Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) - SAVEDATE Extension
RFC 8514

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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                          S. Bosch
Request for Comments: 8514                               Open Xchange Oy
Category: Standards Track                                   January 2019
ISSN: 2070-1721

      Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) - SAVEDATE Extension

Abstract

   This document adds a new capability called "SAVEDATE" to the Internet
   Message Access Protocol (IMAP).  It defines a new IMAP message
   attribute called "save date" that, unlike the existing "internal
   date" attribute, always indicates the moment at which the message was
   saved in its current mailbox.  The SAVEDATE capability extends the
   FETCH command with the means to retrieve the save date attribute and
   extends the SEARCH command to allow using the save date attribute in
   searching criteria.

Status of This Memo

   This is an Internet Standards Track document.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
   Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 7841.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8514.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2019 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Bosch                        Standards Track                    [Page 1]
RFC 8514                IMAP - SAVEDATE Extension           January 2019

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Conventions Used in This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  Save Date Message Attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   4.  IMAP Protocol Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.1.  CAPABILITY Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.2.  FETCH Command and Response Extensions . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.3.  SEARCH Command Extension  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   5.  Formal Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   6.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   7.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   8.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7

1.  Introduction

   This document extends the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)
   [IMAP4rev1] with a new capability called "SAVEDATE".  This capability
   adds a new IMAP message attribute called "save date".  The save date
   is the date and time at which a message was saved in the mailbox in
   which it currently resides.  The save date is similar to the existing
   "internal date" attribute in that it is set at the time of delivery.
   However, the internal date attribute can be set to an arbitrary value
   for messages delivered to the mailbox using the APPEND command and is
   usually copied from the source message for messages delivered using
   the COPY command.  In contrast, the save date attribute is always set
   to the current date and time at the moment the message is saved in
   the mailbox, irrespective of how the message is delivered and from
   where it originates.

   The save date attribute is useful for implementing automated removal
   of messages from a mailbox after a configured amount of time.  For
   that application, it is necessary to know when the message was saved
   in the mailbox, which cannot be reliably determined using the
   internal date attribute.

   For example, a common client usage pattern is to move deleted
   messages to a Trash mailbox.  These messages are considered "deleted"
   at the time they are moved to the Trash mailbox.  In an effort to
   limit the size of the Trash mailbox, a client may subsequently desire
   to permanently remove (expunge) all messages in that Trash mailbox
   deleted before a certain time (e.g., a configurable expiration
   interval).  In that case, the internal date attribute cannot be used
   since it likely refers to the time at which the message was