Metnos can read and send mail through providers other than Google. Standard mailboxes use IMAP for reading and SMTP for sending; features specific to Gmail use the separate Google Workspace integration.
Each account receives a short, stable name such as work. This
is not the email address: it is how users and executors refer to the mailbox.
You can therefore ask Metnos to “read my work mail” or “send from work” without
repeating server details and credentials.
In the encrypted store, the same configuration is named
smtp_work. The prefix is retained for compatibility, but the
record can contain both SMTP and IMAP settings. Executors receive only
account="work". For reading, account="all" covers
every configured account; a specific list of account names is also valid.
In Administration → Users → Credentials you can give sites and mailboxes a personal name and several synonyms, including when first entering credentials. A name selects only the target of the operation already requested: it does not turn a mail request into web navigation. An explicit selection of several mailboxes or all mailboxes remains valid; ambiguous names are rejected.
When no personal name exists, the profile suggests the mailbox account name, or the full domain for a site. You can edit the suggestion; it becomes available in requests only after Save. Existing names and synonyms take precedence. Viewing the profile does not register new names.
During guided installation, the Sensitive data phase can add one or more mailboxes. Accounts can also be added later through the protected credential flow: Metnos collects the required values without retaining them in the conversation and saves them in its local encrypted store.
To begin, simply ask: “Configure a non-Google mail account named work.” Metnos will request only the missing details. A complete configuration uses these fields:
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
user, password | The username and password, or the provider's application-specific password. |
imap_host, imap_port | The incoming-mail server. Port 993 is the usual encrypted port. |
smtp_host, smtp_port | The outgoing-mail server. Port 465 is commonly used for SMTPS; omitting these fields makes the account read-only. |
verify_tls | Server certificate verification. Installation always enables it; turning it off weakens security and is not a normal configuration. |
Passwords must never appear in manifests, logs, or documentation. The credential flow intercepts them before the request reaches the planner, encrypts them, and leaves a secret-free placeholder in their place.
read_messages can read one mailbox, a named selection, or all
available accounts. If one account fails, the result separates successfully
read messages from errors and never loses their source-mailbox identity.
send_messages uses SMTP for delivery. Once a message has been
accepted by the server, Metnos cannot recall it, so sending is not undoable.
move_messages moves mail between folders and is undoable when
the server allows Metnos to record and retrace the move. Metnos uses the atomic
MOVE command when available; otherwise it proceeds only when it can
copy and remove exactly the selected messages. If it cannot guarantee that,
the mailbox is left unchanged.
An IMAP identifier is meaningful only inside the mailbox and folder that produced it. An identifier supplied directly must therefore include its account and source folder. When it comes from a preceding read, Metnos preserves this context automatically and never guesses a default mailbox.
Metnos resolves temporal arguments through a shared system, not separate date rules for each mailbox. You can use expressions such as “today”, “yesterday”, “the day after tomorrow”, “two days ago”, “in the last two hours” or “from yesterday at 10:00 to today at 11:00”. Calendar days follow the configured timezone; a rolling duration is measured back from the request. If an expression has several meanings, such as an unspecified “Thursday”, Metnos asks you to choose or clarify through a form. This clarifies the date; it is not an additional permission. A date chosen in the form stays fixed even if you respond later. A brief model-assisted interpretation may help with complex wording, but the runtime calculates and validates the dates.
Mail periods normally use the mailbox server's receipt timestamp, not the date typed by the sender. If the receipt timestamp is unavailable, Metnos falls back to the message's date. A request for a calendar day includes that whole day; an explicit “before” boundary excludes that instant and later mail. Reading leaves unread flags unchanged. Large selections remain subject to visible result limits: a partial result does not mean the entire mailbox has been examined.
Google Workspace is a separate, OAuth-authorized integration
built on the Gmail APIs. It handles Gmail concepts such as threads and labels.
For example, set_messages adds or removes labels and can undo the
change; it does not manage flags in a generic IMAP mailbox.
move_messages also works with Gmail, where it operates on the
labels defined by the provider. Gmail message IDs do not follow IMAP UID rules,
because Google defines their identity scope.
A mode-0600 file at
~/.config/metnos/mail/<name>.env remains accepted with fields
HOST_IMAP, PORT_IMAP, HOST_SMTP,
PORT_SMTP, USER, PASS, and
VERIFY_TLS. The encrypted vault takes precedence; the file is a
compatibility and migration path.