IMAP

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) is an Internet standard protocol used by email clients to retrieve email messages from a mail server over a TCP/IP connection. This component gives you the ability to list mailboxes, search and fetch emails, manage message flags, and copy or move messages on any IMAP server.

API Documentation¶

This component was built using the ImapFlow Node.js library.

Connections¶

IMAP Connection {#imap}¶

Provide the details of your IMAP server.

To configure a connection to an IMAP server, the server's host address, port, login credentials, and TLS settings are required.

The setup can vary widely depending on the email service in use. Context for some popular services is provided below.

Prerequisites¶

Access to an IMAP-enabled email account
The IMAP server host address and port
Valid login credentials (username and password or app password)

Setup Steps¶

Gmail¶

To set up an IMAP connection to a Gmail account, create a Google App Password:

Navigate to the Google Account page and select Security.
Under Signing in to Google, select App Passwords. Sign-in may be required.
If the App Passwords option is not available, possible reasons include:
2-Step Verification is not set up for the account
2-Step Verification is only set up for security keys
The account is through work, school, or another organization
Advanced Protection is enabled
At the bottom, click Select App and choose Mail, then click Select device and choose Other (Custom name).
Click GENERATE.
A 16-character code will be generated — this is the app password. Copy it to a safe location.

If authentication problems occur, ensure the account has IMAP enabled.

Microsoft Office 365¶

If the Office 365 domain does not use multi-factor authentication (this is rare), the username and password can be used to authenticate directly.

If MFA is enabled, an app password is required to authenticate. To create an app password:

Log in to the Microsoft Security Center and open the Security info tab.
Click +Add method and choose App password.
Enter a name for the app password, and copy the password that is generated.

If the App password option is unavailable, contact the Office 365 administrator to enable it.

Configure the Connection¶

Create a connection of type IMAP Connection and enter the following values:

Input	Description	Default
Host	The IMAP server hostname (e.g., `imap.gmail.com` for Gmail, `outlook.office365.com` for Office 365)	—
Port	The IMAP server port	`993`
Secure	Whether to use a secure (TLS) connection	`true`
Username	The email address or username for the IMAP account	—
Password	The account password or app password	—
Minimum TLS Version	The minimum TLS version accepted by the connection	`TLSv1.1`
Maximum TLS Version	The maximum TLS version accepted by the connection	`TLSv1.3`
Min DH Size	Minimum key size (in bits) to accept in a TLS connection	`1024`

Input	Comments	Default
Host	Provide the host address for the desired IMAP server.
Port	Provide the port for the desired IMAP server.	993
Secure	Determines if the connection is secure.	true
Username	Provide a valid username or email.
Password	Provide the password for the given user. This value is required if secured is set to true.
Minimum TLS Version	Provide a valid TLS version to be used in the connection.	TLSv1.1
Maximum TLS Version	Provide a valid TLS version to be used in the connection.	TLSv1.3
Min DH Size	Minimum size of bits to accept in a TLS connection	1024

Triggers¶

New Emails {#newemailspollingtrigger}¶

Fetches new emails from a specified mailbox on a recurring schedule.

Input	Comments	Default
Connection	The IMAP connection to use.
Mailbox	Provide a string value for the name of the mailbox.
Fetch Content	When enabled, downloads and parses the full message body for each new email.	false
Mark as Read	When enabled, sets the Seen flag on new emails after polling.	false

Actions¶

Add Flags {#addflags}¶

Add new flags to an existing message

Input	Comments	Default
Connection	The IMAP connection to use.
Mailbox	Provide a string value for the name of the mailbox.
Range	Provide a range of messages. Alternatively you can specify * to get the latest message.
Flags	For each item, provide a string value to be added to an existing message.

Append Message {#appendmessage}¶

Appends a new message to an existing mailbox

Input	Comments	Default
Connection	The IMAP connection to use.
Mailbox	Provide a string value for the name of the mailbox.
Path	Mailbox path to upload the message to.
Message Content	The raw RFC 822 formatted message content to append.

Copy Message {#copymessage}¶

Copies a message from one mailbox to another.

Input	Comments	Default
Connection	The IMAP connection to use.
Mailbox	Provide a string value for the name of the mailbox.
Range	Provide a range of messages. Alternatively you can specify * to get the latest message.
New Path	Mailbox path to upload the message to.

Create Mailbox {#createmailbox}¶

Creates a new mailbox folder and sets up subscription for the created mailbox

Input	Comments	Default
Connection	The IMAP connection to use.
Path	Mailbox path to upload the message to.

Delete Message {#deletemessage}¶

Delete an existing message

Input	Comments	Default
Connection	The IMAP connection to use.
Mailbox	Provide a string value for the name of the mailbox.
Message UID	The UID of the message.

Download Message {#downloadmessage}¶

Download either full RFC-822 formatted message or a specific body structure part

Input	Comments	Default
Connection	The IMAP connection to use.
Mailbox	Provide a string value for the name of the mailbox.
Message Index or ID	The index of the message you would like to download (1 for the oldest message, 2 for second oldest, etc), or the ID of the message.

Get Mailbox Status {#getstatus}¶

Returns the status of a mailbox's properties

Input	Comments	Default
Connection	The IMAP connection to use.
Mailbox	Provide a string value for the name of the mailbox.

List Mailboxes {#listmailboxes}¶

Returns a list of available mailboxes

Input	Comments	Default
Connection	The IMAP connection to use.

Remove Flags From Message {#removeflags}¶

Remove existing flags from an existing message

Input	Comments	Default
Connection	The IMAP connection to use.
Mailbox	Provide a string value for the name of the mailbox.
Range	Provide a range of messages. Alternatively you can specify * to get the latest message.
Flags	For each item, provide a string value to be added to an existing message.

Rename Mailbox {#renamemailbox}¶

Change the name of an existing mailbox

Input	Comments	Default
Connection	The IMAP connection to use.
Path	Mailbox path to upload the message to.
New Path	Mailbox path to upload the message to.

Search / List Mailbox Messages {#searchmailbox}¶

Returns all messages in the given mailbox

Input	Comments	Default
Connection	The IMAP connection to use.
Mailbox	Provide a string value for the name of the mailbox.
From	Filter email messages by sender.
To	Filter email messages by recipient.
Read / Unread Filter	Filter messages by read or unread status.	all
Filter Options	Extra parameters to filter the search results.

Set Flags {#setflags}¶

Set a value for an existing message flag

Input	Comments	Default
Connection	The IMAP connection to use.
Mailbox	Provide a string value for the name of the mailbox.
Range	Provide a range of messages. Alternatively you can specify * to get the latest message.
Flags	For each item, provide a string value to be added to an existing message.