Connect a professional email with IMAP

What is this connector for?

The Professional email (IMAP) connector connects a professional mailbox to ELChat. It can read and search emails, open a thread, list attachments, create a draft, reply, forward, organise or send a message.

Use it for an agent or workflow that needs to handle a support, sales or operations mailbox from AI Actions > Connectors.

This connector acts on a mailbox. To display conversations in the omnichannel hub, also see Professional email.

Before you start

Get the professional address, IMAP username and password or app password, incoming and outgoing service names and ports, encryption methods and exact folder names from your email provider.

Connect the mailbox

Open Dashboard > your site > AI Actions > Connectors.
Find Professional email (IMAP).
Click Connect.
Enter incoming and outgoing settings.
Test or confirm the connection.
Check folder settings if your provider uses different names.

Understand the settings

Setting	Required	Why it matters
Professional email address	Yes	Identifies the mailbox and sender
Sender name	No	Name shown to recipients
IMAP username	No	Account used to read; the address is used by default
IMAP password / app password	Yes	Allows access to incoming messages
SMTP username	No	Account used to send; the IMAP username is used by default
SMTP password	No	Sending password; the IMAP password is used by default
IMAP host	Yes	Incoming mail service address
IMAP port	Yes	Provider port; 993 is the usual SSL/TLS preset
IMAP encryption	Yes	Choose SSL/TLS, STARTTLS or None as required; None is not recommended
SMTP host	Yes	Outgoing mail service address
SMTP port	Yes	Provider port; 587 is common for STARTTLS and 465 for SSL/TLS
SMTP encryption	Yes	Protects the outgoing connection
Folder separator	No	Recognises nested folders; `/` is the default
Inbox folder	No	Folder read by default; `INBOX` is the default
Drafts folder	No	Draft location; `Drafts` is the default
Sent folder	No	Sent copy location; `Sent` is the default
Trash folder	No	Folder used when moving a message to the bin; `Trash` is the default
Archive folder	No	Suggested archive folder name; `Archive` is the default

Use List folders after connecting to confirm exact paths.

What it can do

test IMAP and SMTP without reading or changing messages;
list folders;
search by sender, recipient, subject, text, date, unread status, flag or attachment;
open an email or thread and list attachments;
mark messages read, unread, starred, unstarred, answered or unanswered;
move, trash and restore messages;
create or replace drafts;
send new emails, reply in a thread, forward selected attachments and send a draft.

Actions that change the mailbox or send a message should be governed by the permissions and confirmation process appropriate for your team.

Verify the connection

Test the connection, list folders, find a test message in INBOX, open its thread, create a draft and—after review—send an internal test without sensitive data. Check the copy in Sent.

Limits

Searches return at most 50 messages per page.
Message reading is limited to 50,000 characters.
An attachment is limited to 10 MB and an operation to 20 MB in total.
Restoration depends on the provider keeping the message in Trash.
Folder names depend on the email provider.

Common problems

Symptom	Check
Connection fails	Host, port, encryption and app password
Incoming messages are missing	Inbox folder and exact folder path
Sending fails	SMTP settings and provider restrictions
Draft is missing	Exact Drafts folder
Reply starts a new thread	Use the connector reply action, not a new email
Attachment is not forwarded	Size and explicit attachment selection