Separate credentials for IMAP and SMTP

[asltpo]

TLDR: It would be useful if a single account could be configured with separate login credentials for IMAP and SMTP, like this:

[[accounts]]
imap = "imap_provider.com:993"
imap_user = "me@imap_provider.com"
imap_password = "my_imap_password"
imap_starttls = false
smtp = "smtp_provider.com:587"
smtp_user = "me@smtp_provider.com"
smtp_password = "my_smtp_password"
smtp_starttls = false
from = "Me <me@imap_provider.com>"

Background: I really like the neomd concept, but I have a gmail account which I can't really change. Heeding all the warnings in the docs about performance, I went ahead and configured neomd to interact directly with the gmail IMAP and SMTP servers:

[[accounts]]
imap = "imap.gmail.com:993"
smtp = "smtp.gmail.com:587"
user = "me@gmail.com"
password = "my_16_character_gmail_password"
from = "Me me@gmail.com"
starttls = false
tls_cert_file = ""

As expected, the retrieval of IMAP data from the gmail server was quite slow which made the UI laggy. To address this I set up a local IMAP syncer and server:

[ Gmail Server ]
▲
│ (Slow, asynchronous background sync every 5 minutes)
▼
[ mbsync / OfflineIMAP ] ──(Saves to)──► [ Local Maildir ]
▲
│ (Fast local read/write)
▼
[ Local IMAP Server (Dovecot) ]
▲
│ (Standard IMAP @ localhost)
▼
[ neomd ]

With this setup my neomd config became:

[[accounts]]
imap = "localhost:993"
smtp = "smtp.gmail.com:587"
user = "my_dovecot_username"
password = "my_dovecot_password"
from = "Me me@gmail.com"
starttls = false
tls_cert_file = ""

This dramatically reduced the UI lag but with a catch: I could no longer send emails because neomd now used my local IMAP credentials ("my_dovecot_username" and "my_dovecot_password") for SMTP, and they are not recognised by the gmail SMTP server.

Currently (I believe) neomd does not allow a single account to be configured with separate credentials for IMAP and SMTP. It does allow you to create an SMTP-only account, so I tried a workaround using one account for IMAP and another for SMTP. This works but requires me to switch accounts to send emails, which is a pain.

[sspaeti]

hmm this is a really nice workaround - need to check that for myself too. similar to what #15 wants I assume.

I think this makes a lot of sense. I will think about how to add the best when I have time. Thanks so much

[asltpo]

You're welcome, thanks for the reply.

Actually since I raised the issue I have devised a workaround. I route the SMTP through a local relay which uses the same credentials as my local IMAP server. Now I get a responsive UI and I can send/receive emails from the same account.