getting mail sent with other smtp servers to appear in "sent mail"

wakaba · 1 Dec 2016, 11:54 AM

I use a fastmail account as my personal account. I've been playing around sending mail via the Amazon SES smtp interface (mostly to learn about how email works). I'd like to have a copy of these emails in my fastmail account as well, just as a record of my sent emails. Currently, I bcc my fastmail email account.

Is there any other way to get mail sent via other smtp servers to show up in my fastmail account?

I know this is not a very common use case. Mostly curious about whether a more elegant solution exists.

n5bb · 1 Dec 2016, 02:44 PM

The only way to get the actually sent message from the Amazon SES system to Fastmail is by using BCC or some other system which might exist on the SES system which similarly sends a copy to your Fastmail account. One trick you can do to get the message into your Fastmail Sent folder is to create a rule at Fastmail which files all messages from the SES system (or whatever is sending the BCC message) address into the Sent folder.

Bill

BritTim · 1 Dec 2016, 08:49 PM

Here is a possible approach (which I do not actually like much). If you are using an IMAP mail client, even when sending using a non Fastmail SMTP server, you can still save Sent messages to a folder on the IMAP (Fastmail) server.

For information, what I do not like about the approach is that the sending of the message and saving of the message to the Sent folder are treated as separate operations. One may work while the other fails. That means you can never be sure, by looking at the Sent folder, that you have an accurate record of transmitted messages.

If using the Fastmail SMTP server, you can specify in the Identity that messages should be saved in a specified Sent folder (effectively) simultaneously with sending the message to the recipient. You then, if possible, in your email client specify using a local Sent folder. If paranoid, and you have been having a lot of network problems, you can compare your local and server Sent folders as an extra check that all messages have been successfully transmitted.

wakaba · 2 Dec 2016, 05:45 PM

Thanks for the very helpful suggestions! I suspect I'll end up simply using fastmail's smtp server. As you guys point out, it's the cleanest solution.

lane · 4 Dec 2016, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by n5bb

The only way to get the actually sent message from the Amazon SES system to Fastmail is by using BCC or some other system which might exist on the SES system which similarly sends a copy to your Fastmail account. One trick you can do to get the message into your Fastmail Sent folder is to create a rule at Fastmail which files all messages from the SES system (or whatever is sending the BCC message) address into the Sent folder.

Bill

Rather than using a rule, I would suggest bbc to yourself+sent-items@fastmail.fm (or whatever your account is). The +sent-items part will deliver to your "Sent Items" folder, which shows as "Sent" in the web interface.

n5bb · 4 Dec 2016, 11:52 AM

For the benefit of others who are reading this thread, the reason that lane's excellent suggestion works for a message arriving at your account (using BCC or any other way) is due to several technical details:

Messages sent to a plus+address (such as user+folder@fastmail.com) are delivered by default (if there are no interfering rules) to the folder after the + symbol. You can deliver to a subfolder such as folder>sub by using user+folder.sub@fastmail.com
The folder shown as "Sent" in the user interface is actually named "Sent Items" (with an embedded space) on the IMAP server. This presents a problem, since you can't use a raw space character in an email address. The solution is to use an underscore _ or hyphen - character in place of the space character. So you can use user+sent_items@fastmail.com or user+sent-items@fastmail.com to deliver to that folder. This trick works for any folder whose name contains a space character.

Bill

misc · 5 Dec 2016, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lane

Rather than using a rule, I would suggest bbc to yourself+sent-items@fastmail.fm (or whatever your account is). The +sent-items part will deliver to your "Sent Items" folder, which shows as "Sent" in the web interface.

The only thing about this is that your sent mails would appear as unread in your Sent folder. That would be little disturbing for me, so I'd have to use a rule anyway.

1 Dec 2016, 11:54 AM	#1
wakaba Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 26	getting mail sent with other smtp servers to appear in "sent mail" I use a fastmail account as my personal account. I've been playing around sending mail via the Amazon SES smtp interface (mostly to learn about how email works). I'd like to have a copy of these emails in my fastmail account as well, just as a record of my sent emails. Currently, I bcc my fastmail email account. Is there any other way to get mail sent via other smtp servers to show up in my fastmail account? I know this is not a very common use case. Mostly curious about whether a more elegant solution exists.

4 Dec 2016, 11:52 AM	#6
n5bb Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: May 2004 Location: Irving, Texas Posts: 8,930	For the benefit of others who are reading this thread, the reason that lane's excellent suggestion works for a message arriving at your account (using BCC or any other way) is due to several technical details: Messages sent to a plus+address (such as user+folder@fastmail.com) are delivered by default (if there are no interfering rules) to the folder after the + symbol. You can deliver to a subfolder such as folder>sub by using user+folder.sub@fastmail.com The folder shown as "Sent" in the user interface is actually named "Sent Items" (with an embedded space) on the IMAP server. This presents a problem, since you can't use a raw space character in an email address. The solution is to use an underscore _ or hyphen - character in place of the space character. So you can use user+sent_items@fastmail.com or user+sent-items@fastmail.com to deliver to that folder. This trick works for any folder whose name contains a space character. Bill

1 Dec 2016, 02:44 PM	#2
n5bb Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: May 2004 Location: Irving, Texas Posts: 8,930	The only way to get the actually sent message from the Amazon SES system to Fastmail is by using BCC or some other system which might exist on the SES system which similarly sends a copy to your Fastmail account. One trick you can do to get the message into your Fastmail Sent folder is to create a rule at Fastmail which files all messages from the SES system (or whatever is sending the BCC message) address into the Sent folder. Bill

1 Dec 2016, 08:49 PM	#3
BritTim The "e" in e-mail Join Date: May 2003 Location: mostly in Thailand Posts: 3,095	Here is a possible approach (which I do not actually like much). If you are using an IMAP mail client, even when sending using a non Fastmail SMTP server, you can still save Sent messages to a folder on the IMAP (Fastmail) server. For information, what I do not like about the approach is that the sending of the message and saving of the message to the Sent folder are treated as separate operations. One may work while the other fails. That means you can never be sure, by looking at the Sent folder, that you have an accurate record of transmitted messages. If using the Fastmail SMTP server, you can specify in the Identity that messages should be saved in a specified Sent folder (effectively) simultaneously with sending the message to the recipient. You then, if possible, in your email client specify using a local Sent folder. If paranoid, and you have been having a lot of network problems, you can compare your local and server Sent folders as an extra check that all messages have been successfully transmitted.

2 Dec 2016, 05:45 PM	#4
wakaba Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 26	Thanks for the very helpful suggestions! I suspect I'll end up simply using fastmail's smtp server. As you guys point out, it's the cleanest solution.