Re: IMAP <-> nmh syncing

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On Sat, 7 Mar 2026, Michael Richardson wrote:

>
> Eduardo Alvarez <[email protected]> wrote:
>    > However, as time has passed, I've found myself needing to have access
>    > to my messages remotely, which means the previous solution is no longer
>    > viable. I was hoping to find some mechanism by which I can sync my IMAP
>    > mailboxes with local nmh mailboxes. I've seen applications like
>    > offilineimap and mbsync, but they work only on Maildir folders. If I
>    > could, ideally, use my procmail recipes into this workflow, it would be
>    > ideal.
>
> It's unfortunately, a FAQ, and the situation is still not great, and hasn't
> changed.  It's not something we can do.   I want it too, exactly for the
> reasons you say.

I found this ancient discussion very interesting:

https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mail.mh/c/Qw-ULpfzgew/m/mXb3nhSYfzgJ
Sep 11, 1996 from Ken Yap [Q] Is IMAP being put into next version of MH?

The same mont we have an attempt to rewrite mh completely into fmh:

https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mail.mh/c/t3OmUcgjC7w/m/vPMDwSmGYVAJ
Sep 25, 1996 from Tim Showalter fmg: an IMAP mh
(this is mentioned in the MH FAQ).

> If I had time, today I'd ffi-wrap libmh for Rust or GO. I think that there
> are some newer IMAP server implementations in these nicer langauges.

I wonder if c-client library from UW IMAP project - now
being kind of maintained by Eduardo Chappa at https://repo.or.cz/alpine.git
could be the replacement of "libmh".  It does have some (probably limited)
support for mh folders, but this should give the IMAP server access to
the mailboxes, enough to delivery the smartphone notification.

Writing an mh client utilties with such a library means probably a total nmh
rewrite (with functionality loss), but maybe a shared access to the same set of folders
both by nmh and the imapd could be a half-step solution to this problem.

Marcin
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