How to do an IMAP search based on "Delivered-To" header (or how to use the gmail imap extension?)

Question

I need to search gmail messages (google apps for work) via imap/php. However, imap_search criterias are not enough to catch the messages in question.

The code I use looks like this:

$imap = imap_open("{imap.gmail.com:993/imap/ssl}Label1/label2", $user_email, $user_passwd);

$msg_list = imap_search($imap, 'TEXT "Delivered-To: username+label@gmail.com"');

imap_close($imap);

The imap_search call didn't return anything.

I did some research, it seems I can filter messages based on "Delivered-To" header field via the gmail search syntax X-GM-RAW, but I just couldn't achieve this, I tried all these calls (and more):

$msg_list = imap_search($imap, 'UID SEARCH X-GM-RAW "deliveredto:username+label@gmail.com"');
$msg_list = imap_search($imap, 'SEARCH X-GM-RAW "deliveredto:username+label@gmail.com"');
$msg_list = imap_search($imap, 'X-GM-RAW "deliveredto:username+label@gmail.com"');

But it didn't work, anyone knows what's wrong with my code?

Perhaps binding it to the `Label1/label2` folder is restricting your search domain so that there aren't any legitimate results? What if you instead used `imap_open('{imap.gmail.com:993/imap/ssl}[Gmail]/All Mail', ...);` — bishop, Oct 01 '14 at 04:39
@JamieNicolson: thanks, but I get a `Unknown search criterion: SEARCH` when I execute `imap_search($imap, 'SEARCH HEADER ...');` — TheDude, Oct 01 '14 at 04:51
The right IMAP syntax for the search arguments is `HEADER DELIVERED-TO "username+label@gmail.com"`. With Gmail you can also do `X-GM-RAW "deliveredto:username+label@gmail.com"`. However, looking over the PHP source and documentation, it appears to use the deprecated "c-client" library to implement search, and that library might not support either of these search terms. Hopefully I'm wrong about that second part. — Jamie Nicolson, Oct 01 '14 at 04:52
It would be `imap_search($imap, 'HEADER...')`. Don't put the word SEARCH in the search criteria. — Jamie Nicolson, Oct 01 '14 at 04:53
@JamieNicolson: Thanks, which PHP version are you talking about (I'm using php 5.4.30) — TheDude, Oct 01 '14 at 04:55
@JamieNicolson `imap_search($imap, 'HEADER...'` doesn't work either :( — TheDude, Oct 01 '14 at 04:55

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:34

OK, either I don't know how to ask questions, SOers are busy, or I'm asking difficult questions.

Anyway, now I know the imap_* functions built-into PHP don't handle direct IMAP commands, so I had to either use the zend framework (too heavy for my needs), or directly connect to imap via sockets.

I chose the second option, the code is as follow (code stolen from here and adapted for my own needs), in case someone needs it:

<?php
// Open a socket
if (!($fp = fsockopen('ssl://imap.gmail.com', 993, $errno, $errstr, 15))) die("Could not connect to host");

// Set timout to 1 second
if (!stream_set_timeout($fp, 1)) die("Could not set timeout");

// Fetch first line of response and echo it
echo fgets($fp);

// =========================================
fwrite($fp, "0001 LOGIN user.name@gmail.com YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE_WITHOUT_QUOTES\r\n");
// ie. fwrite($fp, "0001 LOGIN super.dude@gmail.com pass123\r\n");

// Keep fetching lines until response code is correct
while ($line = trim(fgets($fp)))
{
    echo "Line = [$line]\n";
    $line = preg_split('/\s+/', $line, 0, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY);
    $code = $line[0];

    if (strtoupper($code) == '0001') {
        break;
    }
}
// =========================================

fwrite($fp, "0002 SELECT Inbox\r\n");

// Keep fetching lines until response code is correct
while ($line = trim(fgets($fp)))
{
    echo "Line = [$line]\n";
    $line = preg_split('/\s+/', $line, 0, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY);
    $code = $line[0];

    if (strtoupper($code) == '0002') {
        break;
    }
}
// =========================================

fwrite($fp, "0003 SEARCH X-GM-RAW \"deliveredto:user.name+someLabel@gmail.com\"\r\n");
// Keep fetching lines until response code is correct
while ($line = fgets($fp))
{
    echo "Line = [$line]\n";
    $line = preg_split('/\s+/', $line, 0, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY);
    $code = $line[0];

    if (strtoupper($code) == '0003') {
        break;
    }
}

fclose($fp);
echo "I've finished!";
?>

Voila! Just copy and paste and now you have access to the gmail syntax right from PHP! (Hey vote if you like :p)

How to do an IMAP search based on "Delivered-To" header (or how to use the gmail imap extension?)

1 Answers1