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
- -v
- --verbose
-
Be verbose.
- -q
- --quiet
-
Be quiet.
- --curl
-
Use libcurl to communicate with the IMAP server, unless tunneling into it. Ignored if Git was built without the USE_CURL_FOR_IMAP_SEND option set.
- --no-curl
-
Talk to the IMAP server using git’s own IMAP routines instead of using libcurl. Ignored if Git was built with the NO_OPENSSL option set.
To use the tool, imap.folder
and either imap.tunnel
or imap.host
must be set
to appropriate values.
Using tunnel mode:
[imap] folder = "INBOX.Drafts" tunnel = "ssh -q -C user@example.com /usr/bin/imapd ./Maildir 2> /dev/null"
Using direct mode:
[imap] folder = "INBOX.Drafts" host = imap://imap.example.com user = bob pass = p4ssw0rd
Using direct mode with SSL:
[imap] folder = "INBOX.Drafts" host = imaps://imap.example.com user = bob pass = p4ssw0rd port = 123 ; sslVerify = false
Note
|
You may want to use sslVerify=false
while troubleshooting, if you suspect that the reason you are
having trouble connecting is because the certificate you use at
the private server example.com you are trying to set up (or
have set up) may not be verified correctly.
|
Using Gmail’s IMAP interface:
[imap] folder = "[Gmail]/Drafts" host = imaps://imap.gmail.com user = user@gmail.com port = 993
Note
|
You might need to instead use: folder = "[Google Mail]/Drafts" if you get an error
that the "Folder doesn’t exist".
|
Note
|
If your Gmail account is set to another language than English, the name of the "Drafts" folder will be localized. |
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).
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: https://kb.mozillazine.org/Plain_text_e-mail_-_Thunderbird#Completely_plain_email