messages API
The messages API allows to access and manage the user’s messages.
Note
When the term messageId is used in these documents, it doesn’t refer to the Message-ID
email header. It is an internal tracking number that does not remain after a restart. Nor does
it follow an email that has been moved to a different folder.
Warning
Some functions in this API potentially return a lot of messages. Be careful what you wish for! See Working with message lists for more information.
Permissions
Permanently delete your email messages
Import messages into Thunderbird
Copy or move your email messages (including moving them to the trash folder)
Read your email messages
Change properties and tags of your email messages
Permanently modify the source of your messages (including headers, body and attachments)
Transfer sensitive user data (if access has been granted) to a remote server for further processing
Functions
archive(messageIds)
Archives messages using the current settings. Archiving external messages will throw an ExtensionError.
Parameters
The IDs of the messages to archive.
Required permissions
copy(messageIds, folderId)
Copies messages to a specified folder.
Parameters
The IDs of the messages to copy.
The folder to copy the messages to.
Required permissions
delete(messageIds, [skipTrash])
Deletes messages permanently, or moves them to the trash folder (honoring the account’s deletion behavior settings). Deleting external messages will throw an ExtensionError. The skipTrash parameter allows immediate permanent deletion, bypassing the trash folder.
Parameters
The IDs of the messages to delete.
[skipTrash]
(boolean, optional)
If true, the message will be deleted permanently, regardless of the account’s deletion behavior settings.
Required permissions
get(messageId)
Returns the specified message.
Parameters
Return type (Promise)
Required permissions
getFull(messageId, [options])
Returns the specified message, including all headers and MIME parts. Throws if the message could not be read, for example due to network issues.
Parameters
[options]
(object, optional)
[decrypt]
(boolean, optional)
Whether the message should be decrypted. If the message could not be decrypted, its parts are omitted. Defaults to true.
Return type (Promise)
Required permissions
getRaw(messageId, [options])
– [Added in TB 72, backported to TB 68.7]
Returns the unmodified source of a message. Throws if the message could not be read, for example due to network issues.
Parameters
[options]
(object, optional)
[data_format]
(string, optional)
The message can either be returned as a DOM File (default) or as a binary string. It is recommended to use the File format, because the DOM File object can be used as-is with the downloads API and has useful methods to access the content, like File.text() and File.arrayBuffer(). Working with binary strings is error prone and needs special handling:
/**
* Decodes a binary string using the given encoding format and returns a
* JavaScript string. Produces mangled output if used with anything but a binary
* input string.
*/
function decodeBinaryString(binaryString, inputEncoding = "utf-8") {
const buffer = new Uint8Array(binaryString.length);
for (let i = 0; i < binaryString.length; i++) {
buffer[i] = binaryString.charCodeAt(i) & 0xFF;
}
let decoder = new TextDecoder(inputEncoding);
return decoder.decode(buffer);
}
(see MDN for supported input encodings).
Supported values:
BinaryString
File
[decrypt]
(boolean, optional)
Whether the message should be decrypted. Throws, if the message could not be decrypted.
Required permissions
import(file, folderId, [properties])
– [Added in TB 106]
Imports a message into a local Thunderbird folder. To import a message into an IMAP folder, add it to a local folder first and then move it to the IMAP folder.
Parameters
The folder to import the messages into.
Return type (Promise)
Required permissions
list(folderId)
Gets all messages in a folder.
Parameters
Return type (Promise)
Required permissions
move(messageIds, folderId)
Moves messages to a specified folder. If the messages cannot be removed from the source folder, they will be copied instead of moved. Moving external messages will throw an ExtensionError.
Parameters
The IDs of the messages to move.
The folder to move the messages to.
Required permissions
query([queryInfo])
– [Added in TB 69, backported to TB 68.2]
Gets all messages that have the specified properties, or all messages if no properties are specified. Messages of unified mailbox folders are not included by default (as that could double the amount of returned messages), but explicitly specifying a unified mailbox folder is supported.
Parameters
[queryInfo]
(object, optional)
Limits the search to the specified account(s). Accounts are searched in the specified order.
Whether the message has attachments, or not. Supports to specify a QueryRange (min/max) instead of a simple boolean value (none/some).
[author]
(string, optional)
Returns only messages with this value matching the author. The search value is a single email address, a name or a combination (e.g.: Name <user@domain.org>). The address part of the search value (if provided) must match the author’s address completely. The name part of the search value (if provided) must match the author’s name partially. All matches are done case-insensitive.
[autoPaginationTimeout]
(integer, optional)
– [Added in TB 120]
Set the timeout in ms after which results should be returned, even if the nominal number of messages-per-page has not yet been reached. Defaults to 1000 ms. Setting it to 0 will disable auto-pagination.
[body]
(string, optional)
Returns only messages with this value in the body of the mail.
[flagged]
(boolean, optional)
Returns only flagged (or unflagged if false) messages.
Limits the search to the specified folder(s). Folders are searched in the specified order. The permission is required.
Returns only messages with a date after this value.
[fromMe]
(boolean, optional)
Returns only messages with the author’s address matching any configured identity.
[fullText]
(string, optional)
Returns only messages with this value somewhere in the mail (subject, body or author).
[headerMessageId]
(string, optional)
– [Added in TB 85]
Returns only messages with a Message-ID header matching this value.
[includeSubFolders]
(boolean, optional)
– [Added in TB 91]
Search the specified folder recursively.
[junk]
(boolean, optional)
– [Added in TB 121]
Returns only messages whith the specified junk state.
Returns only messages with a junk score in the specified range.
[messagesPerPage]
(integer, optional)
– [Added in TB 120]
Set the nominal number of messages-per-page for this query. Defaults to 100 messages.
[new]
(boolean, optional)
– [Added in TB 121]
Returns only messages with the specified new state.
[online]
(boolean, optional)
Query the server directly instead of the local message database. Online queries currently only support querying the headerMessageId property. Currently only supported for NNTP accounts.
[read]
(boolean, optional)
Returns only messages with the specified read state.
[recipients]
(string, optional)
Returns only messages whose recipients match all specified addresses. The search value is a semicolon separated list of email addresses, names or combinations (e.g.: Name <user@domain.org>). For a match, all specified addresses must equal a recipient’s address completely and all specified names must match a recipient’s name partially. All matches are done case-insensitive.
[returnMessageListId]
(boolean, optional)
– [Added in TB 120]
The messageListId is usually returned together with the first page, after some messages have been found. Enabling this option will change the return value of this function and return the messageListId directly.
Returns only messages with a size in the specified byte range.
[subject]
(string, optional)
Returns only messages whose subject contains the provided string.
Returns only messages with the specified tags. For a list of available tags, call the list() method.
Returns only messages with a date before this value.
[toMe]
(boolean, optional)
Returns only messages with at least one recipient address matching any configured identity.
Return type (Promise)
MessageList or string
Required permissions
update(messageId, newProperties)
Updates message properties and tags. Updating external messages will throw an ExtensionError.
Required permissions
abortList(messageListId)
– [Added in TB 120]
Finalizes the specified list and terminates any process currently still adding messages.
Parameters
messageListId
(string)
Required permissions
continueList(messageListId)
Returns the next chunk of messages in a list. See Working with message lists for more information.
Parameters
messageListId
(string)
Return type (Promise)
Required permissions
deleteAttachments(messageId, partNames)
– [Added in TB 123]
Deletes the specified attachments and replaces them by placeholder text attachments with meta information about the original attachments and a text/x-moz-deleted content type. This permanently modifies the message.
Parameters
messageId
(integer)
partNames
(array of string)
An array of attachments, identifying the to be deleted attachments by their partName.
Required permissions
getAttachmentFile(messageId, partName)
– [Added in TB 88]
Gets the content of a MessageAttachment as a File object.
Required permissions
The most simple way to get the content of an attachment is to use the text() method of the returned File object:
let attachments = await browser.messages.listAttachments(messageId);
for (let att of attachments) {
let file = await browser.messages.getAttachmentFile(
messageId,
att.partName
);
let content = await file.text();
}
listAttachments(messageId)
– [Added in TB 88]
Lists the attachments of a message.
Parameters
Return type (Promise)
array of MessageAttachment
Required permissions
listInlineTextParts(messageId)
– [Added in TB 128]
Lists all inline text parts of a message. These parts are not returned by listAttachments(messageId) and usually make up the readable content of the message, mostly with content type text/plain or text/html. If a message only includes a part with content type text/html, the method convertToPlainText(body, [options]) can be used to retreive a plain text version.
Note: A message usually contains only one inline text part per subtype, but technically messages can contain multiple inline text parts per subtype.
Parameters
Return type (Promise)
array of InlineTextPart
Required permissions
openAttachment(messageId, partName, tabId)
– [Added in TB 114]
Opens the specified attachment.
Parameters
partName
(string)
tabId
(integer)
The ID of the tab associated with the message opening.
Required permissions
Events
onCopied
– [Added in TB 91]
Fired when messages have been copied.
Parameters for onCopied.addListener(listener)
listener(originalMessages, copiedMessages)
A function that will be called when this event occurs.
Parameters passed to the listener function
Required permissions
onDeleted
– [Added in TB 91]
Fired when messages have been permanently deleted.
Parameters for onDeleted.addListener(listener)
listener(messages)
A function that will be called when this event occurs.
Parameters passed to the listener function
Required permissions
onMoved
– [Added in TB 91]
Fired when messages have been moved.
Parameters for onMoved.addListener(listener)
listener(originalMessages, movedMessages)
A function that will be called when this event occurs.
Parameters passed to the listener function
Required permissions
onNewMailReceived
– [Added in TB 75]
Fired when a new message is received, and has been through junk classification and message filters.
Parameters for onNewMailReceived.addListener(listener, monitorAllFolders)
listener(folder, messages)
A function that will be called when this event occurs.
[monitorAllFolders]
(boolean, optional)
– [Added in TB 121]
Monitor all folders (including all special use folders as defined by MailFolderSpecialUse) instead of just inbox folders and normal folders.
Required permissions
onUpdated
– [Added in TB 91]
Fired when one or more properties of a message have been updated.
Parameters for onUpdated.addListener(listener)
listener(message, changedProperties)
A function that will be called when this event occurs.
Parameters passed to the listener function
Required permissions
Types
InlineTextPart
An inline part with content type text/*. These parts are not returned by listAttachments(messageId) and usually make up the readable content of the message, mostly with content type text/plain or text/html
object
content
(string)
The content of this inline text part.
contentType
(string)
The content type of the part. Most common types for inline text parts are text/plain and text/html. Possible other (deprecated) types are text/richtext and text/enriched. Some calendaring services include an inline text part with type text/calendar.
MailBoxHeaderString
Content may either be a single email address, or a mailbox string (see RFC 5322, section 3.4). Use parseMailboxString(mailboxString, [preserveGroups]) to extract the name and/or the email from the mailbox string.
string
MessageAttachment
Represents an attachment in a message. This includes all MIME parts with a content-disposition header set to attachment, but also related parts like inline images.
object
contentType
(string)
The content type of the attachment. A value of text/x-moz-deleted indicates that the original attachment was permanently deleted and replaced by a placeholder text attachment with some meta information about the original attachment.
name
(string)
The name, as displayed to the user, of this attachment. This is usually but not always the filename of the attached file.
partName
(string)
Identifies the MIME part of the message associated with this attachment.
size
(integer)
The size in bytes of this attachment.
[contentId]
(string, optional)
The content-id of this part. Available for related parts, which are referenced from other places inside the same message (e.g. inline images).
A MessageHeader, if this attachment is a message.
MessageHeader
Basic information about a message.
object
The Bcc recipients. Not populated for news/nntp messages.
The Cc recipients. Not populated for news/nntp messages.
external
(boolean)
– [Added in TB 106]
Whether this message is a real message or an external message (opened from a file or from an attachment).
flagged
(boolean)
Whether this message is flagged (a.k.a. starred).
headerMessageId
(string)
– [Added in TB 85]
The message-id header of the message.
headersOnly
(boolean)
– [Added in TB 102]
Some account types (for example pop3) allow to download only the headers of the message, but not its body. The body of such messages will not be available.
junk
(boolean)
– [Added in TB 74]
Whether the message has been marked as junk. Always false for news/nntp messages and external messages.
junkScore
(integer)
– [Added in TB 74]
The junk score associated with the message. Always 0 for news/nntp messages and external messages.
new
(boolean)
– [Added in TB 106]
Whether the message has been received recently and is marked as new.
The To recipients. Not populated for news/nntp messages.
size
(integer)
– [Added in TB 90]
The total size of the message in bytes.
subject
(string)
The subject of the message.
tags
(array of string)
Tags associated with this message. For a list of available tags, use list().
The permission is required for this property to be included. Not available for external or attached messages.
[read]
(boolean, optional)
Whether the message has been marked as read. Not available for external or attached messages.
MessageId
A unique id representing a MessageHeader and the associated message. This id doesn’t refer to the Message-ID email header. It is an internal tracking number that does not remain after a restart. Nor does it follow an email that has been moved to a different folder.
integer
MessageList
See Working with message lists for more information.
object
id
(string or null)
Id of the message list, to be used with continueList(messageListId) or abortList(messageListId).
MessagePart
Represents an email message “part”, which could be the whole message.
object
[body]
(string, optional)
The content of the part.
[contentType]
(string, optional)
[decryptionStatus]
(string, optional)
– [Added in TB 125]
The decryption status, only available for the root part.
Supported values:
none
skipped
success
fail
[headers]
(object, optional)
A dictionary object of part headers as key-value pairs, with the header name as key, and an array of headers as value.
[name]
(string, optional)
Name of the part, if it is a file.
[partName]
(string, optional)
The identifier of this part, used in getAttachmentFile(messageId, partName).
Any sub-parts of this part.
[size]
(integer, optional)
The size of this part. The size of parts with content type message/rfc822 is not the actual message size (on disc), but the total size of its decoded body parts, excluding headers.
MessageProperties
Message properties used in update(messageId, newProperties) and import(file, folderId, [properties]). They can also be monitored by onUpdated.
object
[flagged]
(boolean, optional)
Whether the message is flagged (a.k.a starred).
[junk]
(boolean, optional)
Whether the message is marked as junk. Only supported in update(messageId, newProperties).
[new]
(boolean, optional)
– [Added in TB 106]
Whether the message is marked as new. Only supported in import(file, folderId, [properties]).
[read]
(boolean, optional)
Whether the message is marked as read.
[tags]
(array of string, optional)
Tags associated with this message. For a list of available tags, call the list() method.
QueryRange
An object defining a range.
object
[max]
(integer, optional)
The maximum value required to match the query.
[min]
(integer, optional)
The minimum value required to match the query.