Using mutt with IMAP

configuration

First, mutt needs to be told to use IMAP. To achieve this, edit ~/.muttrc (or a file it sources) to contain:

set spoolfile=imap://user@hostname/INBOX
set folder=imap://user@hostname/

problems

Move read messages to mbox

If mutt asks Move read messages to /home/$user/mbox? ([no]/yes):

Your alternatives (to set in ~/.muttrc) are (pick one and ignore the others):

don't ask about moving messages, just do it:
```
set move=yes
```
don't ask about moving messages and don't do it:
```
set move=no
```
ask about moving message, default answer yes:
```
set move=ask-yes
```
ask about moving message, default answer no:
```
set move=ask-no
```

New mail in a folder just left

There is a bug with dovecot in <=0.99. It can sometimes make mutt think there is new email in a mailbox you just 'left'... http://www.dovecot.org/list/dovecot/2004-February/002950.html

Authentication realm

If you are using IMAP with SASL and get error messages like Invalid realm in your dovecot log files, try putting this in your .muttrc or /etc/Muttrc]:

set imap_authenticators="plain"

It might be easier however to just put the following in your dovecot.conf:

For Dovecot 1.0

auth default {
  mechanisms = plain
}

For Dovecot 0.99

auth_mechanisms = plain