diff --git a/chatmaild/pyproject.toml b/chatmaild/pyproject.toml
index e87fc15b..32b495b8 100644
--- a/chatmaild/pyproject.toml
+++ b/chatmaild/pyproject.toml
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ version = "0.2"
 dependencies = [
   "aiosmtpd",
   "iniconfig",
+  "deltachat-rpc-server",
+  "deltachat-rpc-client",
 ]
 
 [tool.setuptools]
@@ -19,6 +21,7 @@ where = ['src']
 [project.scripts]
 doveauth = "chatmaild.doveauth:main"
 filtermail = "chatmaild.filtermail:main"
+echobot = "chatmaild.echo:main"
 
 [project.entry-points.pytest11]
 "chatmaild.testplugin" = "chatmaild.tests.plugin"
diff --git a/chatmaild/src/chatmaild/doveauth.py b/chatmaild/src/chatmaild/doveauth.py
index 8a764d33..3fe1a03e 100644
--- a/chatmaild/src/chatmaild/doveauth.py
+++ b/chatmaild/src/chatmaild/doveauth.py
@@ -46,13 +46,14 @@ def is_allowed_to_create(config: Config, user, cleartext_password) -> bool:
         len(localpart) > config.username_max_length
         or len(localpart) < config.username_min_length
     ):
-        logging.warning(
-            "localpart %s has to be between %s and %s chars long",
-            localpart,
-            config.username_min_length,
-            config.username_max_length,
-        )
-        return False
+        if localpart != "echo":
+            logging.warning(
+                "localpart %s has to be between %s and %s chars long",
+                localpart,
+                config.username_min_length,
+                config.username_max_length,
+            )
+            return False
 
     return True
 
diff --git a/chatmaild/src/chatmaild/echo.py b/chatmaild/src/chatmaild/echo.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e8618cd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/chatmaild/src/chatmaild/echo.py
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Advanced echo bot example.
+
+it will echo back any message that has non-empty text and also supports the /help command.
+"""
+import logging
+import os
+import sys
+from threading import Thread
+
+from deltachat_rpc_client import Bot, DeltaChat, EventType, Rpc, events
+
+from chatmaild.newemail import create_newemail_dict
+from chatmaild.config import read_config
+
+hooks = events.HookCollection()
+
+
+@hooks.on(events.RawEvent)
+def log_event(event):
+    if event.kind == EventType.INFO:
+        logging.info(event.msg)
+    elif event.kind == EventType.WARNING:
+        logging.warning(event.msg)
+
+
+@hooks.on(events.RawEvent(EventType.ERROR))
+def log_error(event):
+    logging.error(event.msg)
+
+
+@hooks.on(events.MemberListChanged)
+def on_memberlist_changed(event):
+    logging.info(
+        "member %s was %s", event.member, "added" if event.member_added else "removed"
+    )
+
+
+@hooks.on(events.GroupImageChanged)
+def on_group_image_changed(event):
+    logging.info("group image %s", "deleted" if event.image_deleted else "changed")
+
+
+@hooks.on(events.GroupNameChanged)
+def on_group_name_changed(event):
+    logging.info("group name changed, old name: %s", event.old_name)
+
+
+@hooks.on(events.NewMessage(func=lambda e: not e.command))
+def echo(event):
+    snapshot = event.message_snapshot
+    if snapshot.text or snapshot.file:
+        snapshot.chat.send_message(text=snapshot.text, file=snapshot.file)
+
+
+@hooks.on(events.NewMessage(command="/help"))
+def help_command(event):
+    snapshot = event.message_snapshot
+    snapshot.chat.send_text("Send me any message and I will echo it back")
+
+
+def main():
+    path = os.environ.get("PATH")
+    venv_path = sys.argv[0].strip("echobot")
+    os.environ["PATH"] = path + ":" + venv_path
+    with Rpc() as rpc:
+        deltachat = DeltaChat(rpc)
+        system_info = deltachat.get_system_info()
+        logging.info("Running deltachat core %s", system_info.deltachat_core_version)
+
+        accounts = deltachat.get_all_accounts()
+        account = accounts[0] if accounts else deltachat.add_account()
+
+        bot = Bot(account, hooks)
+        if not bot.is_configured():
+            config = read_config(sys.argv[1])
+            password = create_newemail_dict(config).get("password")
+            email = "echo@" + config.mail_domain
+            configure_thread = Thread(
+                target=bot.configure, kwargs={"email": email, "password": password}
+            )
+            configure_thread.start()
+        bot.run_forever()
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
+    main()
diff --git a/chatmaild/src/chatmaild/echobot.service.f b/chatmaild/src/chatmaild/echobot.service.f
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..52d9eef2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/chatmaild/src/chatmaild/echobot.service.f
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Chatmail echo bot for testing it works
+
+[Service]
+ExecStart={execpath} {config_path}
+Environment="PATH={remote_venv_dir}:$PATH"
+Restart=always
+RestartSec=30
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target
diff --git a/cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/__init__.py b/cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/__init__.py
index 2942d017..3e3a7082 100644
--- a/cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/__init__.py
+++ b/cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/__init__.py
@@ -88,10 +88,12 @@ def _install_remote_venv_with_chatmaild(config) -> None:
     for fn in (
         "doveauth",
         "filtermail",
+        "echobot",
     ):
         params = dict(
             execpath=f"{remote_venv_dir}/bin/{fn}",
             config_path=remote_chatmail_inipath,
+            remote_venv_dir=remote_venv_dir,
         )
         source_path = importlib.resources.files("chatmaild").joinpath(f"{fn}.service.f")
         content = source_path.read_text().format(**params).encode()