Cursor
email
HTML Email Rendering Broken Across Email Clients
HTML emails generated by your Cursor-built application look great in the preview or in one email client, but are completely broken in others. Layouts collapse in Gmail, images don't load in Outlook, fonts revert to defaults in Yahoo Mail, and dark mode inverts your carefully chosen colors.
HTML email rendering is stuck in 1999 — email clients use wildly different HTML/CSS engines. Outlook uses Microsoft Word's HTML renderer, Gmail strips most CSS, and Apple Mail has its own quirks. Cursor generates modern HTML/CSS that works perfectly in browsers but violates almost every constraint of email client rendering.
The issue affects your brand perception and functionality. Broken emails look unprofessional, can obscure important content like verification links, and may even trigger spam filters that look for malformed HTML.
Error Messages You Might See
Email looks different in Gmail vs Outlook
Images not showing in email
Layout broken in Outlook desktop
Email landing in spam folder
Fonts rendering differently across email clients
Common Causes
- External CSS stylesheets — Cursor linked to an external CSS file or used
<style>blocks in the head, which Gmail and many clients completely strip - Modern CSS properties — Flexbox, Grid, CSS variables, and media queries are unsupported in most email clients, especially Outlook
- Div-based layout — Cursor generated div-based layouts instead of table-based layouts, which are the only reliable layout method for email
- Images without alt text or dimensions — Images block loading by default in many clients. Without explicit width/height attributes, layouts break when images are hidden
- Web fonts and custom fonts — Custom font imports are ignored by most email clients, causing text to render in fallback system fonts with different sizing
- Dark mode not handled — Email clients' dark mode inverts colors unpredictably, making light text on light backgrounds or dark text on dark backgrounds
How to Fix It
- Use inline CSS only — Move all styles to inline style attributes on each HTML element. Use a CSS inliner tool like juice or Premailer to automate this conversion
- Use table-based layouts — Replace all div layouts with nested
<table>elements. Userole="presentation"for accessibility. This is the only reliable cross-client layout method - Use a tested email framework — Replace Cursor's custom HTML with a battle-tested email framework like MJML, React Email, or Maizzle that compiles to compatible HTML
- Add explicit image dimensions — Always include width and height attributes on img tags, and add alt text so content makes sense when images are blocked
- Test across email clients — Use Litmus or Email on Acid to preview your emails in 90+ email clients before sending
- Handle dark mode explicitly — Add
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark)styles and use thecolor-schememeta tag. Provide both light and dark versions of logos
Real developers can help you.
Jared Hasson
Full time lead founding dev at a cyber security saas startup, with 10 yoe and a bachelor's in CS. Building & debugging software products is what I've spent my time on for forever
Vlad Temian
15+ years shipping production infrastructure for startups. Former CTO at qed.builders (acquired by The Sandbox).
Cursor ambassador and agentic tooling builder.
I've scaled systems, automated deployments, and built observability tools for AI coding workflows. I specialize in taking vibe-coded apps from broken prototype to production-ready: fixing Supabase auth/RLS, Stripe integrations, deployment pipelines, and cleaning up AI-generated spaghetti.
I build tools in this space (agentprobe, claudebin, micode) and understand both sides: how AI generates code and why it breaks.
https://blog.vtemian.com/
Jaime Orts-Caroff
I'm a Senior Android developer, open to work in various fields
Sage Fulcher
Hey I'm Sage! Im a Boston area software engineer who grew up in South Florida. Ive worked at a ton of cool places like a telehealth kidney care startup that took part in a billion dollar merger (Cricket health/Interwell health), a boutique design agency where I got to work on a ton of exciting startups including a photography education app, a collegiate Esports league and more (Philosophie), a data analytics as a service startup in Cambridge (MA) as well as at Phillips and MIT Lincoln Lab where I designed and developed novel network security visualizations and analytics. I've been writing code and furiously devoted to using computers to make people’s lives easier for about 17 years. My degree is in making computers make pretty lights and sounds. Outside of work I love hip hop, the Celtics, professional wrestling, magic the gathering, photography, drumming, and guitars (both making and playing them)
Stanislav Prigodich
15+ years building iOS and web apps at startups and enterprise companies. I want to use that experience to help builders ship real products - when something breaks, I'm here to fix it.
Costea Adrian
Embedded Engineer specilizing in perception systems. Latest project was a adas camera calibration system.
Simon A.
I'm a backend developer building APIs, emulators, and interactive game systems. Professionally, I've developed Java/Spring reporting solutions, managed relational and NoSQL databases, and implemented CI/CD workflows.
Caio Rodrigues
I'm a full-stack developer focused on building practical and scalable web applications. My main experience is with **React, TypeScript, and modern frontend architectures**, where I prioritize clean code, component reusability, and maintainable project structures.
I have strong experience working with **dynamic forms, state management (Redux / React Hook Form), and complex data-driven interfaces**. I enjoy solving real-world problems by turning ideas into reliable software that companies can actually use in their daily operations.
Beyond coding, I care about **software quality and architecture**, following best practices for componentization, code organization, and performance optimization.
I'm also comfortable working across the stack when needed, integrating APIs, handling business logic, and helping transform prototypes into production-ready systems.
My goal is always to deliver solutions that are **simple, efficient, and genuinely useful for the people using them.**
Mehdi Ben Haddou
- Founder of Chessigma (1M+ users) & many small projects
- ex Founding Engineer @Uplane (YC F25)
- ex Software Engineer @Amazon and @Booking.com
Luca Liberati
I work on monoliths and microservices, backends and frontends, manage K8s clusters and love to design apps architecture
You don't need to be technical. Just describe what's wrong and a verified developer will handle the rest.
Get HelpFrequently Asked Questions
Why can't I use modern CSS in emails?
Email clients use different rendering engines than browsers. Outlook uses Microsoft Word's HTML renderer (which barely supports CSS2), Gmail strips all CSS from the head and only keeps inline styles, and each client has its own quirks. Stick to inline CSS, table layouts, and basic CSS properties.
What is the best way to create HTML emails?
Use a purpose-built email framework: MJML (markup language that compiles to compatible HTML), React Email (for React developers), or Maizzle (Tailwind CSS for emails). These frameworks handle cross-client compatibility so you don't have to.