@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/plugin-email': patch
+---
+
+fix(plugin-email): "Send test email" with "None (log only)" picked but not saved no longer delivers over the live transport
+
+Clause-②: no
+Metadata-protocol: none
+
+Setup → Email's "Send test email" tests what the form says, saved or not: an SMTP host on the form gets a one-shot SMTP connection, a Resend / Postmark key a one-shot client. With "None (log only — no real delivery)" picked and not saved, the test used to go through the live service instead, so with SMTP live a real message was delivered and the answer was "Sent test email to …". The test now goes through a one-shot `LogTransport` (recorded in `sys_email` like any other test send) and answers with a warning that nothing was delivered and no mail left the machine, naming the live transport it did not use. Once `log` is saved the answer is the existing warning that no delivery transport is active. The other providers are unchanged.
@@ -15,7 +15,16 @@ import { createMemoryQueue } from '@objectstack/core';
 import { assertEngineDeleteDispatch } from '@objectstack/objectql';
 import { DbQueueAdapter } from '@objectstack/service-queue';
 import { EmailServicePlugin, resolveDurableQueue } from './email-plugin.js';
-import { EmailService, EMAIL_SEND_QUEUE } from './email-service.js';
+import { EmailService, EMAIL_SEND_QUEUE, LogTransport } from './email-service.js';
+
+// "Send test email" tests the FORM's provider through a one-shot transport, so
+// a press with an SMTP host on the form reaches nodemailer, never the harness
+// transport. Only the SMTP wire is faked; everything above it is real.
+const nm = vi.hoisted(() => ({ createTransport: vi.fn(), sendMail: vi.fn() }));
+vi.mock('nodemailer', () => ({
+  default: { createTransport: nm.createTransport },
+  createTransport: nm.createTransport,
+}));
 
 // ── harness ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
@@ -511,15 +520,28 @@ describe('settings gate — a save degrades, it never breaks the boot or the mai
 // ── mail/test ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 describe('mail/test is never queued', () => {
+  // The form names an SMTP host, so the press builds a one-shot SMTP service
+  // and its answer is that connection's own. (A form provider of `log` used to
+  // reach the harness transport here: the press tested the LIVE service while
+  // the form said "None (log only)". It now tests a one-shot LogTransport.)
+  const SMTP_FORM = { provider: 'smtp', smtp_host: 'smtp.form.test', smtp_port: 587, from_email: 'no-reply@example.test' };
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    nm.createTransport.mockReset();
+    nm.sendMail.mockReset();
+    nm.createTransport.mockImplementation(() => ({ sendMail: nm.sendMail, close: vi.fn() }));
+  });
+
   it('sends inline and reports the transport result, with queue mode on', async () => {
+    nm.sendMail.mockResolvedValue({ messageId: '<wire-1@smtp>', response: '250 2.0.0 Ok' });
     const h = await boot({
       plugin: { queueDelivery: true },
       mail: { queue_delivery: { value: true, source: 'global' } },
     });
     await h.ready();
 
     const result = await h.settings.action('test')!({
-      values: { provider: 'log', from_email: 'no-reply@example.test' },
+      values: SMTP_FORM,
       payload: { to: 'ops@example.test' },
     });
 
@@ -528,29 +550,52 @@ describe('mail/test is never queued', () => {
     // removed from this button.
     expect(result.ok).toBe(true);
     expect(String(result.message)).toMatch(/Sent test email to ops@example\.test/);
-    expect(h.transport.send).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(nm.sendMail).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(h.transport.send).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(h.jobs()).toHaveLength(0);
     // The audit row is finalized, not left at `queued` for a worker.
     expect(last(h.sysEmail())).toMatchObject({ status: 'sent' });
   });
 
   it('reports a real SMTP failure instead of enqueueing it', async () => {
+    nm.sendMail.mockRejectedValue(new Error('535 5.7.8 authentication failed'));
     const h = await boot({
-      transport: { send: vi.fn(async () => { throw new Error('535 5.7.8 authentication failed'); }) },
       plugin: { queueDelivery: true },
       mail: { queue_delivery: { value: true, source: 'global' } },
     });
     await h.ready();
 
     const result = await h.settings.action('test')!({
-      values: { provider: 'log', from_email: 'no-reply@example.test' },
+      values: SMTP_FORM,
       payload: { to: 'ops@example.test' },
     });
 
     expect(result.ok).toBe(false);
     expect(String(result.message)).toMatch(/535 5\.7\.8/);
     expect(h.jobs()).toHaveLength(0);
   });
+
+  it('a press that tests the LIVE service (a live LogTransport, provider log) is inline too', async () => {
+    const h = await boot({
+      plugin: { queueDelivery: true },
+      mail: {
+        provider: { value: 'log', source: 'global' },
+        queue_delivery: { value: true, source: 'global' },
+      },
+    });
+    await h.ready();
+    expect(h.service().options.transport).toBeInstanceOf(LogTransport);
+
+    const result = await h.settings.action('test')!({
+      values: { provider: 'log', from_email: 'no-reply@example.test' },
+      payload: { to: 'ops@example.test' },
+    });
+
+    expect(result).toMatchObject({ ok: false, severity: 'warning' });
+    expect(h.transport.send).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(h.jobs()).toHaveLength(0);
+    expect(last(h.sysEmail())).toMatchObject({ status: 'sent' });
+  });
 });
 
 beforeEach(() => { vi.clearAllMocks(); });
@@ -718,7 +718,28 @@ export class EmailServicePlugin implements Plugin {
                 } catch (err: any) {
                   return { ok: false, severity: 'error', message: `Failed to build SMTP transport: ${err?.message ?? String(err)}` };
                 }
-              } else if (provider !== 'log') {
+              } else if (provider === 'log') {
+                // "None (log only — no real delivery)" on the form tests the
+                // form's choice, as every other provider does: a one-shot
+                // LogTransport, never the live service. Testing `svc` here
+                // delivered a real mail over a live SMTP while the form said
+                // nothing would be. A live LogTransport already IS the form's
+                // choice, so that case keeps the saved-`log` answer below.
+                if (!(svc.options.transport instanceof LogTransport)) {
+                  target = new EmailService({
+                    transport: new LogTransport(ctx.logger),
+                    defaultFrom: merged.from_email
+                      ? {
+                          address: String(merged.from_email),
+                          name: merged.from_name ? String(merged.from_name) : undefined,
+                        }
+                      : undefined,
+                    // Same sys_email audit trail as the smtp test above.
+                    ...(svc.options.persistence ? { persistence: svc.options.persistence } : {}),
+                    logger: ctx.logger,
+                  });
+                }
+              } else {
                 // A provider with no transport behind it — a value stored while
                 // the settings page still offered SendGrid / Amazon SES (#5094).
                 // Refuse before asking for an API key: nothing here can use one.
@@ -790,6 +811,18 @@ export class EmailServicePlugin implements Plugin {
                       + 'Configure an SMTP host (or an API provider) and save before testing.',
                   };
                 }
+                // The form's unsaved "None (log only)": the same severity and
+                // the same words for what happened, plus the live transport the
+                // test did not use and what saving the form will do.
+                if (target !== svc && target.options.transport instanceof LogTransport) {
+                  return {
+                    ok: false,
+                    severity: 'warning',
+                    message: 'Nothing was delivered — the provider on the form is "None (log only)", so the test message '
+                      + 'was only logged and recorded in sys_email; no mail left this machine. The live transport was '
+                      + `not used (${describeLiveMailTransport(svc).label}); save the form to stop delivery.`,
+                  };
+                }
                 return {
                   ok: true,
                   severity: 'info',
 
@@ -44,10 +44,13 @@ function fakeSettings(values: Record<string, Resolved>) {
     },
     /** What the page states, as the settings GET route asks for it (waits for a running re-apply). */
     statement: () => liveStatus!(),
-    /** The "Send test email" answer for the stored values, with nothing edited on the form. */
-    sendTest: () => actions.get('mail/test')!({
+    /**
+     * The "Send test email" answer for the stored values — with nothing edited
+     * on the form, or with `form` as the unsaved form state the page posts.
+     */
+    sendTest: (form?: Record<string, unknown>) => actions.get('mail/test')!({
       values: Object.fromEntries(Object.entries(values).map(([k, v]) => [k, v.value])),
-      payload: { to: 'admin@example.test' },
+      payload: form ? { to: 'admin@example.test', values: form } : { to: 'admin@example.test' },
     }),
   };
 }
@@ -177,3 +180,49 @@ describe('CONTROL — saving provider "log" after a boot with no SMTP', () => {
     expect(nm.sendMail).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 });
+
+// "Send test email" tests the FORM's choice, saved or not. With "None (log
+// only)" picked and not saved, the test used to go through the live service —
+// a real mail over a live SMTP, answered `ok: true`.
+describe('"Send test email" with provider "log" on the form, not saved, while SMTP is live', () => {
+  const SMTP_SAVED = {
+    provider: { value: 'smtp', source: 'global' },
+    smtp_host: { value: 'smtp.saved.test', source: 'global' },
+  };
+
+  it('sends nothing, and the answer says nothing was delivered', async () => {
+    const h = await boot(SMTP_SAVED);
+    expect(h.service.options.transport).toBeInstanceOf(SmtpTransport);
+    nm.sendMail.mockClear();
+
+    const answer = await h.settings.sendTest({ provider: 'log' });
+    expect(nm.sendMail).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(answer).toMatchObject({ ok: false, severity: 'warning' });
+    expect(answer.message).toMatch(/^Nothing was delivered/);
+    expect(answer.message).toMatch(/no mail left this machine/);
+    expect(answer.message).toMatch(/Mail is delivered through SMTP \(smtp\.saved\.test:587\)/);
+    // A test changes nothing: the live transport is still the saved SMTP.
+    expect(h.service.options.transport).toBeInstanceOf(SmtpTransport);
+  });
+
+  it('SMTP built at boot from the boot options: sends nothing either', async () => {
+    const h = await boot({}, { provider: 'smtp', providerOptions: { host: 'smtp.env.test', port: 2525 } });
+    expect(h.service.options.transport).toBeInstanceOf(SmtpTransport);
+    nm.sendMail.mockClear();
+
+    const answer = await h.settings.sendTest({ provider: 'log' });
+    expect(nm.sendMail).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(answer).toMatchObject({ ok: false, severity: 'warning' });
+    expect(answer.message).toMatch(/^Nothing was delivered/);
+  });
+
+  it('CONTROL — provider "smtp" with a host on the form still sends', async () => {
+    const h = await boot(SMTP_SAVED);
+    nm.sendMail.mockClear();
+
+    const answer = await h.settings.sendTest({ provider: 'smtp', smtp_host: 'smtp.form.test', smtp_port: 587 });
+    expect(nm.sendMail).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(answer).toMatchObject({ ok: true, severity: 'info' });
+    expect(answer.message).toMatch(/^Sent test email to admin@example\.test via smtp \(smtp\.form\.test:587\)/);
+  });
+});