A modern, promise-based IMAP client for Node.js that simplifies complex email interactions with async iterators and automated extension handling.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install imapflow
2. Manual Installation
Copy the skill folder to one of these locations
~/.openclaw/skills/ <project>/skills/ Priority: Workspace > Local > Bundled
3. Prompt Installation
Copy this prompt to OpenClaw to install it automatically.
Help me install imapflow using Clawhub. If Clawhub is not installed, install it first (npm i -g clawhub).
Prefer to download?
Get the raw skill files in a ZIP archive.
What is ImapFlow?
ImapFlow is a high-performance IMAP client library designed for Node.js environments. It streamlines email integration by automatically detecting and handling advanced IMAP extensions like CONDSTORE, QRESYNC, and IDLE. This ensures that developers can write consistent code that works reliably across various mail providers including Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo.
Built with modern JavaScript patterns in mind, it utilizes an async/await API and async iterators for efficient message streaming. As part of the ecosystem of Openclaw Skills, it provides a robust foundation for building email automation, monitoring systems, and custom email clients with built-in support for security features like SOCKS/HTTP proxies and OAuth2 authentication.
ImapFlow Use Cases
- Building custom email dashboards or specialized mail clients.
- Automating email processing workflows such as invoice scraping or support ticket creation.
- Monitoring mailboxes in real-time for new messages using IDLE push notifications.
- Managing complex mailbox structures including folder creation, renaming, and message movement.
- Integrating Gmail-specific features like labels, threads, and raw search queries.
How ImapFlow Works
- Initialize the ImapFlow client with server credentials, security settings (TLS), and optional provider-specific configurations.
- Establish a connection to the IMAP server using the
client.connect()method. - Secure a mailbox lock (e.g., for 'INBOX') to ensure exclusive access during sensitive operations.
- Execute commands such as searching for specific criteria, fetching message metadata, or streaming full message sources.
- Handle real-time updates through event listeners for new messages (exists), deletions (expunge), or flag changes.
- Release the mailbox lock and gracefully logout to close the connection.
ImapFlow Setup
Install the library using npm or yarn:
npm install imapflow
Basic connection setup:
const { ImapFlow } = require('imapflow');
const client = new ImapFlow({
host: 'imap.example.com',
port: 993,
secure: true,
auth: { user: '[email protected]', pass: 'password' }
});
ImapFlow Data Schema & Taxonomy
ImapFlow organizes message data through a structured FetchQueryObject. The schema allows for granular data retrieval to optimize bandwidth:
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| uid | Number | Unique identifier for the message |
| envelope | Object | Parsed headers (subject, from, to, date) |
| bodyStructure | Object | MIME structure tree of the message |
| flags | Array | Message flags like \Seen or \Deleted |
| source | Buffer | Full RFC822 message source |
| labels | Array | Gmail-specific X-GM-LABELS |
| threadId | String | Gmail-specific thread identifier |
ImapFlow Advanced Features
- Automatic IDLE management: Maintains a persistent connection to receive push notifications without polling.
- Gmail Extensions: Full support for X-GM-RAW searches, thread IDs, and label management.
- Proxy Support: Built-in compatibility with SOCKS and HTTP proxies for secure routing.
- Mailbox Locking: Sophisticated concurrency management to prevent command collisions during async operations.
- Streamed Fetches: Use of async iterators to process thousands of emails without overloading system memory.
SKILL.md
Loading
Related Openclaw Skills
AI Citation Strategist
A specialized AI agent skill designed to audit and optimize brand visibility across major AI recommendation engines using AEO and GEO strategies.
Car Glovebox Document Index Tags
A specialized organizational system for creating printable index cards, divider tabs, and reset checklists to manage essential vehicle paperwork.
PDF Processing Skill
A comprehensive toolkit for programmatic PDF manipulation, including text extraction, merging, splitting, and OCR capabilities.
WebtoMD
A powerful web scraping skill that converts URLs into clean Markdown files with automated mode detection for articles and technical documentation.
Desk Drawer Coin Tray Lane Card
A prompt-based organizational tool that generates printable lane cards to categorize and declutter small items in desk drawers without the need for physical dividers.
OllamaDiffuser
OllamaDiffuser provides an intuitive, local environment for high-quality AI image generation and manipulation using Stable Diffusion and FLUX models.
Featured*
