inbox count

inbox_count tells you how many email messages are in your inbox.

Usage

gilgamesh:~/projects/inbox_count $ ./inbox_count.py -h
Usage: inbox_count.py [options] [-u USERNAME -s HOST]

Logs into IMAP server HOST and displays the number of messages in USERNAME's inbox.

Options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -u USERNAME, --user=USERNAME
                        Username to log into server
  --password=PASSWORD   Password to log into server.  If not included and
                        password file not specified, password will be asked
                        for interactively.
  -s HOST, --server=HOST
                        Address of server
  -p PORT, --port=PORT  Port of server, defaults to 993
  --password-file=file  Read password from password file FILE
  --no-ssl              Do not use SSL.
  -v, --verbose         Be verbose.
  --debug               Be really verbose.

Example

gilgamesh:~/projects/inbox_count$ ./inbox_count.py -u example_user -s email.example.org --password-file password
25

If you don't specify a password file or a password on the command line, inbox_count will ask you interactively.

gilgamesh:~/projects/inbox_count$ ./inbox_count.py -u example_user -s email.example.org
Password:
25

Motivation

I was inspired by a blog post. In it, Thomas uses a script to graph the number of emails in his Evolution email inbox, helping him turn "Inbox Zero" into a game. I don't use Evolution.

In that vein, this script returns a return code equal to the number of emails in your inbox. Unix tradition is that a return code of zero is success.

It's not my intention, however, that you use this script to compulsively check your email status. That would likely be counterproductive--instead, it's meant for crontastically recording your inbox counts so you can make pretty graphs and track yourself.

Security

Because command line arguments are usually available to other users on a system, inbox_count.py lets you specify the password in a password file. You can use filesystem permissions to lock down that password.

Changelog

For a detailed changelog, use the git history currently available at Github.

v1.2: Fixed nasty bug where inbox_count included recently deleted messages. v1.1: Documentation fixes. v1.0: Initial release

Licensing

This software is copyright 2009-2016 Adam Wolf, and is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

Troubleshooting, Questions, or Comments:

inbox_count is located at http://github.com/adamwolf/inbox_count).

Please make a Github issue with any feedback or problems you have with inbox_count. Thanks!