I’m unable to use email trigger using both hotmail and gmail.
Tried app password, TLS on/off, etc
What is the working IMAP configuration that Bika.ai team recommends for both hotmail and gmail?
Hotmail Tried:
outlook.office365.com
port 993
TLS on
Tried:
imap-mail.outlook.com
port 993
TLS on
Tried gmail:
imap gmail com
port 993
TLS ON
I’m unable to get IMAP setting to work in all of these cases
Please recommend a working configuration
Hi @ck25 , here are a few things to check when using email triggers with Gmail or Hotmail via IMAP:
For Gmail (IMAP):
• Server: imap.gmail.com
• Port: 993
• Encryption: SSL/TLS
• Important: Make sure IMAP is enabled in your Gmail settings: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#settings/fwdandpop
• You must use an App Password (Gmail no longer allows basic auth with standard passwords)
For Hotmail / Outlook (IMAP):
• Server: outlook.office365.com
• Port: 993
• Encryption: SSL/TLS
• Make sure your Hotmail account has IMAP enabled and App Password is used if MFA is enabled.
If you’ve confirmed all the settings above and it’s still not working, please:
• Double-check that App Password is being used (not your regular login password)
• Try turning off your VPN (some services may block IMAP traffic)
• Share a screenshot of your setup (feel free to mask sensitive info)
We’re also actively improving IMAP support. If this is blocking your workflow, let us know your use case so our team can prioritize accordingly 
Re-tried hotmail again. Still doesn’t work.
-I used app password.
-IMAP is turned on
-I’m not using VPN (If anything your servers located outside of USA might be an issue?)
Will retest gmail in an hour.
Gmail is working. I wasn’t using app password. Turned on 2FA and created an app password for gmail. Thanks for pointing out the gmail pre-requisites. If possible do troubleshoot why hotmail is not working. Gmail is good 
on a related step. How do I specify to the IMAP email connector that I want specific emails? Ie based on SUBJECT or DATE?
found my answer:
[ [‘HEADER’, ‘SUBJECT’, ‘my subject string’] ]
@ck25 You can specify filters for the IMAP email connector in Bika.ai using search criteria.
Here are some examples:
• Unread emails only: [‘UNSEEN’]
• Emails with subject containing “node-imap”: [[‘HEADER’, ‘SUBJECT’, ‘node-imap’]]
• Unread emails received after April 20, 2024: [‘UNSEEN’, [‘SINCE’, ‘April 20, 2024’]]
These follow the node-imap format. Thanks for pointing this out — we’ll improve our help docs!
