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[Mail & Notifications](/categories/mail) 4. / 5. benhall14/php-imap-reader ActiveLibrary[Mail & Notifications](/categories/mail) benhall14/php-imap-reader ========================= A PHP class that makes working with IMAP in PHP simple. v1.6.2(4mo ago)3519.6k↓42.2%12MITPHPPHP >=5.3 Since Feb 2Pushed 4mo ago4 watchersCompare [ Source](https://github.com/benhall14/php-imap-reader)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/benhall14/php-imap-reader)[ Docs](https://github.com/benhall14/php-imap-reader)[ RSS](/packages/benhall14-php-imap-reader/feed)WikiDiscussions master Synced 2d ago READMEChangelog (10)DependenciesVersions (20)Used By (0) PHP IMAP Reader =============== [](#php-imap-reader) A PHP class that makes working with IMAP as easy as possible. This class is written to be chain-able so to create a logically fluent and easily readable way to access an IMAP mailbox. It simplifies the PHP IMAP\_\* library into a set of easy to read methods that do the heavy lifting for you. It has been fully tested to work with PHP 5.3+, including **PHP 8.1.** Installation via Composer ========================= [](#installation-via-composer) You can now install this class via composer. ``` $ composer require benhall14/php-imap-reader ``` **Remember** to add the composer autoloader before using the class and use the correct namespace. ``` require 'vendor/autoload.php'; use benhall14\phpImapReader\Email as Email; use benhall14\phpImapReader\EmailAttachment as EmailAttachment; use benhall14\phpImapReader\Reader as Reader; ``` Usage ===== [](#usage) Please make sure you have added the required classes. In its simplest form, use the following to connect: ``` define('IMAP_USERNAME', ''); # your imap user name define('IMAP_PASSWORD', ''); # your imap password define('IMAP_MAILBOX', ''); # your imap address EG. {mail.example.com:993/novalidate-cert/ssl} define('ATTACHMENT_PATH', __DIR__ . '/attachments'); # the path to save attachments to or false to skip attachments try{ # set the mark as read flag (true by default). If you don't want emails to be marked as read/seen, set this to false. $mark_as_read = true; # You can ommit this to use UTF-8 by default. $encoding = 'UTF-8' # create a new Reader object $imap = new Reader(IMAP_MAILBOX, IMAP_USERNAME, IMAP_PASSWORD, ATTACHMENT_PATH, $mark_as_read, $encoding); # use one or more of the following chain-able methods to filter your email selection $imap ->folder($folder) # alias for mailbox($mailbox) ->mailbox($mailbox) # sets the mailbox to return emails from. Default = INBOX ->id($id) # retrieve a specific email by id ->recent() # get all RECENT emails ->flagged() # get all FLAGGED emails ->unflagged() # get all UNFLAGGED emails ->unanswered() # get all UNANSWERED emails ->deleted() # get all DELETED emails ->unread() # alias for UNSEEN() ->unseen() # get all UNSEEN emails ->from($email) # get all emails from $email ->searchSubject($string) # get all emails with $string in the subject line ->searchBody($string) # get all emails with $string in the body ->searchText($string) # get all emails with $string TEXT ->seen() # get all SEEN emails ->read() # alias for SEEN() ->newMessages() # get all NEW emails ->oldMessages() # get all OLD emails ->keyword($keyword) # get all emails with $keyword KEYWORD ->unkeyword($keyword) # get all emails without $keyword KEYWORD ->beforeDate($date) # get all emails received before $date. *Date should be in a format that can be parsed by strtotime.* ->sinceDate($date) # get all emails received since $date. *Date should be in a format that can be parsed by strtotime.* ->sentTo($to) # get all emails sent to $to ->searchBCC($string) # get all emails with $string in the BCC field ->searchCC($string) # get all emails with $string in the CC field ->onDate($date) # get all emails received on $date. *Date should be in a format that can be parsed by strtotime.* ->limit($limit) # limit the number of emails returned to $limit for pagination ->page($page) # used with limit to create pagination ->orderASC() # order the emails returned in ASCending order ->orderDESC() # order the emails returned in DESCendeing order ->reset() # resets the current reader to be able to reconnect to another folder/mailbox. ->all() # get all emails (default) ->get(); # finally make the connection and retrieve the emails. # You can then loop through $imap->emails() for each email. foreach($imap->emails() as $email){ # The email has been clean and formated. # see below. } # Reset the reader and connect to another folder. $imap->reset()->folder('Sent')->get(); # You can also create a folder/mailbox on the IMAP stream. $imap->createFolder('New Folder Name'); #or $imap->createMailbox('New Folder Name'); # You can also check if a mailbox/folder exists on the IMAP stream using: if ($imap->doesMailboxExists('INBOX')) { return "Yes, it exsits"; } else { return "No, it doesn't exist."; } # or if ($imap->doesFolderExists('INBOX')) { return "Yes, it exsits"; } else { return "No, it doesn't exist."; } # You can also get a list of mailboxes on the hostname. $mailboxes = $imap->listMailboxes(); #or $mailboxes = $imap->listFolders(); # ... your code here ... } catch (Exception $e){ echo $e->getMessage(); } ``` While looping through the returned emails, each email object can be used as below: ``` $email->isTo('mail@example.com'); # Return true if the email is to $email, else returns false $email->replyTo(); # Returns an array of Reply To email addresses (and names) $email->cc(); # Returns an array of CC email addresses (and names) $email->to(); # Returns the recipient email address $email->id(); # Returns the id of the email $email->size(); # Returns the size of the email $email->date($format); # Returns the date in the $format specified. Default Y-m-d H:i:s $email->subject(); # Returns the email subject $email->fromName(); # Returns the sender's name, if set. $email->fromEmail(); # Returns the sender's email address $email->plain(); # Returns the plain text body of the email, if present $email->html(); # Returns the html body of the email, if present $email->hasAttachments(); # Returns true/false based on if the email has attachments $email->attachments(); # Returns an array of EmailAttachment objects $email->attachment($id); # Returns an attachment based on the given attachment $id $email->isRecent(); # Returns true/false based on the recent flag $email->isUnseen(); # Returns true/false based on the unseen flag $email->isFlagged(); # Returns true/false based on the flagged flag $email->isAnswered(); # Returns true/false based on the answered flag $email->isDeleted(); # Returns true/false based on the deleted flag $email->isDraft(); # Returns true/false based on the draft flag $email->eml(); # Returns the email in .eml format $email->saveEml($filename); # Saves the email in .eml format $email->count(); # Returns number of emails in folder $email->getHeader($header_name); # Returns the data that matches the header name, for example: Thread-Index $email->getHeaders(); # Returns an array of all headers attached to the email. ``` The **$email->attachments();** method returns an array of attachments belonging to the email in a **benhall14\\phpImapReader\\EmailAttachment** object. The following methods are available for each attachment. ``` # check if the current $email has any attachments. if($email->hasAttachments()){ # get the attachments for the current $email in the loop. $attachments = $email->attachments(); # loop through the found attachments. foreach($attachments as $attachment){ $attachment->id(); # Returns the attachments ID. $attachment->name(); # Returns the attachments name. $attachment->filePath(); # Returns the local file path for the attachment. This is based on the ATTACHMENT_PATH constant set in the imap config. $attachment->content(); # Returns the attachments content data. $attachment->type(); # Returns either 'attachment' or 'inline'. } } ``` Requirements ============ [](#requirements) **Works with PHP 5.3+ (including PHP 8.1)** **PHP IMAP Extension** License ======= [](#license) Copyright (c) 2016-2025 Benjamin Hall, Licensed under the MIT license Donate? ======= [](#donate) If you find this project helpful or useful in anyway, please consider getting me a cup of coffee - It's really appreciated :) [![Donate](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/604e3db9c8751116b3f765aad0353ec7ded655bbe8aaacbc38d8c4a6b784b3ed/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f62616467652f446f6e6174652d50617950616c2d677265656e2e737667)](https://paypal.me/benhall14) ### Health Score 54 — FairBetter than 96% of packages Maintenance76 Regular maintenance activity Popularity40 Moderate usage in the ecosystem Community16 Small or concentrated contributor base Maturity67 Established project with proven stability Bus Factor1 Top contributor holds 91.1% of commits — single point of failure How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window. **Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores. **Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement. **Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability. ### Release Activity Cadence Every ~163 days Recently: every ~139 days Total 19 Last Release 128d ago ### Community Maintainers ![](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/17323507?v=4)[Benjamin Hall](/maintainers/benhall14)[@benhall14](https://github.com/benhall14) --- Top Contributors [![benhall14](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/17323507?v=4)](https://github.com/benhall14 "benhall14 (41 commits)")[![mertuarez](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/1987277?v=4)](https://github.com/mertuarez "mertuarez (2 commits)")[![waterleat](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/35837054?v=4)](https://github.com/waterleat "waterleat (2 commits)") --- Tags imapimap-clientphpphpmailemailimappop3mailbox ### Embed Badge ![Health badge](/badges/benhall14-php-imap-reader/health.svg) ``` [![Health](https://phpackages.com/badges/benhall14-php-imap-reader/health.svg)](https://phpackages.com/packages/benhall14-php-imap-reader) ``` ### Alternatives [php-imap/php-imap Manage mailboxes, filter/get/delete emails in PHP (supports IMAP/POP3/NNTP) 1.7k13.4M52](/packages/php-imap-php-imap)[henrique-borba/php-sieve-manager A modern (started in 2022) PHP library for the ManageSieve protocol (RFC5804) to create/edit Sieve scripts (RFC5228). 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