This module does not perform any magic such as auto-decoding of messages/attachments or parsing of email addresses (node-imap leaves all mail header values as-is).
If you are in need of this kind of extra functionality, check out andris9's [mime.js](http://github.com/andris9/mailparser/blob/master/mime.js) (requires [node-iconv](http://github.com/bnoordhuis/node-iconv)) set of functions, part of his [mailparser](http://github.com/andris9/mailparser) module.
This example fetches the 'date', 'from', 'to', 'subject' message headers and the message structure of all unread messages in the Inbox since May 20, 2010:
* **validity** - A String containing a number that indicates whether the message IDs in this mailbox have changed or not. In other words, as long as this value does not change on future openings of this mailbox, any cached message IDs for this mailbox are still valid.
* _ImapMessage_ is an Object representing an email message. It consists of:
* Properties:
* **id** - An Integer that uniquely identifies this message (within its mailbox).
* **flags** - An Array containing the flags currently set on this message.
* **date** - A String containing the internal server date for the message (always represented in GMT?)
* **headers** - An Object containing the headers of the message, **if headers were requested when calling fetch().** Note: The value of each property in the object is an Array containing the value(s) for that particular header name (just in case there are duplicate headers).
* **structure** - An Array containing the structure of the message, **if the structure was requested when calling fetch().** See below for an explanation of the format of this property.
* Events:
* **data**(String) - Emitted for each message body chunk if a message body is being fetched
* **end** - Emitted when the fetch is complete for this message and its properties
* _ImapFetch_ is an Object that emits these events:
* **message**(ImapMessage) - Emitted for each message resulting from a fetch request
* **end** - Emitted when the fetch request is complete
It should be noted however that the IMAP server can limit which flags can be permanently modified for any given message. If in doubt, check the mailbox's **permFlags** Array first.
Additional custom flags may be provided by the server. If available, these will also be listed in the mailbox's **permFlags** Array.
* **alert**(String) - Fires when the server issues an alert (e.g. "the server is going down for maintenance"). The supplied String is the text of the alert message.
* **mail**(Integer) - Fires when new mail arrives in the currently open mailbox. The supplied Integer specifies the number of new messages.
* **close**(Boolean) - Fires when the connection is completely closed (similar to net.Stream's close event). The specified Boolean indicates whether the connection was terminated due to a transmission error or not.
* **end**() - Fires when the connection is ended (similar to net.Stream's end event).
* **error**(Error) - Fires when an exception/error occurs (similar to net.Stream's error event). The given Error object represents the error raised.
* **delim** - A String containing the (top-level) mailbox hierarchy delimiter. If the server does not support mailbox hierarchies and only a flat list, this value will be Boolean false.
* **namespaces** - An Object containing 3 properties, one for each namespace type: personal (mailboxes that belong to the logged in user), other (mailboxes that belong to other users that the logged in user has access to), and shared (mailboxes that are accessible by any logged in user). The value of each of these properties is an Array of namespace Objects containing necessary information about each available namespace. There should always be one entry (although the IMAP spec allows for more, it doesn't seem to be very common) in the personal namespace list (if the server supports namespaces) with a blank namespace prefix. Each namespace Object has the following format (with example values):
* **(constructor)**([Object]) - _ImapConnection_ - Creates and returns a new instance of ImapConnection using the specified configuration object. Valid properties of the passed in object are:
* **username** - A String representing the username for authentication.
* **password** - A String representing the password for authentication.
* **host** - A String representing the hostname or IP address of the IMAP server. **Default:** "localhost"
* **port** - An Integer representing the port of the IMAP server. **Default:** 143
* **secure** - A Boolean indicating the connection should use SSL/TLS. **Default:** false
* **connect**(Function) - _(void)_ - Attempts to connect and log into the IMAP server. The Function parameter is the callback with one parameter: the error (null if none).
* **openBox**(String[, Boolean], Function) - _(void)_ - Opens a specific mailbox that exists on the server. The String parameter is the name (including any necessary prefix/path) of the mailbox to open. The optional Boolean parameter specifies if the mailbox should be opened in read-only mode (defaults to false). The Function parameter is the callback with two parameters: the error (null if none), and the _Box_ object of the newly opened mailbox.
* **closeBox**(Function) - _(void)_ - Closes the currently open mailbox. **Any messages marked as Deleted in the mailbox will be removed if the mailbox was NOT opened in read-only mode.** Also, logging out or opening another mailbox without closing the current one first will NOT cause deleted messages to be removed. The Function parameter is the callback with one parameter: the error (null if none).
* **addBox**(String, Function) - _(void)_ - Creates a new mailbox on the server. The String parameter is the name (including any necessary prefix/path) of the new mailbox to create. The Function parameter is the callback with one parameter: the error (null if none).
* **delBox**(String, Function) - _(void)_ - Removes a specific mailbox that exists on the server. The String parameter is the name (including any necessary prefix/path) of the mailbox to remove. The Function parameter is the callback with one parameter: the error (null if none).
* **renameBox**(String, String, Function) - _(void)_ - Renames a specific mailbox that exists on the server. The first String parameter is the name (including any necessary prefix/path) of the existing mailbox. The second String parameter is the name (including any necessary prefix/path) of the new mailbox. The Boolean parameter specifies whether to open the mailbox in read-only mode or not. The Function parameter is the callback with two parameters: the error (null if none), and the _Box_ object of the newly renamed mailbox. **Note:** Renaming the 'INBOX' mailbox will instead cause all messages in 'INBOX' to be moved to the new mailbox.
* **getBoxes**([String, ]Function) - _(void)_ - Obtains the full list of mailboxes. The optional String parameter is the namespace prefix to use (defaults to the main personal namespace). The Function parameter is the callback with two parameters: the error (null if none), and an Object with the following format (with example values):
* **removeDeleted**(Function) - _(void)_ - Permanently removes (EXPUNGEs) all messages flagged as Deleted in the mailbox that is currently open. The Function parameter is the callback with one parameter: the error (null if none). **Note:** At least on Gmail, performing this operation with any currently open mailbox that is not the Spam or Trash mailbox will merely archive any messages marked as Deleted (by moving them to the 'All Mail' mailbox).
* **search**(Array, Function) - _(void)_ - Searches the currently open mailbox for messages using specific criterion. The Function parameter is the callback with two parameters: the error (null if none) and an Array containing the message IDs matching the search criterion. The Array parameter is a list of Arrays containing the criterion (and any required arguments) to be used. Prefix the criteria name with an "!" to negate. For example, to search for unread messages since April 20, 2010 you could use: [ 'UNSEEN', ['SINCE', 'April 20, 2010'] ]. To search for messages that are EITHER unread OR are dated April 20, 2010 or later, you could use: [ ['OR', 'UNSEEN', ['SINCE', 'April 20, 2010'] ] ].
* 'HEADER' - **Requires two String values with the first being the header name and the second being the value to search for.** If this second string is empty, all messages with the given header name will be returned. Example: [ ['UNSEEN'], ['HEADER', 'SUBJECT', 'node-imap'] ]
* **Note:** By default, all criterion are ANDed together. You can use the special 'OR' on **two** criterion to find messages matching either search criteria (see example above).
* **fetch**(Integer/String/Array, Object) - _ImapFetch_ - Fetches the message(s) identified by the first parameter, in the currently open mailbox. The first parameter can either be an Integer for a single message ID, a String for a message ID range (e.g. '2504:2507' or '*' or '2504:*'), or an Array containing any number of the aforementioned Integers and/or Strings. The second (Object) parameter is a set of options used to determine how and what exactly to fetch. The valid options are:
* **request** - An Object indicating what to fetch (at least **headers** OR **body** must be set to false -- in other words, you can only fetch one aspect of the message at a time):
* **struct** - A Boolean indicating whether to fetch the structure of the message. **Default:** true
* **headers** - A Boolean/Array value. A value of true fetches all message headers. An Array containing specific message headers to retrieve can also be specified. **Default:** true
* **body** - A Boolean/String/Array value. A Boolean value of true fetches the entire raw message body. A String value containing a valid partID (see _FetchResult_'s structure property) fetches the entire body/content of that particular part. An Array value of length 2 can be specified if you wish to request a byte range of the content, where the first item is a Boolean/String as previously described and the second item is a String indicating the byte range, for example, to fetch the first 500 bytes: '0-500'. **Default:** false
* **copy**(Integer/String/Array, String, Function) - _(void)_ - Copies the message(s) with the message ID(s) identified by the first parameter, in the currently open mailbox, to the mailbox specified by the second parameter. The first parameter can either be an Integer for a single message ID, a String for a message ID range (e.g. '2504:2507' or '*' or '2504:*'), or an Array containing any number of the aforementioned Integers and/or Strings. The Function parameter is the callback with one parameter: the error (null if none).
* **move**(Integer/String/Array, String, Function) - _(void)_ - Moves the message(s) with the message ID(s) identified by the first parameter, in the currently open mailbox, to the mailbox specified by the second parameter. The first parameter can either be an Integer for a single message ID, a String for a message ID range (e.g. '2504:2507' or '*' or '2504:*'), or an Array containing any number of the aforementioned Integers and/or Strings. The Function parameter is the callback with one parameter: the error (null if none). **Note:** The message in the destination mailbox will have a new message ID.
* **addFlags**(Integer/String/Array, String/Array, Function) - _(void)_ - Adds the specified flag(s) to the message(s) identified by the first parameter. The first parameter can either be an Integer for a single message ID, a String for a message ID range (e.g. '2504:2507' or '*' or '2504:*'), or an Array containing any number of the aforementioned Integers and/or Strings. The second parameter can either be a String containing a single flag or can be an Array of flags. The Function parameter is the callback with one parameter: the error (null if none).
* **delFlags**(Integer/String/Array, String/Array, Function) - _(void)_ - Removes the specified flag(s) from the message(s) identified by the first parameter. The first parameter can either be an Integer for a single message ID, a String for a message ID range (e.g. '2504:2507' or '*' or '2504:*'), or an Array containing any number of the aforementioned Integers and/or Strings. The second parameter can either be a String containing a single flag or can be an Array of flags. The Function parameter is the callback with one parameter: the error (null if none).
* **addKeywords**(Integer/String/Array, String/Array, Function) - _(void)_ - Adds the specified keyword(s) to the message(s) identified by the first parameter. The first parameter can either be an Integer for a single message ID, a String for a message ID range (e.g. '2504:2507' or '*' or '2504:*'), or an Array containing any number of the aforementioned Integers and/or Strings. The second parameter can either be a String containing a single keyword or can be an Array of keywords. The Function parameter is the callback with one parameter: the error (null if none).
* **delKeywords**(Integer/String/Array, String/Array, Function) - _(void)_ - Removes the specified keyword(s) from the message(s) identified by the first parameter. The first parameter can either be an Integer for a single message ID, a String for a message ID range (e.g. '2504:2507' or '*' or '2504:*'), or an Array containing any number of the aforementioned Integers and/or Strings. The second parameter can either be a String containing a single keyword or can be an Array of keywords. The Function parameter is the callback with one parameter: the error (null if none).
