



Network Working Group                                        B. Gondwana
Internet-Draft                                          Fastmail Pty Ltd
Updates: RFC8474 (if approved)                           3 November 2025
Intended status: Standards Track                                        
Expires: 7 May 2026


             IMAP OBJECTID Partial Implementation extention
             draft-ietf-mailmaint-imap-objectid-partial-01

Abstract

   This document extends the IMAP OBJECTID specification in RFC8474,
   which describes persistent identifiers for Mailboxes, Emails, and
   Threads in email.

   Some servers may be unable to provide persistent identifiers for some
   data types, but be able to provide them for others.  This extension
   allows a server to specify that it can provide some objectids,
   without needing to implement all data types.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
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   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on 7 May 2026.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2025 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/
   license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
   and restrictions with respect to this document.  Code Components



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   extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as
   described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are
   provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  OBJECTID=MAILBOXID  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  OBJECTID=EMAILID  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   3.  Supporting multiple datatypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   4.  IANA considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   5.  Security considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   6.  Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   7.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   Appendix A.  Changes from Earlier Versions  . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   Appendix B.  draft-ietf-mailmaint-imap-objectid-partial-01  . . .   3
   Appendix C.  draft-ietf-mailmaint-imap-objectid-partial-00  . . .   3
   Appendix D.  draft-gondwana-imap-objectid-partial-00  . . . . . .   3
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3

1.  OBJECTID=MAILBOXID

   If a server has the capability OBJECTID=MAILBOXID then it supports
   the objectids for mailboxes described in [OBJECTID] section 4.

2.  OBJECTID=EMAILID

   If a server has the capability OBJECTID=EMAILID then it supports the
   objectids for emails (and optionally threads) described in [OBJECTID]
   sections 5 and 6.

3.  Supporting multiple datatypes

   An implementation which supports both MAILBOXID and EMAILDID SHOULD
   only issue the capability OBJECTID as defined in [OBJECTID].  Clients
   are recommended to check for both the specific or general capability
   when deciding what requests to send.

4.  IANA considerations

   IANA is asked to register the capabilities OBJECTID=MAILBOXID and
   OBJECTID=EMAILID with reference to this document.

5.  Security considerations

   This document does not introduce any security considerations beyond
   those described in [OBJECTID].





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6.  Acknowledgements

   Daniel Eggert, Ken Murchison, Matt Diephouse, the bar at Melia
   Castilla in Madrid.

7.  Normative References

   [OBJECTID] Gondwana, B., Ed., "IMAP Extension for Object
              Identifiers", RFC 8474, DOI 10.17487/RFC8474, September
              2018, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8474>.

Appendix A.  Changes from Earlier Versions

   [[This section to be removed by RFC Editor]]

Appendix B.  draft-ietf-mailmaint-imap-objectid-partial-01

   *  fixed =MAILBOX to =MAILBOXID, thanks Matt Diephouse for noticing

Appendix C.  draft-ietf-mailmaint-imap-objectid-partial-00

   *  renamed for adoption

   *  removed the MUST around client behaviour; clients can choose not
      to use OBJECTID any time they want.  There's no MUST here.

   *  tidied up wording a bit (I may not have been 100% sober when I
      wrote the initial draft)

Appendix D.  draft-gondwana-imap-objectid-partial-00

   *  Initial version

Author's Address

   Bron Gondwana
   Fastmail Pty Ltd
   Level 2, 114 William Street
   3000
   Australia
   Phone: +61 457 416 436
   Email: brong@fastmailteam.com









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