Fetch message

The Fetch message action fetches the text body of an email message on your IMAP server and returns metadata about the parts inside the message. Unlike the imap_content event, the returned text is not limited in size.

This action returns its result in a response variable, which you can use in later steps of the same automation or script. It is meant to run after an imap_content event, using the entry and the message uid from the event data.

Using this action from the user interface

If you prefer building automations and scripts visually, Home Assistant walks you through this action step by step. You pick what to target, tweak a few options, and save. No YAML knowledge required.

To use this action in an automation or script:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation or script, or select Create to start a new one.
3. If you’re setting up a new automation, add a trigger in the When section. Scripts don’t need a trigger.
4. In the Then do section, select Add action.
5. From the search box, search for and select IMAP: Fetch message.
6. Select the Config entry and provide the message UID.
7. In the Response variable field, enter a name to store the data in, such as message.
8. Select Save.

This action does not support targets. In the UI, you are not prompted to choose an area, device, entity, or label. Instead, you select the IMAP config entry.

Options in the UI

Using this action in YAML

If you work directly in YAML, or you want to know exactly what Home Assistant does under the hood, this section has the technical reference. It lists the field names you use in YAML, their types, and which ones are required.

In YAML, refer to this action as imap.fetch. Store the result in a response variable so you can use it in later steps:

action: imap.fetch
data:
  entry: 91fadb3617c5a3ea692aeb62d92aa869
  uid: "{{ trigger.event.data['uid'] }}"
response_variable: message

This fetches the message from the triggering event and stores it in the message response variable.

Options in YAML

Response data

The response contains the following fields:

• text: The plain text version of the fetched email.
• subject: The subject of the fetched email.
• sender: The sender’s email address.
• uid: The UID of the message.
• parts: A dictionary with metadata about the available parts in a multipart message. Each key is a part index that you can pass to the Fetch message part action. Each part includes its content_type, content_transfer_encoding, and, if set, its filename.

An example of the parts data for a multipart message looks like this:

{
  "0,0": {
    "content_type": "text/plain",
    "content_transfer_encoding": "7bit"
  },
  "0,1": {
    "content_type": "text/html",
    "content_transfer_encoding": "7bit"
  },
  "1": {
    "content_type": "text/plain",
    "filename": "Text attachment content.txt",
    "content_transfer_encoding": "base64"
  }
}

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Open Developer tools > Actions, search for this action, fill in the fields, and select Perform action. You see what happens on your actual entitiesAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more] without writing a line of YAML.

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with the action you’re calling and what you expected to happen, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Related actions

These actions work well alongside this one:

• Fetch message part: Fetches a single part or attachment from an IMAP email message.

• Mark message as seen: Marks an IMAP email message as seen.

• Move message: Moves an IMAP email message to another folder.