Set Up Email

Connect Snippbot to an email account so agents can read incoming emails (via IMAP) and send replies or new messages (via SMTP). The IMAP tool is part of the built-in scheduler tool suite.

What email enables

With email configured, agents and scheduled jobs can:

• Monitor an inbox and respond to emails automatically
• Parse incoming requests and route them to the right agent
• Send reports, summaries, and alerts via email
• Integrate email-based workflows (approval via reply, etc.)

IMAP configuration

Expand

1. Go to Settings → Profile

2. Enter your IMAP settings in the form fields:

   Field	Example value
   Host	imap.gmail.com
   Port	993
   SSL	Enabled
   Username	your@email.com
   Password	Your app password (see note below)
   Mailbox	INBOX

3. Test the connection — click Test IMAP to verify credentials

4. Save

Note

For Gmail and Outlook, use an App Password instead of your account password. Google: myaccount.google.com/apppasswords. Microsoft: Account security → Advanced security options.

SMTP configuration

1. In Settings → Profile, scroll to SMTP

2. Enter SMTP settings in the form fields:

   Field	Example value
   Host	smtp.gmail.com
   Port	587
   STARTTLS	Enabled
   Username	your@email.com
   Password	Your app password
   From	Snippbot <your@email.com>

3. Click Test SMTP to send a test email to yourself

4. Save

Common provider settings

Provider	IMAP host	IMAP port	SMTP host	SMTP port
Gmail	imap.gmail.com	993	smtp.gmail.com	587
Outlook	outlook.office365.com	993	smtp.office365.com	587
Fastmail	imap.fastmail.com	993	smtp.fastmail.com	587
ProtonMail	127.0.0.1	1143	127.0.0.1	1025
Self-hosted	your-server.com	993	your-server.com	587

Note

ProtonMail requires the ProtonMail Bridge app running locally, which provides a local IMAP/SMTP proxy.

Using the email tool in agent chat

Once configured, agents can read and send email directly:

Example prompt: “Check my inbox for any emails from team@company.com about the Q1 report”

Example prompt: “Send a summary of today’s completed tasks to manager@company.com”

Example prompt: “Reply to the most recent email from support@vendor.com asking for the invoice”

The agent uses the imap_read and smtp_send built-in tools internally.

Email-triggered scheduled jobs

Create a scheduled job on the Schedule page that monitors your inbox. Click New Job and fill in:

Field	Value
Name	Process support emails
Goal	Check inbox for new emails tagged [SUPPORT], triage them, create tasks, and reply with confirmation
Schedule	Interval: every 5 minutes
Delivery	Channel: Slack #support-ops

The job runs every 5 minutes, reads new emails via IMAP, processes them, and delivers a summary to Slack.

Email as a delivery channel

Scheduled jobs can deliver results via email. When creating a job on the Schedule page, set the delivery type to Email and configure the recipient, subject, and format.

Security considerations

• Store credentials using app passwords, not your main account password
• Use SSL/TLS for all connections (port 993 for IMAP, 587+STARTTLS for SMTP)
• Create a dedicated email address for Snippbot (e.g., snippbot@yourcompany.com) for audit trail purposes
• The email credentials are stored in ~/.snippbot/config.toml — restrict file permissions

Troubleshooting

IMAP connection refused

1. Verify IMAP is enabled for your account (Gmail: Settings → See all settings → Forwarding and POP/IMAP → Enable IMAP)
2. Check firewall — port 993 must be outbound-open
3. Verify hostname and port

Authentication failed

1. Use an app password, not your account password
2. For Gmail: 2FA must be enabled to generate app passwords
3. Check the username is the full email address (some servers use just the local part)

Can’t send email (SMTP blocked)

Some ISPs block outbound SMTP on port 25/587. In Settings → Profile → SMTP, change the port to 465 and enable SSL (instead of STARTTLS).