messages

The messages API first appeared in Thunderbird 66.

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

• messagesMove “Move, copy, or delete your email messages”
• messagesRead “Read your email messages and mark or tag them”

Note

The permission messagesRead is required to use messages.

Functions

list(folder)

Gets all messages in a folder.

• folder (MailFolder)

Returns a Promise fulfilled with:

• MessageList

continueList(messageListId)

Returns the next chunk of messages in a list. See Working with Message Lists for more information.

• messageListId (string)

Returns a Promise fulfilled with:

• MessageList

get(messageId)

Returns a specified message.

• messageId (integer)

Returns a Promise fulfilled with:

• MessageHeader

getFull(messageId)

Returns a specified message, including all headers and MIME parts.

• messageId (integer)

Returns a Promise fulfilled with:

• MessagePart

getRaw(messageId)

Added in Thunderbird 72

Returns the unmodified source of a message.

• messageId (integer)

Returns a Promise fulfilled with:

• string

query(queryInfo)

Added in Thunderbird 69, backported to 68.2

Gets all messages that have the specified properties, or all messages if no properties are specified.

• queryInfo (object)
  • [author] (string) Returns only messages with this value matching the author.
  • [body] (string) Returns only messages with this value in the body of the mail.
  • [flagged] (boolean) Returns only flagged (or unflagged if false) messages.
  • [folder] (MailFolder) Returns only messages from the specified folder.
  • [fromDate] (Date) Returns only messages with a date after this value.
  • [fromMe] (boolean) Returns only messages with the author matching any configured identity.
  • [fullText] (string) Returns only messages with this value somewhere in the mail (subject, body or author).
  • [recipients] (string) Returns only messages with this value matching one or more recipients.
  • [subject] (string) Returns only messages with this value matching the subject.
  • [tags] (TagsDetail) Returns only messages with the specified tags. For a list of available tags, call the listTags method. Querying for messages that must not have a tag does not work. Added in Thunderbird 74
  • [toDate] (Date) Returns only messages with a date before this value.
  • [toMe] (boolean) Returns only messages with one or more recipients matching any configured identity.
  • [unread] (boolean) Returns only unread (or read if false) messages.

Returns a Promise fulfilled with:

• MessageList

update(messageId, newProperties)

Marks or unmarks a message as read, flagged, or tagged.

• messageId (integer)
• newProperties (object)
  • [flagged] (boolean) Marks the message as flagged or unflagged.
  • [junk] (boolean) Marks the message as junk or not junk. Added in Thunderbird 73
  • [read] (boolean) Marks the message as read or unread.
  • [tags] (array of string) Sets the tags on the message. For a list of available tags, call the listTags method.

move(messageIds, destination)

Moves messages to a specified folder.

• messageIds (array of integer) The IDs of the messages to move.
• destination (MailFolder) The folder to move the messages to.

Note

The permission messagesMove is required to use move.

copy(messageIds, destination)

Copies messages to a specified folder.

• messageIds (array of integer) The IDs of the messages to copy.
• destination (MailFolder) The folder to copy the messages to.

Note

The permission messagesMove is required to use copy.

delete(messageIds, [skipTrash])

Deletes messages, or moves them to the trash folder.

• messageIds (array of integer) The IDs of the messages to delete.
• [skipTrash] (boolean) If true, the message will be permanently deleted without warning the user. If false or not specified, it will be moved to the trash folder.

Note

The permission messagesMove is required to use delete.

archive(messageIds)

Archives messages using the current settings.

• messageIds (array of integer) The IDs of the messages to archive.

Note

The permission messagesMove is required to use archive.

listTags()

Returns a list of tags that can be set on messages, and their human-friendly name, colour, and sort order.

Returns a Promise fulfilled with:

• array of MessageTag

Events

onNewMailReceived(folder, messages)

Added in Thunderbird 75

Fired when a new message is received, and has been through junk classification and message filters.

• folder (MailFolder)
• messages (MessageList)

Note

The permission accountsRead is required to use onNewMailReceived.

Types

MessageHeader

object

• author (string)
• bccList (array of string)
• ccList (array of string)
• date (date)
• flagged (boolean)
• folder (MailFolder) The accountsRead permission is required.
• id (integer)
• junk (boolean) Added in Thunderbird 74
• junkScore (integer) Added in Thunderbird 74
• read (boolean)
• recipients (array of string)
• subject (string)
• tags (array of string)

MessageList

See Working with Message Lists for more information.

object

• id (string)
• messages (array of MessageHeader)

MessagePart

Represents an email message “part”, which could be the whole message

object

• [body] (string) The content of the part
• [contentType] (string)
• [headers] (object) An object of part headers, with the header name as key, and an array of header values as value
• [name] (string) Name of the part, if it is a file
• [partName] (string)
• [parts] (array of MessagePart) Any sub-parts of this part
• [size] (integer)

MessageTag

object

• color (string) Tag color
• key (string) Distinct tag identifier – use this string when referring to a tag
• ordinal (string) Custom sort string (usually empty)
• tag (string) Human-readable tag name

TagsDetail

Used for filtering messages by tag in various methods. Note that functions using this type may have a partial implementation.

object

• mode (string) Whether all of the tag filters must apply, or any of them.
• tags (object) Object keys are tags to filter on, values are true if the message must have the tag, or false if it must not have the tag. For a list of available tags, call the listTags() method.

Values for mode:

• all
• any