README

A modular Laravel package for sending, receiving, and managing emails using IMAP and SMTP — with database storage, duplicate prevention, incremental UID-based fetching, API endpoints, and an optional dashboard UI.

✨ Features

🧰 Prerequisites

Ensure the following are installed before getting started:

• PHP ≥ 8.1
• Composer — https://getcomposer.org/download/
• XAMPP (Apache + MySQL) — https://www.apachefriends.org/
• Git — https://git-scm.com/

🚀 Installation & Setup

Step 1 — Create Laravel Application

composer create-project laravel/laravel email-channel-app
cd email-channel-app

Step 2 — Install the Package

composer require arkadip/email-channel

⚠️ If testing locally before publishing to Packagist, add a repositories entry in your composer.json pointing to the local path.

Step 3 — Setup Database (XAMPP + phpMyAdmin)

1. Start XAMPP — enable both Apache and MySQL
2. Open phpMyAdmin at http://localhost/phpmyadmin
3. Create a new database named:

email_channel_db

Step 4 — Configure .env

Open email-channel-app/.env and set the following:

🗄️ Database

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=email_channel_db
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=

📥 IMAP — Incoming Emails

IMAP_HOST=imap.gmail.com
IMAP_PORT=993
IMAP_ENCRYPTION=ssl
IMAP_USERNAME=your-email@gmail.com
IMAP_PASSWORD=your-app-password

⚠️ Use an App Password, not your Gmail account password.
Don't forget to enable IMAP in Gmail Settings → See all settings → Forwarding and POP/IMAP.

📤 SMTP — Sending Emails

MAIL_MAILER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
MAIL_PORT=587
MAIL_USERNAME=your-email@gmail.com
MAIL_PASSWORD=your-app-password
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=tls
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS=your-email@gmail.com
MAIL_FROM_NAME="Email Channel"

Step 5 — Run Migrations

php artisan migrate

This creates the following tables:

• messages
• message_metas

Step 6 — Setup Scheduler (Auto Fetch)

Open bootstrap/app.php and add the following before ->create():

->withSchedule(function ($schedule) {
    $schedule->call(function () {
        app(\Arkadip\EmailChannel\Services\ImapService::class)->fetchEmails();
    })->everyTenSeconds(); // near real-time fetching
})

Then start the scheduler:

php artisan schedule:work

Step 7 — Setup Routes

Open routes/web.php and add:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

Route::get('/', function () {
    return view('email-channel::dashboard');
});

Step 8 — Run the Application

php artisan serve

Visit: http://127.0.0.1:8000/email-dashboard

🎯 Testing Features

📦 API Endpoints

🧠 Key Concepts

🔁 Incremental Fetch (UID-based)

Rather than re-fetching all emails on every run:

• ✔ Only new emails are fetched
• ✔ Uses UID tracking to resume from last position
• ✔ Efficient and scalable for production use

🔐 Security Best Practices

• Never expose your .env file
• Always use App Passwords for Gmail
• Do not commit credentials to version control

⚠️ Common Issues

composer dump-autoload
composer update

php artisan schedule:work

🗒️ Notes

• Package is auto-discovered by Laravel — no manual provider registration needed
• Views are optional and fully customizable
• Scheduler is controlled entirely by the host application

✅ Final Result

A fully working email system with Laravel package integration, real-time email fetching, and a clean modular architecture.