IMAP Extension for unique identifiers
draft-gondwana-imap-uniqueid-00
The information below is for an old version of the document.
| Document | Type |
This is an older version of an Internet-Draft whose latest revision state is "Replaced".
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|---|---|---|---|
| Author | Bron Gondwana | ||
| Last updated | 2018-03-19 | ||
| Replaced by | draft-extra-imap-uniqueid | ||
| RFC stream | (None) | ||
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| Stream | Stream state | (No stream defined) | |
| Consensus boilerplate | Unknown | ||
| RFC Editor Note | (None) | ||
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draft-gondwana-imap-uniqueid-00
EXTRA B. Gondwana, Ed.
Internet-Draft FastMail
Intended status: Standards Track March 19, 2018
Expires: September 20, 2018
IMAP Extension for unique identifiers
draft-gondwana-imap-uniqueid-00
Abstract
This document adds new properties to IMAP mailboxes and messages to
allow clients to more efficiently re-use cached data for resources
which have changed location on the server.
Status of This Memo
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
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This Internet-Draft will expire on September 20, 2018.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2018 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Conventions Used In This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3. CAPABILITY Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. STATUS Command and Response Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . 3
5. FETCH Command and Response Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
6. SEARCH Command Extension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
7. Implementation considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
8. Future considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
9. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
10. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
11. Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
12. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1. Introduction
IMAP stores are often used by many clients, which each cache
information locally about the server state so that they don't need to
download anything again. [RFC3501] defines that a mailbox can be
uniquely referenced by its name and UIDVALIDITY, and a message within
that mailbox can be uniquely referenced by its mailbox (name +
UIDVALIDITY) and UID.
Further, [RFC4315] defines a COPYUID response which allows a client
which copies messages between folders to know the mapping between the
UIDs in the source and destination mailboxes, and hence update its
local cache.
So a client which copies (or [RFC6851] moves) messages or renames
folders can update its local cache, but any other client connected to
the same store can not know with certainty that the messages are
identical, and so will re-download everything.
This extension adds new properties to a message (MSGID) and mailbox
(UNIQUEID) which allow a client to quickly identify messages or
mailboxes which have been renamed by another client.
This extension also adds an optional thread identifier (THRID) to
messages, which can be used by the server to indicate messages which
it has identified to be related.
2. Conventions Used In This Document
In examples, "C:" indicates lines sent by a client that is connected
to a server. "S:" indicates lines sent by the server to the client.
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The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119] when they
appear in ALL CAPS. These words may also appear in this document in
lower case as plain English words, absent their normative meanings.
3. CAPABILITY Identification
IMAP servers that support this extension MUST include "UNIQUEID" in
the response list to the CAPABILITY command.
4. STATUS Command and Response Extensions
This extension defines one new status data item for the STATUS
command and response:
UNIQUEID A unique identifier for the mailbox. This identifier SHOULD
be retained when the mailbox is renamed. This identifer MUST NOT be
identical if the mailbox does not meet the invarients for a mailbox
with the same name and uidvalidity as a mailbox previously reported
to have this UIDVALIDITY. A server MUST NOT return two mailboxes
with the same UNIQUEID.
The value of the UNIQUEID is an opaque string of 1..255 bytes in
length. The UNIQUEID is server assigned and read-only.
The server MAY choose to create a UNIQUEID value in a way that does
not survive RENAME, (e.g. a digest of mailboxname + uidvalidity could
be used as a "UNIQUEID" and it would be legal, though of course
clients would not get the full benefits of this extension from such a
server).
Example:
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C: 3 create foo
S: 3 OK Completed
C: 4 create bar
S: 4 OK Completed
C: 5 status foo (uniqueid uidvalidity)
S: * STATUS foo (UIDVALIDITY 1521472287 UNIQUEID 7uijf0bg4yeo51a7)
S: 5 OK Completed
C: 6 status bar (uniqueid uidvalidity)
S: * STATUS bar (UIDVALIDITY 1521472288 UNIQUEID u8vhi0uy16v5k99p)
S: 6 OK Completed
C: 7 rename foo renamed
S: * OK rename foo renamed
S: 7 OK Completed
C: 8 status renamed (uniqueid uidvalidity)
S: * STATUS renamed (UIDVALIDITY 1521472287 UNIQUEID 7uijf0bg4yeo51a7)
S: 8 OK Completed
C: 9 status bar (uniqueid uidvalidity)
S: * STATUS bar (UIDVALIDITY 1521472288 UNIQUEID u8vhi0uy16v5k99p)
S: 9 OK Completed
When the LIST-STATUS IMAP capability [RFC5819] is also available, the
STATUS command can be combined with the LIST command to further
improve efficiency. This way, the unique ids of many mailboxes can
be queried with just one LIST command.
5. FETCH Command and Response Extensions
This extension defines two additional FETCH items on messages:
MSGID A server allocated opaque string value (1..255 bytes) which
uniquely identifies the content of a single message. That is the
exact bytes of the RFC822 FETCH item. The server MUST NOT return the
same MSGID for two different sets of bytes. The server SHOULD return
the same MSGID for the same set of bytes.
The server SHOULD retain the same INTERNALDATE for messages with
the same MSGID.
THRID A server allocated opaque string value (1..255 bytes) which is
the same for messages which the server has, with its own algorithm,
decided are "related" in some way. This is generally based on some
combination of References, In-Reply-To and Subject but the exact
logic is left up to the server implementation. If the mailbox does
not support THRID, it will return NIL for fetch.
THRID MUST NOT change if MSGID is the same.
Example:
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C: 5 append inbox "20-Mar-2018 03:07:37 +1100" {733}
[...]
Subject: Message A
Message-ID: <fake.1521475657.54797@hotmail.com>
[...]
S: 5 OK [APPENDUID 1521475658 1] Completed
C: 11 append inbox "20-Mar-2018 03:07:37 +1100" {793}
[...]
Subject: Re: Message A
Message-ID: <fake.1521475657.21213@gmail.com>
References: <fake.1521475657.54797@hotmail.com>
[...]
S: 11 OK [APPENDUID 1521475658 2] Completed
C: 17 append inbox "20-Mar-2018 03:07:37 +1100" {736}
[...]
Subject: Message C
Message-ID: <fake.1521475657.60280@hotmail.com>
[...]
S: 17 OK [APPENDUID 1521475658 3] Completed
C: 22 fetch 1:* (msgid thrid)
S: * 1 FETCH (MSGID Md8976d99ac3275bb4e918af4 THRID T4964b478a75b7ea9)
S: * 2 FETCH (MSGID Mdd3c288836c4c7a762b2d2b9 THRID T4964b478a75b7ea9)
S: * 3 FETCH (MSGID Mf2e25fdc09b49ea703b05cef THRID T6311863d02dd95b5)
S: 22 OK Completed (0.000 sec)
C: 23 move 2 foo
S: * OK [COPYUID 1521475659 2 1] Completed
S: * 2 EXPUNGE
S: 23 OK Completed
C: 24 fetch 1:* (msgid thrid)
S: * 1 FETCH (MSGID Md8976d99ac3275bb4e918af4 THRID T4964b478a75b7ea9)
S: * 2 FETCH (MSGID Mf2e25fdc09b49ea703b05cef THRID T6311863d02dd95b5)
S: 24 OK Completed (0.000 sec)
C: 25 select "foo"
C: 25 select "foo"
[...]
S: 25 OK [READ-WRITE] Completed
C: 26 fetch 1:* (msgid thrid)
: * 1 FETCH (MSGID Mdd3c288836c4c7a762b2d2b9 THRID T4964b478a75b7ea9)
S: 26 OK Completed (0.000 sec)
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6. SEARCH Command Extension
This extension defines two new search keys for the SEARCH command:
MSGID blob Messages with the exactly matching MSGID (bytes, does not
depend on charset, case IS significant)
THRID blob Messages with the exactly matching THRID (bytes, does not
depend on charset, case IS significant)
Example: (as if run before the MOVE above when the mailbox had 3
messages)
C: 27 search msgid Md8976d99ac3275bb4e918af4
S: * SEARCH 1
S: 27 OK Completed (1 msgs in 0.000 secs)
C: 28 search thrid T4964b478a75b7ea9
S: * SEARCH 1 2
S: 28 OK Completed (2 msgs in 0.000 secs)
7. Implementation considerations
The case of RENAME INBOX may need special handling for unique ids.
It is OK to change the uniqueid on a folder RENAME, but you MUST NOT
ever re-use a UNIQUEID which has been shown to a client.
It is advisable (though not required) to have UNIQUEID be globally
unique, but they it is only required to be unique within a single
server.
If you have unique IDs larger than 255 bytes in a data store, it is
safe to use a cryptograhically strong hash to convert your IDs into a
UNIQUEID value to display for this extension. It may be worth
caching that value, as STATUS UNIQUEID is expected to be cheap for
the server to calculate.
Ideas for implementing MSGID:
o Digest of (MailboxName/UIDVALIDITY/UID) - is not kept when moving
messages, but is guarantee unique.
o Digest of message content (RFC822 bytes) - expensive unless cached
o ID allocated at creation time - very efficient but requires
storage of an additional value.
Ideas for implementing THRID:
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o Derive from MSGID of first seen message in the thread.
o ID allocated at creation time.
There is a need to index and look up reference/in-reply-to data
efficiently at message creation to efficiently find matching messages
for threading. Threading may be either across folders, or within
each folder only. The server has significant leeway here.
8. Future considerations
This extension is intentionally defined to be compatible with the
data model in JMAP. (XXX: ref)
A future extension could be proposed to give a way to SELECT a
mailbox by uniqueid rather than name.
An extension to allow fetching message content directly via MSGID and
fetch message listing by THRID could be proposed.
9. IANA Considerations
The IANA is requested to add "UNIQUEID" to the "IMAP Capabilities"
registry located at <http://www.iana.org/assignments/imap-
capabilities>.
10. Security Considerations
If globally unique identifiers are used as UNIQUIDs on IMAP folders,
then it may be possible to tell when an account or folder has been
renamed, even if all the mail has been deleted, if the folders
themselves are retained.
11. Acknowledgments
The EXTRA working group at IETF.
The gmail team's X-GM-THRID and X-GM-MSGID implementation.
12. Normative References
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.
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[RFC3501] Crispin, M., "INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL - VERSION
4rev1", RFC 3501, DOI 10.17487/RFC3501, March 2003,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3501>.
[RFC4315] Crispin, M., "Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) -
UIDPLUS extension", RFC 4315, DOI 10.17487/RFC4315,
December 2005, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4315>.
[RFC5819] Melnikov, A. and T. Sirainen, "IMAP4 Extension for
Returning STATUS Information in Extended LIST", RFC 5819,
DOI 10.17487/RFC5819, March 2010,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5819>.
[RFC6851] Gulbrandsen, A. and N. Freed, Ed., "Internet Message
Access Protocol (IMAP) - MOVE Extension", RFC 6851,
DOI 10.17487/RFC6851, January 2013,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6851>.
Author's Address
Bron Gondwana (editor)
FastMail
Level 2, 114 William St
Melbourne VIC 3000
Australia
Email: brong@fastmailteam.com
URI: https://www.fastmail.com
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