git-imap-send.adoc

git-imap-send(1)
================

NAME
----
git-imap-send - Send a collection of patches from stdin to an IMAP folder


SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
'git imap-send' [-v] [-q] [--[no-]curl] [(--folder|-f) <folder>]
'git imap-send' --list


DESCRIPTION
-----------
This command uploads a mailbox generated with `git format-patch`
into an IMAP drafts folder.  This allows patches to be sent as
other email is when using mail clients that cannot read mailbox
files directly. The command also works with any general mailbox
in which emails have the fields `From`, `Date`, and `Subject` in
that order.

Typical usage is something like:

------
$ git format-patch --signoff --stdout --attach origin | git imap-send
------


OPTIONS
-------

-v::
--verbose::
	Be verbose.

-q::
--quiet::
	Be quiet.

-f <folder>::
--folder=<folder>::
	Specify the folder in which the emails have to saved.
	For example: `--folder=[Gmail]/Drafts` or `-f INBOX/Drafts`.

--curl::
	Use libcurl to communicate with the IMAP server, unless tunneling
	into it.  Ignored if Git was built without the USE_CURL_FOR_IMAP_SEND
	option set.

--no-curl::
	Talk to the IMAP server using git's own IMAP routines instead of
	using libcurl.  Ignored if Git was built with the NO_OPENSSL option
	set.

--list::
	Run the IMAP LIST command to output a list of all the folders present.

CONFIGURATION
-------------

To use the tool, `imap.folder` and either `imap.tunnel` or `imap.host` must be set
to appropriate values.

include::includes/cmd-config-section-rest.adoc[]

include::config/imap.adoc[]

GETTING A LIST OF AVAILABLE FOLDERS
-----------------------------------

In order to send an email to a specific folder, you need to know the correct name of
intended folder in your mailbox. The names like "Junk", "Trash" etc. displayed by
various email clients need not be the actual names of the folders stored in the mail
server of your email provider.

In order to get the correct folder name to be used with `git imap-send`, you can run
`git imap-send --list`. This will display a list of valid folder names. An example
of such an output when run on a Gmail account is:

.........................
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" "INBOX"
* LIST (\HasChildren \Noselect) "/" "[Gmail]"
* LIST (\All \HasNoChildren) "/" "[Gmail]/All Mail"
* LIST (\Drafts \HasNoChildren) "/" "[Gmail]/Drafts"
* LIST (\HasNoChildren \Important) "/" "[Gmail]/Important"
* LIST (\HasNoChildren \Sent) "/" "[Gmail]/Sent Mail"
* LIST (\HasNoChildren \Junk) "/" "[Gmail]/Spam"
* LIST (\Flagged \HasNoChildren) "/" "[Gmail]/Starred"
* LIST (\HasNoChildren \Trash) "/" "[Gmail]/Trash"
.........................

Here, you can observe that the correct name for the "Junk" folder is `[Gmail]/Spam`
and for the "Trash" folder is `[Gmail]/Trash`. Similar logic can be used to determine
other folders as well.

EXAMPLES
--------
Using tunnel mode:

..........................
[imap]
    folder = "INBOX.Drafts"
    tunnel = "ssh -q -C user@example.com /usr/bin/imapd ./Maildir 2> /dev/null"
..........................

Using direct mode:

.........................
[imap]
    folder = "INBOX.Drafts"
    host = imap://imap.example.com
    user = bob
    pass = p4ssw0rd
.........................

Using direct mode with SSL:

.........................
[imap]
    folder = "INBOX.Drafts"
    host = imaps://imap.example.com
    user = bob
    pass = p4ssw0rd
    port = 123
    ; sslVerify = false
.........................


[NOTE]
You may want to use `sslVerify=false`
while troubleshooting, if you suspect that the reason you are
having trouble connecting is because the certificate you use at
the private server `example.com` you are trying to set up (or
have set up) may not be verified correctly.

Using Gmail's IMAP interface:

---------
[imap]
    folder = "[Gmail]/Drafts"
    host = imaps://imap.gmail.com
    user = user@gmail.com
    port = 993
---------

Gmail does not allow using your regular password for `git imap-send`.
If you have multi-factor authentication set up on your Gmail account, you
can generate an app-specific password for use with `git imap-send`.
Visit https://security.google.com/settings/security/apppasswords to create
it. Alternatively, use OAuth2.0 authentication as described below.

[NOTE]
You might need to instead use: `folder = "[Google Mail]/Drafts"` if you get an error
that the "Folder doesn't exist". You can also run `git imap-send --list` to get a
list of available folders.

[NOTE]
If your Gmail account is set to another language than English, the name of the "Drafts"
folder will be localized.

If you want to use OAuth2.0 based authentication, you can specify
`OAUTHBEARER` or `XOAUTH2` mechanism in your config. It is more secure
than using app-specific passwords, and also does not enforce the need of
having multi-factor authentication. You will have to use an OAuth2.0
access token in place of your password when using this authentication.

---------
[imap]
    folder = "[Gmail]/Drafts"
    host = imaps://imap.gmail.com
    user = user@gmail.com
    port = 993
    authmethod = OAUTHBEARER
---------

Using Outlook's IMAP interface:

Unlike Gmail, Outlook only supports OAuth2.0 based authentication. Also, it
supports only `XOAUTH2` as the mechanism.

---------
[imap]
    folder = "Drafts"
    host = imaps://outlook.office365.com
    user = user@outlook.com
    port = 993
    authmethod = XOAUTH2
---------

Once the commits are ready to be sent, run the following command:

  $ git format-patch --cover-letter -M --stdout origin/master | git imap-send

Just make sure to disable line wrapping in the email client (Gmail's web
interface will wrap lines no matter what, so you need to use a real
IMAP client).

In case you are using OAuth2.0 authentication, it is easier to use credential
helpers to generate tokens. Credential helpers suggested in
linkgit:git-send-email[1] can be used for `git imap-send` as well.

CAUTION
-------
It is still your responsibility to make sure that the email message
sent by your email program meets the standards of your project.
Many projects do not like patches to be attached.  Some mail
agents will transform patches (e.g. wrap lines, send them as
format=flowed) in ways that make them fail.  You will get angry
flames ridiculing you if you don't check this.

Thunderbird in particular is known to be problematic.  Thunderbird
users may wish to visit this web page for more information:
  https://kb.mozillazine.org/Plain_text_e-mail_-_Thunderbird#Completely_plain_email

SEE ALSO
--------
linkgit:git-format-patch[1], linkgit:git-send-email[1], mbox(5)

GIT
---
Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite