thefox/imapd

IMAP server (library) written in pure PHP.

IMAPd

IMAP server (library) to serve emails to an email client, written in pure PHP., _(*1)

The d in SMTPd stands for Daemon. This script can run in background like any other daemon process. It's not meant for running as a webapplication., _(*2)

Why this project?

Believe it or not, email is still the killer feature of the Internet. There are tons of projects for accessing and fetching emails from an IMAP/POP3 server. But there are not so many providing a programmatically interface to serve emails to an email client., _(*3)

With this interface you can do something like this for your app users:, _(*4)

+--------------+     +-------+     +------------------------+     +------+
| Your PHP App +---> | IMAPd +---> | MUA (like Thunderbird) +---> | User |
+--------------+     +-------+     +------------------------+     +------+

This is useful when you have a messaging application written in PHP but no graphical user interface for it. So your graphical user interface can be any email client. Thunderbird for instance., _(*5)

Project Outlines

The project outlines as described in my blog post about Open Source Software Collaboration., _(*6)

• The main purpose of this software is to provide a server-side IMAP API for PHP scripts.
• Although the RFC implementations are not completed yet, they must be strict.
• More features can be possible in the future. In perspective of the protocols the features must be a RFC implementation.
• This list is open. Feel free to request features.

Planned Features

• Full RFC 3501 Implementation.
• Replace Zend\Mail with a better solution.

Installation

The preferred method of installation is via Packagist and Composer. Run the following command to install the package and add it as a requirement to composer.json:, _(*7)

composer require thefox/imapd

Usage

See example.php file for more information., _(*8)

RFC 3501 Implementation

Complete implementation

• 6.1.2 NOOP Command
• 6.1.3 LOGOUT Command
• 6.4.1 CHECK Command
• 6.4.7 COPY Command
• 7.1.1 OK Response
• 7.1.2 NO Response
• 7.1.3 BAD Response
• 7.1.5 BYE Response
• 7.4.1 EXPUNGE Response

Incomplete implemention

• 2.3.1.1 Unique Identifier (UID) Message Attribute
• 2.3.1.2 Message Sequence Number Message Attribute
• 2.3.2 Flags Message Attribute
• 6.1.1 CAPABILITY Command
• 6.2.2 AUTHENTICATE Command
• 6.2.3 LOGIN Command
• 6.3.1 SELECT Command
• 6.3.6 SUBSCRIBE Command
• 6.3.7 UNSUBSCRIBE Command
• 6.3.8 LIST Command
• 6.3.9 LSUB Command
• 6.3.11 APPEND Command
• 6.4.2 CLOSE Command
• 6.4.4 SEARCH Command
• 6.4.5 FETCH Command
• 6.4.6 STORE Command
• 6.4.8 UID Command
• 7.1.4 PREAUTH Response
• 7.2.1 CAPABILITY Response
• 7.2.2 LIST Response
• 7.2.3 LSUB Response
• 7.2.5 SEARCH Response
• 7.3.1 EXISTS Response
• 7.3.2 RECENT Response
• 7.4.2 FETCH Response

TODO

• Some tasks are commented with NOT_IMPLEMENTED. Implement these.
• @TODO are to be complete the PHP Code Sniffer tests before releasing a new version.

Alternatives for Zend\Mail

• exorus/php-mime-mail-parser (requires ext-mailparse PHP extension)

Related Links

• RFC 3501
• Email Will Last Forever
• Email Is Still the Best Thing on the Internet
• Believe it or not, email is still the killer app
• Developers: stop re-AOLizing the web!
• Set up your own email server in 5 steps

Related Projects

• SMTPd

Project Links

• Blog Post about IMAPd
• Packagist Package
• PHPWeekly - Issue August 7, 2014