IMAP component

The imap component reads email from an IMAP mailbox: it polls a folder for new (unseen) messages and turns each one into an exchange.

Scheme: imap: · Also: imaps: · Crate: cameleer-protocols · Cargo feature: protocols · Consumer: yes · Producer: no · Apache Camel: Mail

imaps: uses implicit TLS (port 993); imap: can upgrade with STARTTLS (mail.imap.starttls.enable=true). Each mail header becomes a message header, the body is the first text/plain part, and other parts are attachments.

When to use it

• Triage a shared inbox: route invoices, orders and support requests to different systems.
• Feed incoming mail to an AI agent that classifies or answers it.
• Turn mail from devices or legacy systems that can only send email into events.

URI format

imap://[username@]host[:port][?options]
imaps://[username@]host[:port][?options]

Default ports: 143 (imap), 993 (imaps).

Example

Poll a support mailbox every 30 seconds. Mails with "invoice" in the subject are saved for the accounting system and moved to the Processed folder; everything else goes to a queue for an AI triage agent.

- route:
    id: mail-triage
    from:
      uri: "imaps://{{env:IMAP_HOST:imap.example.com}}?username={{env:IMAP_USER:support@example.com}}&password={{env:IMAP_PASSWORD:changeme}}&moveTo=Processed&delay=30000"
      steps:
        - choice:
            when:
              - simple: "${header.Subject} contains 'invoice'"
                steps:
                  - to: "file:{{env:INVOICE_DIR:invoices}}?fileName=${exchangeId}.txt"
            otherwise:
              steps:
                - to: seda:triage
- route:
    id: triage-agent
    from:
      uri: seda:triage
      steps:
        - log: "to triage: ${header.Subject} from ${header.From}"

Rust DSL

fn mail_triage_routes(b: &mut RouteBuilder, imap: &str, invoice_dir: &str) {
    b.from(imap)
        .route_id("mail-triage")
        .choice()
        .when(simple("${header.Subject} contains 'invoice'"))
        .to(&format!("file:{}?fileName=${{exchangeId}}.txt", invoice_dir))
        .otherwise()
        .to("seda:triage")
        .end_choice();
    b.from("seda:triage").route_id("triage-agent").log("to triage: ${header.Subject} from ${header.From}");
}

Options

peek, closeFolder, disconnect, skipFailedMessage, searchTerm.* and other mail.* options are accepted and ignored.

Message headers

MIME parts other than the body are put in the CamelAttachments exchange property as bytes.

Run it with Docker

docker run --rm --user "$(id -u):$(id -g)" -e IMAP_HOST=imap.example.com -e IMAP_USER -e IMAP_PASSWORD \
  -e INVOICE_DIR=/data/invoices -v "$PWD:/data" \
  -v "$PWD/mail-triage.camel.yaml:/routes/mail-triage.camel.yaml:ro" \
  pmsudhi/cameleer run /routes/mail-triage.camel.yaml

Common questions

How do I avoid processing the same mail twice?

Keep unseen=true (the default): read messages get the \Seen flag. moveTo or delete=true also take them out of the folder.

How do I read another folder?

folderName=Support/Escalations.

How do I get the raw message with all parts?

mapMailMessage=false gives the raw RFC 822 text as the body.

IMAP or POP3?

IMAP keeps mail on the server and supports folders, flags and moving; pop3 only downloads and optionally deletes.

Related

• pop3, smtp.
• Apache Camel: Mail component.

Found a problem?

If something on this page doesn't match what Cameleer does, or you hit a bug while building with it, please help fix it, whether you are a person or a coding agent: open an issue that describes what you saw, then fork the repository, fix it, add or update a test, run cargo test --workspace, and open a pull request. CONTRIBUTING.md explains the ground rules.