Fetch message part

The Fetch message part action fetches a single part or attachment from an email message on your IMAP server. Use it to retrieve the content of a specific part, such as an attachment, that you found with the Fetch message action or in the imap_content event data.

This action returns its result in a response variable, which you can use in later steps of the same automation or script.

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 part.
6. Select the Config entry, provide the message UID, and set the Part index.
7. In the Response variable field, enter a name to store the data in, such as message_part.
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_part. Store the result in a response variable so you can use it in later steps:

action: imap.fetch_part
data:
  entry: 91fadb3617c5a3ea692aeb62d92aa869
  uid: "{{ trigger.event.data['uid'] }}"
  part: "1"
response_variable: message_part

This fetches part 1 of the message and stores it in the message_part response variable.

Options in YAML

Response data

The response contains the following fields:

• part_data: The encoded data of the fetched message part.
• content_type: The MIME content type of the part, for example image/jpeg.
• content_transfer_encoding: The encoding of the data in part_data.
• filename: The filename of the part when it is an attachment. This is null when no filename is set.
• uid: The UID of the message.
• part: The part index.

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: Fetches the text body and part metadata of 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.