Status of this Memo

This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1997). All Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents

1.  Abstract
2.  Conventions Used in this Document
3.  Specification
4.  Formal Syntax
5.  References (BOILERPLATE)
6.  Security Considerations
7.  Author's Address (BOILERPLATE)
§  References
§  Author's Address
§  Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements

1. Abstract

The Internet Message Access Protocol [1] requires a client to poll the server for changes to the selected mailbox (new mail, deletions). It's often more desirable to have the server transmit updates to the client in real time. This allows a user to see new mail immediately. It also helps some real-time applications based on IMAP, which might otherwise need to poll extremely often (such as every few seconds). (While the spec actually does allow a server to push EXISTS responses aysynchronously, a client can't expect this behaviour and must poll.)

This document specifies the syntax of an IDLE command, which will allow a client to tell the server that it's ready to accept such real-time updates.

2. Conventions Used in this Document

In examples, "C:" and "S:" indicate lines sent by the client and server respectively.

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", and "MAY" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2060 [1].

3. Specification

IDLE Command

   Arguments:  none

   Responses:  continuation data will be requested; the client sends
               the continuation data "DONE" to end the command
   Result:     OK - IDLE completed after client sent "DONE"
               NO - failure: the server will not allow the IDLE
                    command at this time
              BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid

The IDLE command may be used with any IMAP4 server implementation that returns "IDLE" as one of the supported capabilities to the CAPABILITY command. If the server does not advertise the IDLE capability, the client MUST NOT use the IDLE command and must poll for mailbox updates. In particular, the client MUST continue to be able to accept unsolicited untagged responses to ANY command, as specified in the base IMAP specification.

The IDLE command is sent from the client to the server when the client is ready to accept unsolicited mailbox update messages. The server requests a response to the IDLE command using the continuation ("+") response. The IDLE command remains active until the client responds to the continuation, and as long as an IDLE command is active, the server is now free to send untagged EXISTS, EXPUNGE, and other messages at any time.

The IDLE command is terminated by the receipt of a "DONE" continuation from the client; such response satisfies the server's continuation request. At that point, the server MAY send any remaining queued untagged responses and then MUST immediately send the tagged response to the IDLE command and prepare to process other commands. As in the base specification, the processing of any new command may cause the sending of unsolicited untagged responses, subject to the ambiguity limitations. The client MUST NOT send a command while the server is waiting for the DONE, since the server will not be able to distinguish a command from a continuation.

The server MAY consider a client inactive if it has an IDLE command running, and if such a server has an inactivity timeout it MAY log the client off implicitly at the end of its timeout period. Because of that, clients using IDLE are advised to terminate the IDLE and re-issue it at least every 29 minutes to avoid being logged off. This still allows a client to receive immediate mailbox updates even though it need only "poll" at half hour intervals.

   Example:    C: A001 SELECT INBOX
               S: * FLAGS (Deleted Seen)
               S: * 3 EXISTS
               S: * 0 RECENT
               S: * OK [UIDVALIDITY 1]
               S: A001 OK SELECT completed
               C: A002 IDLE
               S: + idling
               ...time passes; new mail arrives...
               S: * 4 EXISTS
               C: DONE
               S: A002 OK IDLE terminated
               ...another client expunges message 2 now...
               C: A003 FETCH 4 ALL
               S: * 4 FETCH (...)
               S: A003 OK FETCH completed
               C: A004 IDLE
               S: * 2 EXPUNGE
               S: * 3 EXISTS
               S: + idling
               ...time passes; another client expunges message 3...
               S: * 3 EXPUNGE
               S: * 2 EXISTS
               ...time passes; new mail arrives...
               S: * 3 EXISTS
               C: DONE
               S: A004 OK IDLE terminated
               C: A005 FETCH 3 ALL
               S: * 3 FETCH (...)
               S: A005 OK FETCH completed
               C: A006 IDLE

4. Formal Syntax

The following syntax specification uses the augmented Backus-Naur Form (BNF) notation as specified in [RFC-822] as modified by [1]. Non-terminals referenced but not defined below are as defined by [1].

   command_auth    ::= append / create / delete / examine / list / lsub /
                       rename / select / status / subscribe / unsubscribe
                       / idle
                       ;; Valid only in Authenticated or Selected state

   idle            ::= "IDLE" CRLF "DONE"

5. References (BOILERPLATE)

This RFC contained boilerplate in this section which has been moved to the RFC2223-compliant unnumbered section "References."

6. Security Considerations

There are no known security issues with this extension.

7. Author's Address (BOILERPLATE)

This RFC contained boilerplate in this section which has been moved to the RFC2223-compliant unnumbered section "Author's Address."

References

Author's Address

Intellectual Property Statement

The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any intellectual property or other rights that might be claimed to pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in this document or the extent to which any license under such rights might or might not be available; neither does it represent that it has made any effort to identify any such rights. Information on the IETF's procedures with respect to rights in standards-track and standards-related documentation can be found in BCP-11. Copies of claims of rights made available for publication and any assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of such proprietary rights by implementors or users of this specification can be obtained from the IETF Secretariat.

The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary rights which may cover technology that may be required to practice this standard. Please address the information to the IETF Executive Director.

Full Copyright Statement

Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1997). All Rights Reserved.

This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than English.

The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assignees.

This document and the information contained herein is provided on an "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgment

Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the Internet Society.