GIT-IMAP-SEND(1) Git Manual GIT-IMAP-SEND(1)
NAME
git-imap-send - Send a collection of patches from stdin to an IMAP
folder
SYNOPSIS
git imap-send [-v] [-q] [--[no-]curl]
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.
--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.
CONFIGURATION
To use the tool, imap.folder and either imap.tunnel or imap.host must
be set to appropriate values.
Everything above this line in this section isn't included from the git-
config(1) documentation. The content that follows is the same as what's
found there:
imap.folder
The folder to drop the mails into, which is typically the Drafts
folder. For example: "INBOX.Drafts", "INBOX/Drafts" or
"[Gmail]/Drafts". Required.
imap.tunnel
Command used to set up a tunnel to the IMAP server through which
commands will be piped instead of using a direct network connection
to the server. Required when imap.host is not set.
imap.host
A URL identifying the server. Use an imap:// prefix for non-secure
connections and an imaps:// prefix for secure connections. Ignored
when imap.tunnel is set, but required otherwise.
imap.user
The username to use when logging in to the server.
imap.pass
The password to use when logging in to the server.
imap.port
An integer port number to connect to on the server. Defaults to 143
for imap:// hosts and 993 for imaps:// hosts. Ignored when
imap.tunnel is set.
imap.sslverify
A boolean to enable/disable verification of the server certificate
used by the SSL/TLS connection. Default is true. Ignored when
imap.tunnel is set.
imap.preformattedHTML
A boolean to enable/disable the use of html encoding when sending a
patch. An html encoded patch will be bracketed with <pre> and have
a content type of text/html. Ironically, enabling this option
causes Thunderbird to send the patch as a plain/text, format=fixed
email. Default is false.
imap.authMethod
Specify the authentication method for authenticating with the IMAP
server. If Git was built with the NO_CURL option, or if your curl
version is older than 7.34.0, or if you're running git-imap-send
with the --no-curl option, the only supported method is CRAM-MD5.
If this is not set then git imap-send uses the basic IMAP plaintext
LOGIN command.
EXAMPLES
Using tunnel mode:
[imap]
folder = "INBOX.Drafts"
tunnel = "ssh -q -C user AT 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 AT gmail.com
port = 993
Note
You might need to instead use: folder = "[Google Mail]/Drafts" if
you get an error that the "Folder doesn't exist".
Note
If your Gmail account is set to another language than English, the
name of the "Drafts" folder will be localized.
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).
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
git-format-patch(1), git-send-email(1), mbox(5)
GIT
Part of the git(1) suite
Git 2.43.5 05/31/2024 GIT-IMAP-SEND(1)