# dovecot/core

Dovecot mail server

Repository: https://github.com/dovecot/core
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/dovecot-core
Homepage: http://www.dovecot.org/
Language: C
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: imap4, pop3, submission, lmtp, email, mail, imap, smtp
Last push: 2026-08-26T08:32:48+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 85/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 59, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3920, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 113, "gap_med": 106.0, "n_releases_24m": 5}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1244, forks 347 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:06.935048+00:00)

## What it is
Dovecot is an open-source mail server for Linux/UNIX-like systems written in C, providing IMAP, POP3, LMTP, and ManageSieve protocols with a strong focus on security and performance. It supports flexible authentication backends and transparent mailbox indexing, and is widely used as the storage/retrieval backend behind MTAs like Postfix and Exim.

## Use cases
- self-host an IMAP and POP3 email server
- serve mailboxes to users with IMAP/POP3 access
- deliver mail locally via LMTP from Postfix or Exim
- provide SMTP authentication for Postfix against Dovecot's auth backend
- run a secure, low-memory mail storage backend for ISPs or small servers
- support ManageSieve for server-side mail filtering rules

## When to choose
- you need a secure, standards-compliant IMAP/POP3 server on Linux/UNIX
- you want efficient mailbox indexing with mbox or Maildir support
- you need flexible authentication against many database backends
- you want a lightweight mail server suitable for both small and large installations

## When to avoid
- you need a multi-server, highly available cloud mail platform (that is the commercial Dovecot Pro)
- you need an MTA to send/receive internet mail (use Postfix or Exim alongside it)
- you need a Windows-native mail server

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: stable
- function: auth, email, http-server
- domain: email, self-hosted, security, backend
- platform: cross-platform, self-hosted
- tags: imap-server, pop3-server, lmtp, mail-delivery, managesieve, smtp-auth, maildir, mbox, linux

## Member repositories
- dovecot/core (main) score 85

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:06.935048+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T05:08:14.569708+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/dovecot/core (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:06.935048+00:00, sha 938424abd8f0)
  - homepage: http://www.dovecot.org/ (fetched 2026-08-29T12:19:59.396128+00:00, sha 60c14f82a153)
  - site_page: https://doc.dovecot.org/ (fetched 2026-08-29T12:19:59.407405+00:00, sha e4cc3b9104ea)
  - site_page: https://dovecot.org/pipermail/dovecot-news/2022-February/000472.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:19:59.409587+00:00, sha f392ce4d7880)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.