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
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
CONFIGURATION
To use the tool, imap.folder and either imap.tunnel or imap.host must be set to appropriate values.
Variables
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 to use imap-send.
imap.tunnel
Command used to setup 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 to use imap-send.
imap.host
A URL identifying the server. Use a imap:// prefix for non-secure connections and a imaps:// prefix for
secure connections. Ignored when imap.tunnel is set, but required to use imap-send 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 authenticate method for authentication with IMAP server. Current supported method is CRAM-MD5
only.
Examples
pass = p4ssw0rd
Using direct mode with SSL:
[imap]
folder = "INBOX.Drafts"
host = imaps://imap.example.com
user = bob
pass = p4ssw0rd
port = 123
sslverify = false
EXAMPLE
To submit patches using GMail’s IMAP interface, first, edit your ~/.gitconfig to specify your account
settings:
[imap]
folder = "[Gmail]/Drafts"
host = imaps://imap.gmail.com
user = [email protected]
port = 993
sslverify = false
You might need to instead use: folder = "[Google Mail]/Drafts" if you get an error that the "Folder doesn’t
exist".
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: http://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 1.8.3.1 03/23/2016 GIT-IMAP-SEND(1)
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