passwordHash } = (() => {
+    try {
+      return /** @type{{id:string, email:string, tokenKey:string,passwordHash:string}} */ (
+        JSON.parse($os.getenv(`ADMIN_SYNC`))
+      )
+    } catch (e) {
+      return { id: '', email: '', tokenKey: '', passwordHash: '' }
+    }
+  })()
+
+  if (!email) {
+    log(`Not active - skipped`)
+    return
+  }
+
+  const result = new DynamicModel({
+    // describe the shape of the data (used also as initial values)
+    id: '',
+  })
+
+  try {
+    dao
+      .db()
+      .newQuery('SELECT * from _admins where email = {:email}')
+      .bind({ email })
+      .one(result)
+    log(
+      `Existing admin record matching PocketHost login found - updating with latest credentials`,
+    )
+    try {
+      dao
+        .db()
+        .newQuery(
+          'update _admins set tokenKey={:tokenKey}, passwordHash={:passwordHash} where email={:email}',
+        )
+        .bind({ email, tokenKey, passwordHash })
+        .execute()
+      log(`Success`)
+    } catch (e) {
+      log(`Failed to update admin credentials: ${e}`)
+    }
+  } catch (e) {
+    log(`No admin record matching PocketHost credentials - creating`)
+
+    try {
+      dao
+        .db()
+        .newQuery(
+          'insert into _admins (id,email, tokenKey, passwordHash) VALUES ({:id}, {:email}, {:tokenKey}, {:passwordHash})',
+        )
+        .bind({
+          id,
+          email,
+          tokenKey,
+          passwordHash,
+          created: new Date().toISOString(),
+          updated: new Date().toISOString(),
+        })
+        .execute()
+      log(`Success`)
+    } catch (e) {
+      log(`Failed to insert admin credentials: ${e}`)
+    }
+  }
+})
+
+$app.onBeforeServe().add((e) => {
+  const dao = $app.dao()
+  const { mkLog } = /** @type {Lib} */ (require(`${__hooks}/_ph_lib.js`))
+
+  const log = mkLog(`plugin-maildev`)
+  log(`Starting plugin-maildev`)
+
+  try {
+    const settings = dao.findSettings()
+    if (!settings) {
+      throw new Error(`Expected settings here`)
+    }
+
+    settings.smtp[`enabled`] = true
+    settings.smtp[`host`] = `localhost`
+    settings.smtp[`port`] = $os.getenv(`PH_MAILDEV_PORT`)
+    settings.smtp[`tls`] = false
+
+    dao.saveSettings(settings)
+
+    log(`***defaults successfully applied`)
+  } catch (e) {
+    log(`***error applying defaults: ${e}`)
+  }
+})
diff --git a/packages/plugin-maildev/src/instance-app/settings.json b/packages/plugin-maildev/src/instance-app/settings.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7fe09481
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/plugin-maildev/src/instance-app/settings.json
@@ -0,0 +1,329 @@
+{
+  "adminAuthToken": {
+    "duration": 1209600,
+    "secret": "TxmGmMf91xixFDppollsByz7gc0kEgNPGR4MD4lMBCBxmYLKh7"
+  },
+  "adminFileToken": {
+    "duration": 120,
+    "secret": "BrYUNzmQ6819CY9LqfcTFFZ3v6bMs34aZxAmjym1BxqiaUmMNJ"
+  },
+  "adminPasswordResetToken": {
+    "duration": 1800,
+    "secret": "ODnVe9kQaR0PByFTtpILOTFJNzooaMyFTQh2jJRbUxD31N280T"
+  },
+  "appleAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "backups": {
+    "cron": "0 0 * * *",
+    "cronMaxKeep": 3,
+    "s3": {
+      "accessKey": "",
+      "bucket": "",
+      "enabled": false,
+      "endpoint": "",
+      "forcePathStyle": false,
+      "region": "",
+      "secret": ""
+    }
+  },
+  "discordAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "emailAuth": {
+    "enabled": true,
+    "exceptDomains": null,
+    "minPasswordLength": 8,
+    "onlyDomains": null
+  },
+  "facebookAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "giteaAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "giteeAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "githubAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "gitlabAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "googleAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "instagramAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "kakaoAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "livechatAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "logs": {
+    "logIp": true,
+    "maxDays": 7,
+    "minLevel": 0
+  },
+  "mailcowAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "meta": {
+    "appName": "PocketHost",
+    "appUrl": "https://pockethost-central.pockethost.io",
+    "confirmEmailChangeTemplate": {
+      "actionUrl": "{APP_URL}/_/#/users/confirm-email-change/{TOKEN}",
+      "body": "<p>Hello,</p>\n<p>Click on the button below to confirm your new email address.</p>\n<p>\n  <a class=\"btn\" href=\"{ACTION_URL}\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Confirm new email</a>\n</p>\n<p><i>If you didn't ask to change your email address, you can ignore this email.</i></p>\n<p>\n  Thanks,<br/>\n  {APP_NAME} team\n</p>",
+      "subject": "Confirm your {APP_NAME} new email address"
+    },
+    "hideControls": false,
+    "resetPasswordTemplate": {
+      "actionUrl": "https://app.pockethost.io/login/password-reset/confirm?token={TOKEN}",
+      "body": "<p>Hello,</p>\n<p>Click on the button below to reset your password.</p>\n<p>\n  <a class=\"btn\" href=\"{ACTION_URL}\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Reset password</a>\n</p>\n<p><i>If you didn't ask to reset your password, you can ignore this email.</i></p>\n<p>\n  Thanks,<br/>\n  {APP_NAME} team\n</p>",
+      "subject": "Reset your {APP_NAME} password"
+    },
+    "senderAddress": "ben@pockethost.io",
+    "senderName": "Ben",
+    "verificationTemplate": {
+      "actionUrl": "https://app.pockethost.io/login/confirm-account?token={TOKEN}",
+      "body": "<p>Hello,</p>\n<p>Thank you for joining us at {APP_NAME}.</p>\n<p>Click on the button below to verify your email address.</p>\n<p>\n  <a class=\"btn\" href=\"{ACTION_URL}\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Verify</a>\n</p>\n<p>\n  Thanks,<br/>\n  {APP_NAME} team\n</p>",
+      "subject": "Verify your {APP_NAME} email"
+    }
+  },
+  "microsoftAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "oidc2Auth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "oidc3Auth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "oidcAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "patreonAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "recordAuthToken": {
+    "duration": 1209600,
+    "secret": "7DgE4l39rrhFKF97V9yadQdolXGRHg0jSVA7j97CSHZ9QoK6Bn"
+  },
+  "recordEmailChangeToken": {
+    "duration": 1800,
+    "secret": "XbDSjPSPBISzRJbVj02mP2xHLpGrwegpAnqnUqrHbJWoMmhCid"
+  },
+  "recordFileToken": {
+    "duration": 120,
+    "secret": "rjZuZ3vofE30E7q4l3XjgADmwBo4gSCVSUS66aEB4gZBOs6kMV"
+  },
+  "recordPasswordResetToken": {
+    "duration": 1800,
+    "secret": "s3jkwjDqtboL9JCju73IPslQrflLngBIFO1JY2FH3Vf9oX4gkl"
+  },
+  "recordVerificationToken": {
+    "duration": 604800,
+    "secret": "8qNJXE3z90UwCzxafChqEPuNyeaEzAgSmvGKBPAOmM23yQzhv5"
+  },
+  "s3": {
+    "accessKey": "",
+    "bucket": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "endpoint": "",
+    "forcePathStyle": false,
+    "region": "",
+    "secret": ""
+  },
+  "smtp": {
+    "authMethod": "PLAIN",
+    "enabled": true,
+    "host": "host.docker.internal",
+    "localName": "",
+    "password": "",
+    "port": 1025,
+    "tls": false,
+    "username": ""
+  },
+  "spotifyAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "stravaAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "twitchAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "twitterAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "vkAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  },
+  "yandexAuth": {
+    "authUrl": "",
+    "clientId": "",
+    "clientSecret": "",
+    "displayName": "",
+    "enabled": false,
+    "pkce": null,
+    "tokenUrl": "",
+    "userApiUrl": ""
+  }
+}