Use Python to send and receive emails

0_python_email.md

Use Python to:

• send a plain text email
• send an email with attachment
• receive and filter emails according to some criteria

1_sendtext.py

import smtplib
from email.mime.text import MIMEText

smtp_ssl_host = 'smtp.gmail.com'  # smtp.mail.yahoo.com
smtp_ssl_port = 465
username = 'USERNAME or EMAIL ADDRESS'
password = 'PASSWORD'
sender = '[email protected]'
targets = ['[email protected]', '[email protected]']

msg = MIMEText('Hi, how are you today?')
msg['Subject'] = 'Hello'
msg['From'] = sender
msg['To'] = ', '.join(targets)

server = smtplib.SMTP_SSL(smtp_ssl_host, smtp_ssl_port)
server.login(username, password)
server.sendmail(sender, targets, msg.as_string())
server.quit()

2_sendattach.py

import os
import smtplib
from email.mime.text import MIMEText
from email.mime.image import MIMEImage
from email.mime.multipart import MIMEMultipart

smtp_ssl_host = 'smtp.gmail.com'  # smtp.mail.yahoo.com
smtp_ssl_port = 465
username = 'USERNAME or EMAIL ADDRESS'
password = 'PASSWORD'
sender = '[email protected]'
targets = ['[email protected]', '[email protected]']

msg = MIMEMultipart()
msg['Subject'] = 'I have a picture'
msg['From'] = sender
msg['To'] = ', '.join(targets)

txt = MIMEText('I just bought a new camera.')
msg.attach(txt)

filepath = '/path/to/image/file'
with open(filepath, 'rb') as f:
    img = MIMEImage(f.read())

img.add_header('Content-Disposition',
               'attachment',
               filename=os.path.basename(filepath))
msg.attach(img)

server = smtplib.SMTP_SSL(smtp_ssl_host, smtp_ssl_port)
server.login(username, password)
server.sendmail(sender, targets, msg.as_string())
server.quit()

3_emailcheck.py

import time
from itertools import chain
import email
import imaplib

imap_ssl_host = 'imap.gmail.com'  # imap.mail.yahoo.com
imap_ssl_port = 993
username = 'USERNAME or EMAIL ADDRESS'
password = 'PASSWORD'

# Restrict mail search. Be very specific.
# Machine should be very selective to receive messages.
criteria = {
    'FROM':    'PRIVILEGED EMAIL ADDRESS',
    'SUBJECT': 'SPECIAL SUBJECT LINE',
    'BODY':    'SECRET SIGNATURE',
}
uid_max = 0


def search_string(uid_max, criteria):
    c = list(map(lambda t: (t[0], '"'+str(t[1])+'"'), criteria.items())) + [('UID', '%d:*' % (uid_max+1))]
    return '(%s)' % ' '.join(chain(*c))
    # Produce search string in IMAP format:
    #   e.g. (FROM "[email protected]" SUBJECT "abcde" BODY "123456789" UID 9999:*)


def get_first_text_block(msg):
    type = msg.get_content_maintype()

    if type == 'multipart':
        for part in msg.get_payload():
            if part.get_content_maintype() == 'text':
                return part.get_payload()
    elif type == 'text':
        return msg.get_payload()


server = imaplib.IMAP4_SSL(imap_ssl_host, imap_ssl_port)
server.login(username, password)
server.select('INBOX')

result, data = server.uid('search', None, search_string(uid_max, criteria))

uids = [int(s) for s in data[0].split()]
if uids:
    uid_max = max(uids)
    # Initialize `uid_max`. Any UID less than or equal to `uid_max` will be ignored subsequently.

server.logout()


# Keep checking messages ...
# I don't like using IDLE because Yahoo does not support it.
while 1:
    # Have to login/logout each time because that's the only way to get fresh results.

    server = imaplib.IMAP4_SSL(imap_ssl_host, imap_ssl_port)
    server.login(username, password)
    server.select('INBOX')

    result, data = server.uid('search', None, search_string(uid_max, criteria))

    uids = [int(s) for s in data[0].split()]
    for uid in uids:
        # Have to check again because Gmail sometimes does not obey UID criterion.
        if uid > uid_max:
            result, data = server.uid('fetch', uid, '(RFC822)')  # fetch entire message
            msg = email.message_from_string(data[0][1])
            
            uid_max = uid
        
            text = get_first_text_block(msg)
            print 'New message :::::::::::::::::::::'
            print text

    server.logout()
    time.sleep(1)

Yeah, Can I get The Code For The Third Project, but works in python 3 latest version ? That would be AWESOME !!

Not working for me when i am using it for icloud.com

smtp_ssl_host = 'smtp.mail.me.com'

Sujith-Jayaraj:~$ python sendmail1.py
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "sendmail1.py", line 20, in
server = smtplib.SMTP_SSL(smtp_ssl_host, smtp_ssl_port)
File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/smtplib.py", line 796, in init
SMTP.init(self, host, port, local_hostname, timeout)
File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/smtplib.py", line 256, in init
(code, msg) = self.connect(host, port)
File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/smtplib.py", line 316, in connect
self.sock = self._get_socket(host, port, self.timeout)
File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/smtplib.py", line 801, in _get_socket
new_socket = socket.create_connection((host, port), timeout)
File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/socket.py", line 575, in create_connection
raise err
socket.error: [Errno 60] Operation timed out

please suggest

Hi sujith1919, Apple requires a specific email password for every non-apple email client so, for example, if you have a third-party app on your mac to receive emails then you need to get a specific password from apple for it. Your python program would be the same. This could be the problem. You'll have to do a bit of a web search to find out how to get a 'specific email' password for icloud. Hope this helps you. Cheers PT

Yeah, Can I get The Code For The Third Project, but works in python 3 latest version ? That would be AWESOME !!

Just fix the prints to have brackets, and decode the data:

msg = email.message_from_string(data[0][1].decode("utf-8"))

not working in my machine i used python3

File "send.py", line 16, in
server = smtplib.SMTP_SSL(smtp_ssl_host, smtp_ssl_port)
File "/usr/lib/python3.5/smtplib.py", line 1021, in init
source_address)
File "/usr/lib/python3.5/smtplib.py", line 251, in init
(code, msg) = self.connect(host, port)
File "/usr/lib/python3.5/smtplib.py", line 335, in connect
self.sock = self._get_socket(host, port, self.timeout)
File "/usr/lib/python3.5/smtplib.py", line 1027, in _get_socket
self.source_address)
File "/usr/lib/python3.5/socket.py", line 693, in create_connection
for res in getaddrinfo(host, port, 0, SOCK_STREAM):
File "/usr/lib/python3.5/socket.py", line 732, in getaddrinfo
for res in _socket.getaddrinfo(host, port, family, type, proto, flags):
socket.gaierror: [Errno -3] Temporary failure in name resolution

great work,
using this examples I got most of the job done!
can you help us with an example on how to append the mail I`m replying to the reply ?
another thing hard to find would be moving smtp sent mail to sent folder
thanks again !

How can I do the same for Sendgrid

hi.
adapted to python3 and find undelivered email messages - https://github.com/ibessolitsyn/python_mail_checker/
Hope this will help someone :)

Hi ,
I am unable to execute the code . I am Getting an Credentials Error . Please Can Anyone Suggest Me The Solutions for this??

Thank you very much for the examples! I've used sendtext successfully, but now I'm getting (mail.com):

smtplib.SMTPRecipientsRefused: {'<MAIL-ADDRESS>': (550, b'Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable\nFailure sending mail. Try again later')}

Did anyone else experience this issue?

edit: nevermind, mail.com has a limit of smtp sends per hour and blocked my requests.

Estoy tratando de hacer mi propio script sobre el envío de correo y uso el tuyo como uno de mis ejemplos. Su guión y el mío logran enviar el mensaje de texto, sin embargo, el masaje tarda años en llegar a la bandeja de entrada. A veces ni siquiera lo alcanza. ¿Por qué?

Creo que debes poner esto: time.sleep(0)

Espero haberte ayudado

It doesn't work when I use it for icloud.com. I get indexes of emails with no content.

result, data = mail.fetch(latest_email_id, "(RFC822)")
data [b'1372 ()']

It doesn't work when I use it for icloud.com. I get indexes of emails with no content.

result, data = mail.fetch(latest_email_id, "(RFC822)")
data [b'1372 ()']

---

result, data = server.uid('search', None, search_string(uid_max, criteria))
print(result, data)

OK [None]

I have the same problem with iCloud.com.

When I fetch the email I get the data[0][1] which contains only an integer and can't be decoded by the .message_from_string method.

How do we send an reply email using smtp email. Could you please add a small snippet code example of the same?

Instead of using Gmail, you can use or self-host https://forwardemail.net (coupon code GITHUB for 100% off).

It is completely open-source and privacy-focused (unlike Sendgrid, Postmark, Gmail, Proton Mail, Office 365, and others).

See their GitHub at @forwardemail