6 ms·

A Gentle Introduction to IMAP

30 points by lukastyrychtr 3y ago

mrd3v0 3y ago
How about we move on from archiac e-mail protocols? About time if you ask me..
- creer 3y ago
  Aren't these archaic protocols more reliable than the many other messaging options on hand? Pretty much the only reliable one?
  - justsomehnguy 3y ago
    Define 'reliable'. Yep, I'm all abroad the JMAP train, but if you need the things to be done than the IMAP is the only one you can rely to.
- ketralnis 3y ago
  What’s wrong with it? Not enough json kubernetes mongo rust npm AI cloud react? Or is “old” just the same as “bad”? Sadly “move on” today means moving to a single vendor’s walled garden. We don’t really have truly federated protocols anymore. We do have some contenders but none that my mother and barber and government use.
  - Spastche 3y ago
    email blacklisting could be considered a walled garden at this point. big providers are the only real option if you want guaranteed delivery these days. people will say otherwise but you don't always know when you're blacklisted by an email provider
    - ketralnis 3y ago
      "People say otherwise" because it's not true. I run my own email and I do just fine. The last blacklist I had was from Hotmail about five years ago
      - Spastche 3y ago
        *that you know of
tracker1 3y ago
The library itself looks interesting.
csb6 3y ago
This is a really great article! It would have helped me a lot when I started writing an IMAP library. I initially underestimated the headaches that come with the IMAP server being able to send responses at (mostly) any time. > Note: If you want to connect to Gmail through IMAP, you need AUTH=XOAUTH2 or AUTH=OAUTH2. This requires registering an App with Google to create the necessary tokens. It’s not trivial and took me an hour to do using a Python script I downloaded from the Internet. > Unfortunately, you can’t speak IMAP with Google by any other means. It’s good for security but complicates testing. I don’t think this is true (although Google definitely pushes you to use OAuth). If you make an app-specific password in Google’s settings, you can login using the app-specific password, e.g. `a000 login “username@gmail.com” “appspecificpasswordhere”`. Unfortunately this wasn’t super well-documented and may not be something Google supports forever.
- sir 3y ago
  Google only lets you use app-specific passwords if you have set up two-step verification (and provided a phone number). If you have an email client that doesn't speak OAuth and you can't/won't set up 2FA then this proxy of mine lets you use any IMAP (or POP/SMTP) client with an OAuth email provider, regardless of whether it supports OAuth 2.0 natively: https://github.com/simonrob/email-oauth2-proxy https://github.com/simonrob/email-oauth2-proxy. No need for your client to know about OAuth at all.
  - duesee 3y ago
    Thank you both! I corrected the part about Gmail and OAUTH2. With 2FA enabled, generating an app password and using it in IMAP is still possible. Will check out your proxy!
deleted 3y ago
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30 points by lukastyrychtr 3y ago

mrd3v0 3y ago

How about we move on from archiac e-mail protocols? About time if you ask me..

creer 3y ago
Aren't these archaic protocols more reliable than the many other messaging options on hand? Pretty much the only reliable one?
- justsomehnguy 3y ago
  Define 'reliable'. Yep, I'm all abroad the JMAP train, but if you need the things to be done than the IMAP is the only one you can rely to.
ketralnis 3y ago
What’s wrong with it? Not enough json kubernetes mongo rust npm AI cloud react? Or is “old” just the same as “bad”? Sadly “move on” today means moving to a single vendor’s walled garden. We don’t really have truly federated protocols anymore. We do have some contenders but none that my mother and barber and government use.
- Spastche 3y ago
  email blacklisting could be considered a walled garden at this point. big providers are the only real option if you want guaranteed delivery these days. people will say otherwise but you don't always know when you're blacklisted by an email provider
  - ketralnis 3y ago
    "People say otherwise" because it's not true. I run my own email and I do just fine. The last blacklist I had was from Hotmail about five years ago
    - Spastche 3y ago
      *that you know of

tracker1 3y ago

The library itself looks interesting.

csb6 3y ago

This is a really great article! It would have helped me a lot when I started writing an IMAP library. I initially underestimated the headaches that come with the IMAP server being able to send responses at (mostly) any time. > Note: If you want to connect to Gmail through IMAP, you need AUTH=XOAUTH2 or AUTH=OAUTH2. This requires registering an App with Google to create the necessary tokens. It’s not trivial and took me an hour to do using a Python script I downloaded from the Internet. > Unfortunately, you can’t speak IMAP with Google by any other means. It’s good for security but complicates testing. I don’t think this is true (although Google definitely pushes you to use OAuth). If you make an app-specific password in Google’s settings, you can login using the app-specific password, e.g. `a000 login “username@gmail.com” “appspecificpasswordhere”`. Unfortunately this wasn’t super well-documented and may not be something Google supports forever.

sir 3y ago
Google only lets you use app-specific passwords if you have set up two-step verification (and provided a phone number). If you have an email client that doesn't speak OAuth and you can't/won't set up 2FA then this proxy of mine lets you use any IMAP (or POP/SMTP) client with an OAuth email provider, regardless of whether it supports OAuth 2.0 natively: https://github.com/simonrob/email-oauth2-proxy https://github.com/simonrob/email-oauth2-proxy. No need for your client to know about OAuth at all.
- duesee 3y ago
  Thank you both! I corrected the part about Gmail and OAUTH2. With 2FA enabled, generating an app password and using it in IMAP is still possible. Will check out your proxy!

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]