Email Source

The Email source connects to a mail server using IMAP or POP3 and polls for new messages on a configurable interval. Message bodies and, optionally, attachments are extracted and passed into the channel pipeline.

This is well suited for workflows where external systems deliver reports, lab results, or documents via email — common in healthcare environments where email remains a primary transport.

Configuration

source:
  type: email
  protocol: imap
  host: mail.hospital.org
  port: 993
  tls: true
  auth:
    username: lab-intake@hospital.org
    password: ${EMAIL_PASSWORD}
  poll_interval: 60s
  folder: INBOX
  filter: "UNSEEN SUBJECT \"Lab Result\""
  read_attachments: true
  delete_after_read: false

Properties

Property	Type	Required	Default	Description
`protocol`	`"imap"` \| `"pop3"`	Yes	—	Mail retrieval protocol.
`host`	`string`	Yes	—	Mail server hostname.
`port`	`int`	No	`993` (IMAP) / `995` (POP3)	Server port. Defaults depend on protocol.
`tls`	`bool`	No	`true`	Enable TLS/SSL for the connection.
`auth`	`object`	Yes	—	Credentials (`username` and `password`).
`poll_interval`	`duration`	No	`60s`	How often to check for new messages.
`folder`	`string`	No	`INBOX`	Mailbox folder to poll. IMAP only.
`filter`	`string`	No	—	IMAP search string to filter messages (e.g. `UNSEEN`, `SUBJECT "Lab"`). IMAP only.
`read_attachments`	`bool`	No	`false`	Extract file attachments and include them in the message payload.
`delete_after_read`	`bool`	No	`false`	Delete messages from the server after successful processing.

Complete Example

An IMAP source that polls for lab result emails and extracts PDF attachments:

id: lab-email-intake
enabled: true
group: laboratory

source:
  type: email
  protocol: imap
  host: mail.hospital.org
  port: 993
  tls: true
  auth:
    username: lab-results@hospital.org
    password: ${LAB_EMAIL_PASSWORD}
  poll_interval: 30s
  folder: INBOX
  filter: "UNSEEN FROM \"analyzer@labcorp.com\""
  read_attachments: true
  delete_after_read: false

transformer: lab-attachment-to-fhir.ts

destinations:
  - ehr_fhir
  - archive