# mscdex/node-imap

An IMAP client module for node.js.

Repository: https://github.com/mscdex/node-imap
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/node-imap
Language: JavaScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2023-11-10T00:53:56+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5812, "days_push": 1028, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2224, forks 386 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:27.936065+00:00)

## What it is
node-imap is an IMAP client module for Node.js that lets applications connect to IMAP mail servers, list mailboxes, and fetch messages and headers. It provides low-level protocol access without auto-decoding of message bodies or attachments.

## Use cases
- read emails from an imap server in node.js
- fetch message headers and bodies programmatically
- check unread messages in an inbox
- build an email automation script
- download attachments from a mailbox
- monitor a gmail account via imap

## When to choose
- you need direct, low-level IMAP protocol control in Node.js
- you want to handle message decoding and parsing yourself
- you need a lightweight, dependency-light email fetching library

## When to avoid
- you want auto-decoded messages, parsed attachments, and parsed addresses out of the box
- you need an SMTP sending library rather than an IMAP client
- you want a high-level email API with modern async/await ergonomics

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: maintenance
- function: email, http-client, parser
- domain: email, backend, developer-tools
- platform: -
- tags: imap, email-client, mail-fetching, protocol-client, nodejs

## Member repositories
- mscdex/node-imap (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:27.936065+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 2026-08-30T02:44:59.758514+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/mscdex/node-imap (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:27.936065+00:00, sha 5b1d5c85217c)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.