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6.3.3 EXAMINE Command

Arguments: mailbox name

Responses:

  • REQUIRED untagged responses: FLAGS, EXISTS, LIST
  • REQUIRED OK untagged responses: PERMANENTFLAGS, UIDNEXT, UIDVALIDITY

Result:

  • OK - examine completed, now in selected state
  • NO - examine failure, now in authenticated state: no such mailbox, can't access mailbox
  • BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid

The EXAMINE command is identical to SELECT and returns the same output; however, the selected mailbox is identified as read-only. No changes to the permanent state of the mailbox, including per-user state, are permitted.

The text of the tagged OK response to the EXAMINE command MUST begin with the "[READ-ONLY]" response code.

Example:

C: A932 EXAMINE blurdybloop
S: * 17 EXISTS
S: * OK [UIDVALIDITY 3857529045] UIDs valid
S: * OK [UIDNEXT 4392] Predicted next UID
S: * LIST () "/" blurdybloop
S: * FLAGS (\Answered \Flagged \Deleted \Seen \Draft)
S: * OK [PERMANENTFLAGS ()] No permanent flags permitted
S: A932 OK [READ-ONLY] EXAMINE completed
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