Email (IMAP and SMTP) setup guide

Building blocks: send and receive requests, read the web and other everyday tools.

Ways to connect

Company admins connect apps, on the Integrations page in Everdeck: open Email (IMAP and SMTP), choose one of the ways below, follow its steps and fill in its fields. Everdeck checks what you enter before it saves anything, and asks you to confirm it’s you (your second factor) before you type any secret. How connecting works.

Email (IMAP and SMTP) can be connected 2 ways.

Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, Zoho or Fastmail (app password)

Username and password.

1. Create an app password for the mailbox the agent should use (a dedicated mailbox keeps its work easy to spot): - Gmail: turn on 2-Step Verification, then open https://myaccount.google.com/apppasswords. The option can be missing for accounts that use only security keys or Advanced Protection and for work or school accounts: use the Gmail connector instead. - iCloud: sign in at https://account.apple.com, open Sign-In and Security > App-Specific Passwords and generate one (two-factor authentication must be on). - Yahoo: on your Yahoo Account Security page, under External connections, click Create app password. - Zoho: in Zoho Mail, turn on IMAP Access under Settings > Mail Accounts (Zoho doesn't offer IMAP to newly signed-up Free plan users; organisation admins can also turn it off). With two-factor authentication on, create an application-specific password. - Fastmail: Settings > Privacy & Security > Connected apps & API tokens > Manage app passwords and access > New app password, keeping the default access (Mail, Contacts & Calendars).
2. Pick the provider, enter the email address and paste the app password.
3. Click Connect. We sign in to IMAP and SMTP to check the password; nothing is sent.

Field	What to enter
Email provider (optional)	Choice: Gmail or Google Workspace, iCloud Mail, Yahoo Mail, Zoho Mail (zohomail.com address or free organisation plan), Zoho Mail (paid plan with your own domain), Fastmail. Starts as gmail.
Email address	Email address.
App password	A secret: Everdeck saves it encrypted and never shows it again. An app password, not the account's normal password. The steps below say where to make one.
Sign-in name (only if it isn't the email address) (optional)	Text.
Sender name (optional)	Text. For example Ava at Acme.

Disconnecting deletes the credentials Everdeck saved, but Everdeck can't revoke them: the key, token or password itself keeps working at your email provider until you delete or rotate it there.

Another mail server (IMAP and SMTP settings)

Username and password.

1. Find your provider's IMAP and SMTP settings (server names, ports and encryption). Ports 993 (IMAP) and 465 or 587 (SMTP) are the usual ones; plain-text connections and port 25 aren't supported.
2. Use an app password if the provider offers them.
3. Microsoft 365 and Outlook.com mailboxes don't accept passwords over IMAP: use the Outlook Mail connector for those.

Field	What to enter
Email address	Email address.
Password or app password	A secret: Everdeck saves it encrypted and never shows it again.
Sign-in name (only if it isn't the email address) (optional)	Text.
IMAP server	Text. For example imap.example.com.
IMAP port (optional)	Number. Starts as 993.
IMAP encryption (optional)	Choice: SSL/TLS (usually port 993), STARTTLS (usually port 143). Starts as ssl.
SMTP server	Text. For example smtp.example.com.
SMTP port (optional)	Number. Starts as 465.
SMTP encryption (optional)	Choice: SSL/TLS (usually port 465), STARTTLS (usually port 587). Starts as ssl.
SMTP sign-in name (only if different) (optional)	Text.
SMTP password (only if different) (optional)	A secret: Everdeck saves it encrypted and never shows it again.
Copy sent mail to the Sent folder (optional)	Choice: Yes (most servers), No, the server files sent mail itself. Starts as append.
Sender name (optional)	Text.

Disconnecting deletes the credentials Everdeck saved, but Everdeck can't revoke them: the key, token or password itself keeps working at your email provider until you delete or rotate it there.

What agents can do

An agent uses an action only when its charter grants it, on the agent’s Tools tab, where you choose whether each one runs by itself (Auto), asks first or never runs. Each action has a risk tier: tier 3 actions, which customers or the public see, ask first unless you choose otherwise, and tier 4 actions (money, deleting things, access) always need a person. How tools and tiers work.

Actions marked Reads outside content return things people outside your company may have written. Agents treat what they read as information, never as instructions, and their riskier actions later in the same session need approval.

• List foldersTier 0 · ReadReads outside contentimap_smtp_list_folders

  List the mailbox's folders with their special use (inbox, sent, drafts, archive, trash, junk) and, if asked, message and unread counts.

• Search emailTier 0 · ReadReads outside contentimap_smtp_search_messages

  Find messages in a folder (INBOX unless given), newest first. Filter by sender, recipient, subject, words, date range, unread or flagged. Returns each message's uid, from, to, subject, date, flags, size, an attachment marker and a short snippet. On Gmail, gmail_query takes Gmail search syntax instead.

• Read an emailTier 0 · ReadReads outside contentimap_smtp_get_message

  Read one message without marking it read: from, to, cc, reply-to, subject, date and message id, the plain-text body (HTML converted to text when there is no text part) and the attachment list (part, filename, type, size).

• Download an attachmentTier 0 · ReadReads outside contentimap_smtp_get_attachment

  Save one attachment of a message to the company's files and return the file reference.

• Send an emailTier 3 · ExternalReads outside contentimap_smtp_send_message

  Send a new email from the connected address and keep a copy in Sent. The body is plain text; add html_body for formatted mail. Attachments are files from the company's files.

• Reply to an emailTier 3 · ExternalReads outside contentimap_smtp_reply_to_message

  Reply in the same conversation. Goes to Reply-To (or From); with reply_all, also to the other To and Cc recipients. Subject and threading headers are set automatically and the original is marked answered.

• Forward an emailTier 3 · ExternalReads outside contentimap_smtp_forward_message

  Forward a message to new recipients with an optional note above it, including its attachments unless include_attachments is false.

• Draft an emailTier 2 · ReversibleReads outside contentimap_smtp_create_draft

  Save a draft in the Drafts folder for a person to review and send. Set reply_to_uid to draft a reply to that message; otherwise to and subject are needed.

• Mark read, unread or flaggedTier 2 · ReversibleReads outside contentimap_smtp_mark_messages

  Mark messages read or unread, and flag or unflag them.

• Move or archive emailTier 2 · ReversibleReads outside contentimap_smtp_move_messages

  Move messages to another folder: archive them, file them, or mark them as junk. Moving to trash is not allowed.

What can start work

These events from your email provider can become tasks for your agents through Intake. How Intake works.

A new email arrived in the watched folder (INBOX unless you choose another).

Connect Email (IMAP and SMTP) first. Then, on the Intake page, open Webhooks and sources, find it under Connector triggers and select Start watching. Then, on the Rules tab, select New rule to say which requests become tasks and who gets them.

Testing, problems and disconnecting

Everdeck checks the connection when you save it. On the connection’s page in Integrations, Test checks it again at any time.

If your email provider later refuses the connection, for example because a key was deleted or a sign-in expired, the connection shows Needs attention on the Integrations page and the people who manage connections are told. Agents can’t use it until a company admin fixes it with Edit.

To stop agents using Email (IMAP and SMTP), open the connection and select Disconnect. Agents stop using it at once and its saved credentials are deleted. What else happens depends on how it was connected: each way above says.