path: root/imap/docs/rfc/rfc5464.txt

Network Working Group                                           C. Daboo
Request for Comments: 5464                                   Apple, Inc.
Category: Standards Track                                  February 2009


                      The IMAP METADATA Extension

Status of This Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Abstract

   The METADATA extension to the Internet Message Access Protocol
   permits clients and servers to maintain "annotations" or "metadata"
   on IMAP servers.  It is possible to have annotations on a per-mailbox
   basis or on the server as a whole.  For example, this would allow
   comments about the purpose of a particular mailbox to be "attached"
   to that mailbox, or a "message of the day" containing server status
   information to be made available to anyone logging in to the server.



























Daboo                        Standards Track                    [Page 1]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction and Overview  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2.  Conventions Used in This Document  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   3.  Data Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     3.1.  Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     3.2.  Namespace of Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
       3.2.1.  Entry Names  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     3.3.  Private versus Shared and Access Control . . . . . . . . .  6
   4.  IMAP Protocol Changes  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     4.1.  General Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     4.2.  GETMETADATA Command  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
       4.2.1.  MAXSIZE GETMETADATA Command Option . . . . . . . . . .  9
       4.2.2.  DEPTH GETMETADATA Command Option . . . . . . . . . . . 10
     4.3.  SETMETADATA Command  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
     4.4.  METADATA Response  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
       4.4.1.  METADATA Response with Values  . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
       4.4.2.  Unsolicited METADATA Response without Values . . . . . 13
   5.  Formal Syntax  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   6.  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
     6.1.  Entry and Attribute Registration Template  . . . . . . . . 16
     6.2.  Server Entry Registrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
       6.2.1.  /shared/comment  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
       6.2.2.  /shared/admin  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
     6.3.  Mailbox Entry Registrations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
       6.3.1.  /shared/comment  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
       6.3.2.  /private/comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
   7.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
   8.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
   Appendix A.  Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19





















Daboo                        Standards Track                    [Page 2]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


1.  Introduction and Overview

   The goal of the METADATA extension is to provide a means for clients
   to set and retrieve "annotations" or "metadata" on an IMAP server.
   The annotations can be associated with specific mailboxes or the
   server as a whole.  The server can choose to support only server
   annotations or both server and mailbox annotations.

   A server that supports both server and mailbox annotations indicates
   the presence of this extension by returning "METADATA" as one of the
   supported capabilities in the CAPABILITY command response.

   A server that supports only server annotations indicates the presence
   of this extension by returning "METADATA-SERVER" as one of the
   supported capabilities in the CAPABILITY command response.

   A server that supports unsolicited annotation change responses MUST
   support the "ENABLE" [RFC5161] extension to allow clients to turn
   that feature on.

   The METADATA extension adds two new commands and one new untagged
   response to the IMAP base protocol.

   This extension makes the following changes to the IMAP protocol:

   o  adds a new SETMETADATA command

   o  adds a new GETMETADATA command

   o  adds a new METADATA untagged response

   o  adds a new METADATA response code

   The rest of this document describes the data model and protocol
   changes more rigorously.

2.  Conventions Used in This Document

   In examples, "C:" and "S:" indicate lines sent by the client and
   server, respectively.

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].

   Whitespace and line breaks have been added to the examples in this
   document to promote readability.




Daboo                        Standards Track                    [Page 3]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


3.  Data Model

3.1.  Overview

   Mailboxes or the server as a whole may have zero or more annotations
   associated with them.  An annotation contains a uniquely named entry,
   which has a value.  Annotations can be added to mailboxes when a
   mailbox name is provided as the first argument to the SETMETADATA
   command, or to the server as a whole when the empty string is
   provided as the first argument to the command.

   For example, a general comment being added to a mailbox may have an
   entry name of "/comment" and a value of "Really useful mailbox".

   The protocol changes to IMAP described below allow a client to access
   or change the values of any annotation entry, assuming it has
   sufficient access rights to do so.

3.2.  Namespace of Entries

   Each annotation is an entry that has a hierarchical name, with each
   component of the name separated by a slash ("/").  An entry name MUST
   NOT contain two consecutive "/" characters and MUST NOT end with a
   "/" character.

   The value of an entry is NIL (has no value), or a string or binary
   data of zero or more octets.  A string MAY contain multiple lines of
   text.  Clients MUST use the CRLF (0x0D 0x0A) character octet sequence
   to represent line ends in a multi-line string value.

   Entry names MUST NOT contain asterisk ("*") or percent ("%")
   characters and MUST NOT contain non-ASCII characters or characters
   with octet values in the range 0x00 to 0x19.  Invalid entry names
   result in a BAD response in any IMAP command in which they are used.

   Entry names are case-insensitive.

   Use of control or punctuation characters in entry names is strongly
   discouraged.

   This specification defines an initial set of entry names available
   for use with mailbox and server annotations.  In addition, an
   extension mechanism is described to allow additional names to be
   added for extensibility.

   The first component in entry names defines the scope of the
   annotation.  Currently, only the prefixes "/private" or "/shared" are
   defined.  These prefixes are used to indicate whether an annotation



Daboo                        Standards Track                    [Page 4]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


   is stored on a per-user basis ("/private") and not visible to other
   users, or whether an annotation is shared between authorized users
   ("/shared") with a single value that can be read and changed by
   authorized users with appropriate access.  See Section 3.3 for
   details.

   Entry names can have any number of components starting at 2, unless
   they fall under the vendor namespaces (i.e., have a /shared/vendor/
   <vendor-token> or /private/vendor/<vendor-token> prefix as described
   below), in which case they have at least 4 components.

3.2.1.  Entry Names

   Entry names MUST be specified in a Standards Track or IESG-approved
   Experimental RFC, or fall under the vendor namespace.  See
   Section 6.1 for the registration template.

3.2.1.1.  Server Entries

   These entries are set or retrieved when the mailbox name argument to
   the new SETMETADATA or GETMETADATA command is the empty string.

   /shared/comment

      Defines a comment or note that is associated with the server and
      that is shared with authorized users of the server.

   /shared/admin

      Indicates a method for contacting the server administrator.  The
      value MUST be a URI (e.g., a mailto: or tel: URL).  This entry is
      always read-only -- clients cannot change it.  It is visible to
      authorized users of the system.

   /shared/vendor/<vendor-token>

      Defines the top level of shared entries associated with the
      server, as created by a particular product of some vendor.  This
      entry can be used by vendors to provide server- or client-specific
      annotations.  The vendor-token MUST be registered with IANA, using
      the Application Configuration Access Protocol (ACAP) [RFC2244]
      vendor subtree registry.

   /private/vendor/<vendor-token>

      Defines the top level of private entries associated with the
      server, as created by a particular product of some vendor.  This
      entry can be used by vendors to provide server- or client-specific



Daboo                        Standards Track                    [Page 5]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


      annotations.  The vendor-token MUST be registered with IANA, using
      the ACAP [RFC2244] vendor subtree registry.

3.2.1.2.  Mailbox Entries

   These entries are set or retrieved when the mailbox name argument to
   the new SETMETADATA or GETMETADATA command is not the empty string.

   /shared/comment

      Defines a shared comment or note associated with a mailbox.

   /private/comment

      Defines a private (per-user) comment or note associated with a
      mailbox.

   /shared/vendor/<vendor-token>

      Defines the top level of shared entries associated with a specific
      mailbox, as created by a particular product of some vendor.  This
      entry can be used by vendors to provide client-specific
      annotations.  The vendor-token MUST be registered with IANA, using
      the ACAP [RFC2244] vendor subtree registry.

   /private/vendor/<vendor-token>

      Defines the top level of private entries associated with a
      specific mailbox, as created by a particular product of some
      vendor.  This entry can be used by vendors to provide client-
      specific annotations.  The vendor-token MUST be registered with
      IANA, using the ACAP [RFC2244] vendor subtree registry.

3.3.  Private versus Shared and Access Control

   In the absence of the ACL (Access Control List) extension [RFC4314],
   users can only set and retrieve private or shared mailbox annotations
   on a mailbox that exists and is returned to them via a LIST or LSUB
   command, and on which they have either read or write access to the
   actual message content of the mailbox (as determined by the READ-ONLY
   and READ-WRITE response codes as described in Section 5.2 of
   [RFC4314]).

   When the ACL extension [RFC4314] is present, users can only set and
   retrieve private or shared mailbox annotations on a mailbox on which
   they have the "l" right and any one of the "r", "s", "w", "i", or "p"
   rights.




Daboo                        Standards Track                    [Page 6]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


   If a client attempts to set or retrieve annotations on mailboxes that
   do not satisfy the conditions above, the server MUST respond with a
   NO response.

   Users can always retrieve private or shared server annotations if
   they exist.  Servers MAY restrict the creation of private or shared
   server annotations as appropriate.  When restricted, the server MUST
   return a NO response when the SETMETADATA command is used to try to
   create a server annotation.

   If the METADATA extension is present, support for shared annotations
   is REQUIRED, whilst support for private annotations is OPTIONAL.
   This recognizes the fact that support for private annotations may
   introduce significantly more complexity to a server in terms of
   tracking ownership of the annotations, how quota is determined for
   users based on their own annotations, etc.

4.  IMAP Protocol Changes

4.1.  General Considerations

   The new SETMETADATA command and the METADATA response each have a
   mailbox name argument.  An empty string is used for the mailbox name
   to signify server annotations.  A non-empty string is used to signify
   mailbox annotations attached to the corresponding mailbox.

   Servers SHOULD ensure that mailbox annotations are automatically
   moved when the mailbox they refer to is renamed, i.e., the
   annotations follow the mailbox.  This applies to a rename of the
   INBOX, with the additional behavior that the annotations are copied
   from the original INBOX to the renamed mailbox, i.e., mailbox
   annotations are preserved on the INBOX when it is renamed.

   Servers SHOULD delete annotations for a mailbox when the mailbox is
   deleted, so that a mailbox created with the same name as a previously
   existing mailbox does not inherit the old mailbox annotations.

   Servers SHOULD allow annotations on all 'types' of mailboxes,
   including ones reporting \Noselect for their LIST response.  Servers
   can implicitly remove \Noselect mailboxes when all child mailboxes
   are removed, and, at that time any annotations associated with the
   \Noselect mailbox SHOULD be removed.

   The server is allowed to impose limitations on the size of any one
   annotation or the total number of annotations for a single mailbox or
   for the server as a whole.  However, the server MUST accept an
   annotation data size of at least 1024 bytes, and an annotation count
   per server or mailbox of at least 10.



Daboo                        Standards Track                    [Page 7]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


   Some annotations may be "read-only" -- i.e., they are set by the
   server and cannot be changed by the client.  Also, such annotations
   may be "computed" -- i.e., the value changes based on underlying
   properties of the mailbox or server.  For example, an annotation
   reporting the total size of all messages in the mailbox would change
   as messages are added or removed.  Or, an annotation containing an
   IMAP URL for the mailbox would change if the mailbox was renamed.

   Servers MAY support sending unsolicited responses for use when
   annotations are changed by some "third-party" (see Section 4.4).  In
   order to do so, servers MUST support the ENABLE command [RFC5161] and
   MUST only send unsolicited responses if the client used the ENABLE
   command [RFC5161] extension with the capability string "METADATA" or
   "METADATA-SERVER" earlier in the session, depending on which of those
   capabilities is supported by the server.

4.2.  GETMETADATA Command

   This extension adds the GETMETADATA command.  This allows clients to
   retrieve server or mailbox annotations.

   This command is only available in authenticated or selected state
   [RFC3501].

       Arguments:  mailbox-name
                   options
                   entry-specifier

       Responses:  required METADATA response

       Result:     OK - command completed
                   NO - command failure: can't access annotations on
                        the server
                   BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid

   When the mailbox name is the empty string, this command retrieves
   server annotations.  When the mailbox name is not empty, this command
   retrieves annotations on the specified mailbox.

   Options MAY be included with this command and are defined below.

   Example:

           C: a GETMETADATA "" /shared/comment
           S: * METADATA "" (/shared/comment "Shared comment")
           S: a OK GETMETADATA complete





Daboo                        Standards Track                    [Page 8]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


      In the above example, the contents of the value of the "/shared/
      comment" server entry is requested by the client and returned by
      the server.

   Example:

           C: a GETMETADATA "INBOX" /private/comment
           S: * METADATA "INBOX" (/private/comment "My own comment")
           S: a OK GETMETADATA complete

      In the above example, the contents of the value of the "/private/
      comment" mailbox entry for the mailbox "INBOX" is requested by the
      client and returned by the server.

   Entry specifiers can be lists of atomic specifiers, so that multiple
   annotations may be returned in a single GETMETADATA command.

   Example:

           C: a GETMETADATA "INBOX" (/shared/comment /private/comment)
           S: * METADATA "INBOX" (/shared/comment "Shared comment"
                                  /private/comment "My own comment")
           S: a OK GETMETADATA complete

      In the above example, the values of the two server entries
      "/shared/comment" and "/private/comment" on the mailbox "INBOX"
      are requested by the client and returned by the server.

4.2.1.  MAXSIZE GETMETADATA Command Option

   When the MAXSIZE option is specified with the GETMETADATA command, it
   restricts which entry values are returned by the server.  Only entry
   values that are less than or equal in octet size to the specified
   MAXSIZE limit are returned.  If there are any entries with values
   larger than the MAXSIZE limit, the server MUST include the METADATA
   LONGENTRIES response code in the tagged OK response for the
   GETMETADATA command.  The METADATA LONGENTRIES response code returns
   the size of the biggest entry value requested by the client that
   exceeded the MAXSIZE limit.

   Example:

           C: a GETMETADATA "INBOX" (MAXSIZE 1024)
                                    (/shared/comment /private/comment)
           S: * METADATA "INBOX" (/private/comment "My own comment")
           S: a OK [METADATA LONGENTRIES 2199] GETMETADATA complete





Daboo                        Standards Track                    [Page 9]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


      In the above example, the values of the two server entries
      "/shared/comment" and "/private/comment" on the mailbox "INBOX"
      are requested by the client, which wants to restrict the size of
      returned values to 1024 octets.  In this case, the "/shared/
      comment" entry value is 2199 octets and is not returned.

4.2.2.  DEPTH GETMETADATA Command Option

   When the DEPTH option is specified with the GETMETADATA command, it
   extends the list of entry values returned by the server.  For each
   entry name specified in the GETMETADATA command, the server returns
   the value of the specified entry name (if it exists), plus all
   entries below the entry name up to the specified DEPTH.  Three values
   are allowed for DEPTH:

   "0" - no entries below the specified entry are returned
   "1" - only entries immediately below the specified entry are returned
   "infinity" -  all entries below the specified entry are returned

   Thus, "depth 1" for an entry "/a" will match "/a" as well as its
   children entries (e.g., "/a/b"), but will not match grandchildren
   entries (e.g., "/a/b/c").

   If the DEPTH option is not specified, this is the same as specifying
   "DEPTH 0".

   Example:

           C: a GETMETADATA "INBOX" (DEPTH 1)
                                   (/private/filters/values)
           S: * METADATA "INBOX" (/private/filters/values/small
                "SMALLER 5000" /private/filters/values/boss
                "FROM \"boss@example.com\"")
           S: a OK GETMETADATA complete

      In the above example, 2 entries below the /private/filters/values
      entry exist on the mailbox "INBOX": "/private/filters/values/
      small" and "/private/filters/values/boss".

4.3.  SETMETADATA Command

   This extension adds the SETMETADATA command.  This allows clients to
   set annotations.

   This command is only available in authenticated or selected state
   [RFC3501].





Daboo                        Standards Track                   [Page 10]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


       Arguments:  mailbox-name
                   entry
                   value
                   list of entry, values

       Responses:  no specific responses for this command

       Result:     OK - command completed
                   NO - command failure: can't set annotations,
                        or annotation too big or too many
                   BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid

   This command sets the specified list of entries by adding or
   replacing the specified values provided, on the specified existing
   mailboxes or on the server (if the mailbox argument is the empty
   string).  Clients can use NIL for the value of entries it wants to
   remove.  The server SHOULD NOT return a METADATA response containing
   the updated annotation data.  Clients MUST NOT assume that a METADATA
   response will be sent, and MUST assume that if the command succeeds,
   then the annotation has been changed.

   If the server is unable to set an annotation because the size of its
   value is too large, the server MUST return a tagged NO response with
   a "[METADATA MAXSIZE NNN]" response code when NNN is the maximum
   octet count that it is willing to accept.

   If the server is unable to set a new annotation because the maximum
   number of allowed annotations has already been reached, the server
   MUST return a tagged NO response with a "[METADATA TOOMANY]" response
   code.

   If the server is unable to set a new annotation because it does not
   support private annotations on one of the specified mailboxes, the
   server MUST return a tagged NO response with a "[METADATA NOPRIVATE]"
   response code.

   When any one annotation fails to be set, resulting in a tagged NO
   response from the server, then the server MUST NOT change the values
   for other annotations specified in the SETMETADATA command.

   Example:

           C: a SETMETADATA INBOX (/private/comment {33}
           S: + ready for data
           My new comment across
           two lines.
           )
           S: a OK SETMETADATA complete



Daboo                        Standards Track                   [Page 11]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


      In the above example, the entry "/private/comment" for the mailbox
      "INBOX" is created (if not already present) and the value set to a
      multi-line string.

   Example:

           C: a SETMETADATA INBOX (/private/comment NIL)
           S: a OK SETMETADATA complete

      In the above example, the entry "/private/comment" is removed from
      the mailbox "INBOX".

   Multiple entries can be set in a single SETMETADATA command by
   listing entry-value pairs in the list.

   Example:

           C: a SETMETADATA INBOX (/private/comment "My new comment"
                               /shared/comment "This one is for you!")
           S: a OK SETMETADATA complete

      In the above example, the entries "/private/comment" and "/shared/
      comment" for the mailbox "INBOX" are created (if not already
      present) and the values set as specified.

   Example:

           C: a SETMETADATA INBOX (/private/comment "My new comment")
           S: a NO [METADATA TOOMANY] SETMETADATA failed

      In the above example, the server is unable to set the requested
      (new) annotation as it has reached the limit on the number of
      annotations it can support on the specified mailbox.

4.4.  METADATA Response

   The METADATA response displays results of a GETMETADATA command, or
   can be returned as an unsolicited response at any time by the server
   in response to a change in a server or mailbox annotation.

   When unsolicited responses are activated by the ENABLE [RFC5161]
   command for this extension, servers MUST send unsolicited METADATA
   responses if server or mailbox annotations are changed by a third-
   party, allowing servers to keep clients updated with changes.

   Unsolicited METADATA responses MUST only contain entry names, not the
   values.  If the client wants to update any cached values, it must
   explicitly retrieve those using a GETMETADATA command.



Daboo                        Standards Track                   [Page 12]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


   The METADATA response can contain multiple entries in a single
   response, but the server is free to return multiple responses for
   each entry or group of entries, if it desires.

   This response is only available in authenticated or selected state
   [RFC3501].

4.4.1.  METADATA Response with Values

   The response consists of a list of entry-value pairs.

   Example:

           C: a GETMETADATA "" /shared/comment
           S: * METADATA "" (/shared/comment "My comment")
           S: a OK GETMETADATA complete

      In the above example, a single entry with its value is returned by
      the server.

   Example:

           C: a GETMETADATA "INBOX" /private/comment /shared/comment
           S: * METADATA "INBOX" (/private/comment "My comment"
                                  /shared/comment "Its sunny outside!")
           S: a OK GETMETADATA complete

      In the above example, two entries and their values are returned by
      the server.

   Example:

           C: a GETMETADATA "INBOX" /private/comment /shared/comment
           S: * METADATA "INBOX" (/private/comment "My comment")
           S: * METADATA "INBOX" (/shared/comment "Its sunny outside!")
           S: a OK GETMETADATA complete

      In the above example, the server returns two separate responses
      for each of the two entries requested.

4.4.2.  Unsolicited METADATA Response without Values

   The response consists of a list of entries, each of which have
   changed on the server or mailbox.

   Example:





Daboo                        Standards Track                   [Page 13]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


           C: a NOOP
           S: * METADATA "" /shared/comment
           S: a OK NOOP complete

      In the above example, the server indicates that the "/shared/
      comment" server entry has been changed.

   Example:

           C: a NOOP
           S: * METADATA "INBOX" /shared/comment /private/comment
           S: a OK NOOP complete

      In the above example, the server indicates a change to two mailbox
      entries.

5.  Formal Syntax

   The following syntax specification uses the Augmented Backus-Naur
   Form (ABNF) notation as specified in [RFC5234].

   Non-terminals referenced but not defined below are as defined by
   [RFC3501], with the new definitions in [RFC4466] superseding those in
   [RFC3501].

   Except as noted otherwise, all alphabetic characters are case-
   insensitive.  The use of upper or lower case characters to define
   token strings is for editorial clarity only.  Implementations MUST
   accept these strings in a case-insensitive fashion.

      capability        =/ "METADATA" / "METADATA-SERVER"
                          ; defines the capabilities for this extension.

      command-auth      =/ setmetadata / getmetadata
                          ; adds to original IMAP command

      entries           = entry /
                          "(" entry *(SP entry) ")"
                          ; entry specifiers

      entry             = astring
                          ; slash-separated path to entry
                          ; MUST NOT contain "*" or "%"

      entry-value       = entry SP value

      entry-values      = "(" entry-value *(SP entry-value) ")"




Daboo                        Standards Track                   [Page 14]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


      entry-list        = entry *(SP entry)
                          ; list of entries used in unsolicited
                          ; METADATA response

      getmetadata       = "GETMETADATA" [SP getmetadata-options]
                                        SP mailbox SP entries
                          ; empty string for mailbox implies
                          ; server annotation.

      getmetadata-options = "(" getmetadata-option
                                *(SP getmetadata-option) ")"

      getmetadata-option = tagged-ext-label [SP tagged-ext-val]
                          ; tagged-ext-label and tagged-ext-val
                          ; are defined in [RFC4466].

      maxsize-opt       = "MAXSIZE" SP number
                          ; Used as a getmetadata-option

      metadata-resp     = "METADATA" SP mailbox SP
                          (entry-values / entry-list)
                          ; empty string for mailbox implies
                          ; server annotation.

      response-payload  =/ metadata-resp
                          ; adds to original IMAP data responses

      resp-text-code    =/ "METADATA" SP "LONGENTRIES" SP number
                             ; new response codes for GETMETADATA

      resp-text-code    =/ "METADATA" SP ("MAXSIZE" SP number /
                                          "TOOMANY" / "NOPRIVATE")
                          ; new response codes for SETMETADATA
                          ; failures

      scope-opt         =  "DEPTH" SP ("0" / "1" / "infinity")
                          ; Used as a getmetadata-option

      setmetadata       = "SETMETADATA" SP mailbox
                                        SP entry-values
                          ; empty string for mailbox implies
                          ; server annotation.

      value             = nstring / literal8







Daboo                        Standards Track                   [Page 15]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


6.  IANA Considerations

   All entries MUST have either "/shared" or "/private" as a prefix.
   Entry names MUST be specified in a Standards Track or IESG-approved
   Experimental RFC, or fall under the vendor namespace (i.e., use
   /shared/vendor/<vendor-token> or /private/vendor/<vendor-token> as
   the prefix).

   Each entry registration MUST include a content-type that is used to
   indicate the nature of the annotation value.  Where applicable, a
   charset parameter MUST be included with the content-type.

6.1.  Entry and Attribute Registration Template

       To: iana@iana.org
       Subject: IMAP METADATA Entry Registration

       Type:         [Either "Mailbox" or "Server"]

       Name:         [the name of the entry]

       Description:  [a description of what the entry is for]

       Content-type: [MIME Content-Type and charset for the entry value]

       RFC Number:   [for entries published as RFCs]

       Contact:      [email and/or physical address to contact for
                      additional information]

6.2.  Server Entry Registrations

   The following templates specify the IANA registrations of annotation
   entries specified in this document.

















Daboo                        Standards Track                   [Page 16]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


6.2.1.  /shared/comment

       To: iana@iana.org
       Subject: IMAP METADATA Entry Registration

       Type:         Server

       Name:         /shared/comment

       Description:  Defines a comment or note that is associated
                     with the server and that is shared with
                     authorized users of the server.

       Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

       RFC Number:   RFC 5464

       Contact:      IMAP Extensions mailto:ietf-imapext@imc.org

6.2.2.  /shared/admin

     To: iana@iana.org
     Subject: IMAP METADATA Entry Registration

     Type:         Server

     Name:         /shared/admin

     Description:  Indicates a method for contacting the server
                   administrator.  The value MUST be a URI (e.g., a
                   mailto: or tel: URL).  This entry is always
                   read-only -- clients cannot change it.  It is visible
                   to authorized users of the system.

     Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

     RFC Number:   RFC 5464

     Contact:      IMAP Extensions mailto:ietf-imapext@imc.org

6.3.  Mailbox Entry Registrations

   The following templates specify the IANA registrations of annotation
   entries specified in this document.







Daboo                        Standards Track                   [Page 17]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


6.3.1.  /shared/comment

       To: iana@iana.org
       Subject: IMAP METADATA Entry Registration

       Type:         Mailbox

       Name:         /shared/comment

       Description:  Defines a shared comment or note associated with a
                     mailbox.

       Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

       RFC Number:   RFC 5464

       Contact:      IMAP Extensions mailto:ietf-imapext@imc.org

6.3.2.  /private/comment

       To: iana@iana.org
       Subject: IMAP METADATA Entry Registration

       Type:         Mailbox

       Name:         /private/comment

       Description:  Defines a private comment or note associated with a
                     mailbox.

       Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

       RFC Number:   RFC 5464

       Contact:      IMAP Extensions mailto:ietf-imapext@imc.org

7.  Security Considerations

   The security considerations in Section 11 of [RFC3501] apply here
   with respect to protecting annotations from snooping.  Servers MAY
   choose to only support the METADATA and/or METADATA-SERVER extensions
   after a privacy layer has been negotiated by the client.

   Annotations can contain arbitrary data of varying size.  As such,
   servers MUST ensure that size limits are enforced to prevent a user
   from using up all available space on a server and preventing use by
   others.  Clients MUST treat annotation data values as an "untrusted"
   source of data as it is possible for it to contain malicious content.



Daboo                        Standards Track                   [Page 18]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


   Annotations whose values are intended to remain private MUST be
   stored only in entries that have the "/private" prefix on the entry
   name.

   Excluding the above issues, the METADATA extension does not raise any
   security considerations that are not present in the base IMAP
   protocol, and these issues are discussed in [RFC3501].

8.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [RFC2244]  Newman, C. and J. Myers, "ACAP -- Application
              Configuration Access Protocol", RFC 2244, November 1997.

   [RFC3501]  Crispin, M., "INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL - VERSION
              4rev1", RFC 3501, March 2003.

   [RFC4314]  Melnikov, A., "IMAP4 Access Control List (ACL) Extension",
              RFC 4314, December 2005.

   [RFC4466]  Melnikov, A. and C. Daboo, "Collected Extensions to IMAP4
              ABNF", RFC 4466, April 2006.

   [RFC5161]  Gulbrandsen, A. and A. Melnikov, "The IMAP ENABLE
              Extension", RFC 5161, March 2008.

   [RFC5234]  Crocker, D. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax
              Specifications: ABNF", STD 68, RFC 5234, January 2008.

Appendix A.  Acknowledgments

   The ideas expressed in this document are based on the message
   annotation document that was co-authored by Randall Gellens.  The
   author would like to thank the following individuals for contributing
   their ideas and support for writing this specification: Dave
   Cridland, Arnt Gulbrandsen, Dan Karp, Alexey Melnikov, Ken Murchison,
   Chris Newman, and Michael Wener.












Daboo                        Standards Track                   [Page 19]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


Author's Address

   Cyrus Daboo
   Apple Inc.
   1 Infinite Loop
   Cupertino, CA  95014
   USA

   EMail: cyrus@daboo.name
   URI:   http://www.apple.com/









































Daboo                        Standards Track                   [Page 20]

RFC 5464               The IMAP METADATA Extension         February 2009


Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2009).

   This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions
   contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors
   retain all their rights.

   This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
   OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY, THE IETF TRUST AND
   THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS
   OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF
   THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
   WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Intellectual Property

   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
   Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
   pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
   this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
   might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
   made any independent effort to identify any such rights.  Information
   on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be
   found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
   assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
   attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of
   such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
   specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at
   http://www.ietf.org/ipr.

   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
   copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
   rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement
   this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF at
   ietf-ipr@ietf.org.












Daboo                        Standards Track                   [Page 21]