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Re: [37226] Imap Sent Mails

by
InitOS GmbH, Frederik Kramer
- 07/02/2025 10:43:47

Hi Michael,

thank you. That is a pretty good summary of the technical options to solve the "sent mail / IMAP" problem. I consider the "Odoo Module" option 3) the best because. Basically that is also what Sergio proposed in his old 8.0 PR just some minutes ago. However, all in all this is just one of the problems using Odoo for E-Mail. 

Best and have a nice weekend

Frederik

Am 07.02.25 um 10:37 schrieb Michel Stroom:
Hi Frederik,

Indeed, Odoo’s mail sending mechanism does not support IMAP's "Append" command, which is typically used to store outgoing messages in an IMAP folder.
Odoo does not store sent emails in an IMAP folder by default because it acts as an SMTP sender, not a full-fledged email client. 

Odoo's Sent Emails Exist Only in the technical Mail Queue (Backend):
  • Odoo logs sent emails in its internal database (mail.mail model).
  • These emails can be viewed within Odoo under Messaging > Emails or inside records like Sales Orders, Invoices, and Support Tickets.
  • However, these emails are not stored in an external IMAP mail folder.

No Configurable IMAP Folder for Sent Emails:

  • Traditional email clients (e.g., Thunderbird, Outlook) allow users to specify an IMAP folder where sent emails should be saved.
  • Odoo does not provide an option to configure an external IMAP folder for storing sent messages.

WORKAROUNDs
Since Odoo does not natively store sent mail in IMAP, we can consider these alternatives:
  1. Use an SMTP Server That Automatically Copies Sent Mail to IMAP ("Sent" Folder)

    • Some SMTP providers (e.g., Gmail, Office 365) automatically store a copy of outgoing emails in the "Sent" folder when sending via SMTP.
    • If using Postfix, you can configure it to BCC outgoing emails to an IMAP mailbox.

    Postfix Example (Adding BCC for Sent Emails):
    sudo nano /etc/postfix/main.cf
    Add:  sender_bcc_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/bcc_map

    Create the BCC mapping file: 
    sudo nano /etc/postfix/bcc_map
    Add: @yourdomain.com archive@yourdomain.com

    Apply changes:
    sudo postmap /etc/postfix/bcc_map
    sudo systemctl restart postfix

  2. Use Odoo's "Aliases" Feature to Auto-Forward Sent Emails to an IMAP Folder

    • You can create an email alias in Odoo to automatically forward sent emails to a dedicated IMAP folder.
    • This workaround requires configuring mail forwarding on the SMTP server.
  3. Custom Odoo Module to Append Emails to IMAP "Sent" Folder

    • A custom Odoo module could be developed to use IMAP's APPEND command to store outgoing messages in a specified folder.


Test the above workarounds and share the knowledge.

Let me know if you, or somebody else, like to receive the workaround for Microsoft Exchange example.



Best regards,


Michel Stroom
-- 

Office Everywhere
Business Partner Odoo

t: +31 6 53360677
e: mstroom@office-everywhere.com
w: Office-Everywhere.com

LinkedIn profile: https://linkedin.com/in/stroom



On 6 Feb 2025, at 11:53, Frederik Kramer <notifications@odoo-community.org> wrote:

Dear OCA,

talking to a lead about Sales and Distribution, we again (as many times 
in the past) again came across Odoos somewhat weired way to reinterpret 
/ resuse traditional E-Mail flows (what we all know, use, and are 
familiar with by using Imap-Servers / Exchange and some form of E-Mail 
clients (Outlook / Thunderbird). One of the weird things (among many) is 
that Odoo (apart from the technical sent mail queue) doesn't make us of 
the features (store sent mail in an IMAP Folder) as it sents Mail 
through SMTP but not implements the traditional functionality of an 
E-Mail client to allow storing such mail in an configurable Imap Folder. 
By searching a solution for that i came across a 3rd party module

https://apps.odoo.com/apps/modules/14.0/base_store_sent_emails

I thought to myself that we are certainly not the only ones who have 
this issue. So my question is. Is it really such an exotic feature that 
nobody in the OCA ever even ideated on such a functionality or is it 
worthless (i am simply to conservative to change my mind). Or even 
better does some publicly available concept, module, code exist that i 
am just not aware of ?

Any thoughts, ideas on that

Best and thanks for any reply upfront

Frederik


-- 
Dr.-Ing. Frederik Kramer
Geschäftsführer

initOS GmbH
Innungsstraße 7
21244 Buchholz i.d.N.

Tel:   +49 (0) 4181 13503 12
Fax:   +49 (0) 4181 13503 10
Mobil: +49 (0) 179 3901819

Email: frederik.kramer@initos.com
Internet: www.initos.com

Geschäftsführung:
Dr.-Ing. Frederik Kramer & Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Torsten Francke

Sitz der Gesellschaft: Buchholz i.d.N.
Amtsgericht Tostedt, HRB 205226
USt-IdNr.: DE815580155
Steuer-Nr: 15/200/53247

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Mailing-List: https://odoo-community.org/groups/contributors-15
Post to: mailto:contributors@odoo-community.org
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-- 
Dr.-Ing. Frederik Kramer
Geschäftsführer

initOS GmbH
Innungsstraße 7
21244 Buchholz i.d.N.

Tel:   +49 (0) 4181 13503 12
Fax:   +49 (0) 4181 13503 10
Mobil: +49 (0) 179 3901819

Email: frederik.kramer@initos.com
Internet: www.initos.com

Geschäftsführung:
Dr.-Ing. Frederik Kramer & Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Torsten Francke

Sitz der Gesellschaft: Buchholz i.d.N.
Amtsgericht Tostedt, HRB 205226
USt-IdNr.: DE815580155
Steuer-Nr: 15/200/53247

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