Oauth2

Claws Mail Account Settings for OAuth 2.0

When setting up an account with OAuth2, besides correctly filling out the 'OAuth2' page, you also need to make sure you have the correct settings on the 'Receive' and 'Send' pages:

 'Receive' page (POP): Authenticate before POP connection: Authentication method = 'OAuth2'.

 'Receive' page (IMAP): Authentication method = 'OAuth2'.

 'Send' page (POP / IMAP): SMTP Authentication: Authentication method = 'OAuth2'.

Setting up OAuth 2.0 for Gmail

There are some instructions here:https://support.google.com/googleapi/answer/6158849 but the instructions below may be more helpful.

Preamble

In order to use Gmail in Claws, you have to obtain OAuth2 credentials from Google.

Getting these can appear quite complicated for the regular non-technical end user, but provided you follow the workflow carefully, it shouldn't take too long.

Almost everything has to be done in the Google Cloud console, which is designed for software developers to use, so it can appear confusing to a non-technical end-user, and it can be easy to get lost in the multitude of screens and menus.

Google also have an unfortunate habit of rejigging their interfaces so that today's workflow might not be tomorrow's.

However the outline below worked in June 2022.

The critical thing is to follow the order of activities exactly. Trying to skip ahead or doing something incompletely & hoping to return later can cause problems.

The sequence of operations is:

1. Setup Google Cloud Project
2. Obtain credentials for your project
3. Enter credentials into ClawsMail
4. Authorise ClawsMail with Google

This sequence will have to be followed for each Gmail account that you want to use with ClawsMail.

Setting up your Google Cloud Project

You need to get into the Google Cloud Console, so go to https://console.cloud.google.com/projectselector2/apis/dashboard?supportedpurview=project

If you are already signed into the Google (Gmail) account that you want to set up OAuth2 for, you won't need to sign in.

If you aren't, sign in with the Google (Gmail) account for which you want to set up OAuth2.

Once signed in, you need to create a "Project" so that you can generate credentials.

So, click on "Create Project" on the right hand side of the screen.

(You can call it whatever you like, but if you're going to create more than one project & set of credentials, it might be helpful to use names that relate uniquely to each email address you are using.)

NB If you get into trouble or make mistakes that you can't rectify, you can simply delete the project & start again.

FIRST

Select "Oauth Consent Screen"

(you won't be able to create any credentials until you have done this step)

For "type", select "External" & click "CREATE".

You're now in "Edit app registration"

For "App name" you can enter whatever you like.
(Again, it might be helpful to use names related to the email address you're doing this for.)

Ignore "App domain" fields, they can be left blank.

In the "User Support Email" and "Developer Contact Email" fields enter the Gmail address for which you want to set up OAuth2 credentials.

Click "Save and Continue"

NEXT

Select "add or remove scopes" You need to select "Gmail" from the list (table) that opens on the RHS of the screen, but it might not appear.

If it doesn't appear, you will need to paste "https://mail.google.com/" into the "manually add scopes" box,

then click "update table",

then click "update".

You should now see "GMAIL Scopes" under "Your restricted scopes"

Click "save and continue"

NEXT

Click on "+ Add users". If you don't add yourself as a test user at this point the authorisation process that comes later will fail.

Once again, enter the email address that you want to access with Claws Mail.

Then click "back to dashboard", which should take you to the "OAuth Consent screen" page.

On this page you should see a heading of "Publishing status", under which it should now say "Testing".

Do not be tempted to click "Publish App" at this point.

NEXT

You can now create the credentials you need to authorise ClawsMail to use your Gmail account.

Click "Credentials", then "create credentials", and then "OAuth client ID".

For "Application Type" select "Desktop app".

You can either accept the default name offered, or, as before, enter something relating to the email account for which you're doing this.

Then click "Create"

A popup box will show you the Client ID & Client Secret.

You need these to enter into ClawsMail, so copy them.

There is also an option to download them as a JSON file.

(This is convenient for the more technically minded user, but perhaps a bit insecure. If you do this, keep it somewhere safe)

Authorising Clawsmail with Google/Gmail

NEARLY FINALLY

Now that you have your credentials, you have to enter them into ClawsMail itself for your Gmail account.

Remember that you must also set the "Send" and "Receive" authentication method to "OAuth2" for your account in those screens.

You need to go to Configuration/Edit accounts & select and edit the account for which you've created the credentials.

Select "Oauth2".

From the dropdown "Select OAuth2 Service Email Provider", select "Google/Gmail"

You now need to copy into the "Client ID" and "Client Secret" boxes the credentials you copied in the previous step.

Now click "Open default browser with request".

Gmail should launch in your browser, taking you to login screens with multiple warnings about how unsafe what you are doing is.

Don't "go back to safety", because what you're doing is safe.

Eventually you will get a screen offering you an authorisation code.

Copy this.

FINAL STEP

Now go back to the ClawsMail OAuth2 page that you launched the browser page from.

Paste in the code you copied from the Gmail screen in the previous step into the "Authorisation code" box, then click "Authorise" and "Apply".

Now see if you can fetch email from Gmail in Clawsmail.

Epilogue

Unfortunately, because neither your project nor ClawsMail are verified apps as far as Google is concerned, this is not quite the end of the story.

From now on, every 7 days after the initial authorisation, it will revert to unauthorised & ClawsMail won't be able to access you Gmail account.

Fortunately, you don't have to go through the whole process again, but just the final step:

Go to ClawsMail OAuth2 page, launch browser, get an authorisation code & then paste it back into the Authorisation code box & click authorise.

Setting up OAuth 2.0 for Microsoft - for Outlook or Exchange

Step 1: Get into 'Azure', Microsoft's cloud computing service.

Go to https://portal.azure.com , making sure you are signed in with the Microsoft account you are wanting to set up. Go to 'Azure Active Directory' (click on the 'View' button under 'Manage Azure Active Directory') and then the 'App registrations' page (via the link in the side-pane). Here is a direct link to this page: https://portal.azure.com/#blade/Microsoft_AAD_IAM/ActiveDirectoryMenuBlade/RegisteredApps .

Step 2: Register Claws Mail as a new app.

Click on 'New Registration' to get to the 'Register an application page', then adjust the settings as follows:

  Display name: Anything you choose.

  Supported account types - set to "Accounts in any organizational directory… and personal Microsoft accounts…" (Note: This will be shown on the app’s ‘Authentication’ page.) (It will also be represented on the app's ‘Overview’ page as "All Microsoft account users".)

  Select a platform: "Public client/native..."

  Redirect URI: http://127.0.0.1:8888

Once you've adjusted settings as desired, click on the 'Register' button.

(Note: Creating a new registration will result in the auto-generation of an application (client) ID, an object ID, and a directory (tenant) ID, all of which will then be visible on the app’s ‘Overview’ page.)

Step 3: Configure the Claws Mail app.

The various configuration pages can be accessed via the links in the side-pane. Nothing needs to be changed on the following pages:

Quickstart
Integration assistant
Branding
Certificates & secrets
Token configuration
Expose an API
Owners
Manifest

Check/adjust settings on the following pages:

'Authentication' - Confirm that the ‘redirect URI’ you set during registration has its box checked. You can also add/delete redirect URI’s on this page, as necessary.

'API permissions' - Click on 'Add a permission' > 'Microsoft Graph' > 'Delegated permissions', and add the following permissions. First, select each permission by typing some/all of its name in the search/filter box to narrow the results, expanding categories as needed, and clicking on the box beside the permission so that a check mark shows. Once you've selected all the permissions, click on the 'Add permissions' button to add them all at the same time. Any permissions that have been successfully added will now show up in the 'Configured permissions' list on the 'API permissions' page.
  - IMAP.AccessAsUser.All
  - Mail.ReadWrite
  - Mail.Send
  - offline_access
  - POP.AccessAsUser.All
  - SMTP.Send
  - User.Read

Once the Claws Mail app is configured, the Client ID (also called Application ID) can be copied to Claws Mail's corresponding Client ID field. (The Client ID is shown on the app's 'Overview' page in Azure.) No Client Secret is needed, so Claws Mail's Client Secret field should be empty.

Note: If you are using an email account managed by a third-party organization using Microsoft’s email systems, then when you attempt to get an authorization code you may see a screen that says something like ‘Approval Required’ // ‘This app requires your admin’s approval...’. This is likely because Claws Mail is not ‘published’ by a ‘verified publisher’ or because for some other reason the organization has decided to limit the apps to which users can give permissions. There may be a field where you can enter justification for requesting this app, after which you can click on ‘Request approval’. Then you may see a notice that says the request has been sent to your ‘admin’ and that you’ll receive an email in regards to whether it’s been approved or not. You may want to reach out to your email administrator to see if they got the request, to let them know it is a legitimate request from you, and perhaps provide a link to the Claws Mail website and/or other information about the ‘app’ for which you are wanting them to give you consent permissions. (The above details may be different depending on how the organization has configured their 'user consent' settings.) Ultimately it will be up to the organization (rather than Microsoft or yourself) as to whether you will be able to give Claws the access it needs.