Setup Guide: IMAP (Read Email)

Use the IMAP activities when the Agent needs to read emails from a mailbox such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail or a company mail server.

This guide helps you collect the information the activities need and shows where to enter it in akaBot Studio. You do not need to install or configure a mail server.

note

For Microsoft 365 / Outlook.com mailboxes, use the Office 365 package instead. Microsoft no longer accepts a normal password for IMAP.

Using Exchange Server?

If your mailbox is on your company's own Exchange Server, use the Exchange activities instead (in akaBot Studio: Mail > Exchange). See Setup Exchange (EWS).

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1. Information You Need

Fill in this checklist before you open akaBot Studio.

Information	Where to get it	Example (Gmail)
Server	Table in section 3, or ask your IT team	"imap.gmail.com"
Port	Table in section 3, or ask your IT team	993
Email	The mailbox address the Agent reads	"bot.account@gmail.com"
Password	An App Password (see section 2), or the account password if your provider allows it	16 letters, no spaces
Mail Folder	The folder name exactly as shown in the mailbox	"Inbox"

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2. Get the Information

Gmail

You only change settings in your own Gmail account.

A. Turn on IMAP

1. Open Gmail.
2. Click the gear icon (top right) > See all settings.
3. Open the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.
4. In IMAP access, select Enable IMAP.
5. Click Save Changes.

Gmail Settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab. The IMAP access section is at the bottom.

B. Create an App Password

Gmail does not accept your normal password from apps such as the akaBot Agent. Create a special password for akaBot:

1. Open Google Account > Security.

2. Make sure 2-Step Verification is On (App Passwords only appear when it is on).

   

   Google Account > Security & sign-in. 2-Step Verification must show On.

3. Open myaccount.google.com/apppasswords.

4. Type a name, for example akaBot, and click Create.

5. Copy the 16-letter password and remove the spaces. This is the value for Password in akaBot.

   

   The App Password is shown only once. Copy it before you click Done.

C. Create the destination folder (label)

Step 4.2 moves emails to a folder named Processed, which must exist before the workflow runs. In Gmail, folders are called labels:

1. In Gmail, click + next to Labels in the left menu.
2. Type Processed and click Create.

Company mail server

Your IT team manages the server. Send them this request:

Please send me the IMAP settings for the mailbox <address>: server name, port, security type (SSL or STARTTLS), and whether I should use my normal password or an App Password.

Other providers (Yahoo, iCloud, …)

Turn on IMAP access and create an App Password in your account's security settings. See your provider's help page for the exact steps.

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3. Server and Port Reference

Provider	Server	Port	Secure Connection
Gmail	imap.gmail.com	993	SslOnConnect
Yahoo Mail	imap.mail.yahoo.com	993	SslOnConnect
iCloud	imap.mail.me.com	993	SslOnConnect
Company server	Ask your IT team	993 (SSL) or 143 (STARTTLS)	SslOnConnect for 993, StartTls for 143, or Auto

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4. Enter the Information in akaBot Studio

Step 4.1: Get IMAP Mail Messages

All settings for this activity: Get IMAP Mail Messages

1. In the Activities panel, open Mail > IMAP and drag Get IMAP Mail Messages into your workflow.
2. In the Properties panel, fill in:

Category	Property	Value
Host	Server	"imap.gmail.com"
Host	Port	993
Host	Mail Folder	"Inbox" (default)
Logon	Email	"bot.account@gmail.com"
Logon	Password	"abcdefghijklmnop" (your App Password)
Options	Secure Connection	SslOnConnect (or Auto)
Options	Top	30 (default) – how many emails to read
Options	Only Unread Messages	Selected by default – clear it to also read emails you have already opened
Options	Mark As Read	Select to mark the emails as read after reading
Options	Delete Messages	Leave cleared. If selected, the emails are permanently deleted from the server after they are read
Output	Messages	imapMails – create it with Ctrl+K (step 3)

Example settings for Gmail in the Properties panel.

3. In the Properties panel, click the Messages box (in the Output category) and press Ctrl+K.
4. Type imapMails and press Enter.
5. Open the Variables panel at the bottom of the designer and check:
   • Variable type is List<MailMessage>.
   • Scope is the Sequence that contains both Get IMAP Mail Messages and the For Each loop. If it shows a smaller container, change it to that Sequence – otherwise the loop cannot use the variable.

tip

To protect the password, you can enter it in SecurePassword (type SecureString) instead of Password. Fill in only one of them.

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Step 4.2: Move IMAP Mail Message To Another Folder

All settings for this activity: Move IMAP Mail Message To Another Folder

1. Drag a For Each activity below the Get activity (inside the same Sequence) and set:
   • Foreach: item
   • in: imapMails
   • TypeArgument (in the Properties panel): System.Net.Mail.MailMessage. If it is not in the list, choose Browse for Types... and search for MailMessage.
2. Drag Move IMAP Mail Message To Another Folder into the Body of the loop.
3. Fill in:
   • Server, Port, Email, Password: the same values as in Step 4.1.
   • Mail Message: the current loop item, for example item.
   • Mail Folder (Destination): the folder to move the email to, for example "Processed". The folder must already exist in the mailbox.

Each email in imapMails is moved to the Processed folder.

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Step 4.3: Check the Result

1. Run the workflow.
2. In Gmail, open the Processed label. The emails the Agent read should be there.
3. Open the Inbox. Those emails should no longer be in it.

If nothing was moved, check that Only Unread Messages matches your test emails (by default only unread emails are read) and that the Processed label exists.