# Connect a mailbox
fob-email signs in to your mailbox the way a desktop mail app does: an IMAP server name, your username, and a password. For almost every provider, that password must be an **app password**, a separate password you create in your account's security settings. Your normal sign-in password is usually rejected.
## What you need
| | Example (Gmail) | Where to find it |
| --- | --- | --- |
| IMAP server | `imap.gmail.com` | [Providers](/docs/email/providers) |
| SMTP server, to send mail | `smtp.gmail.com` | [Providers](/docs/email/providers) |
| Username | `you@gmail.com` | Usually your full address. iCloud is the exception |
| App password | 16 characters | Your provider's security settings. See [Providers](/docs/email/providers) |
Microsoft-hosted mailboxes (Outlook.com, Hotmail, Microsoft 365) can't connect, because they require OAuth sign-in. See [Outlook and Microsoft 365](/docs/email/providers#outlook-and-microsoft-365).
## 1. Create an app password
Follow the steps for your provider in [Providers](/docs/email/providers). Copy the password when it's shown: most providers show it only once.
## 2. Add the account
Pick a short name for the mailbox, such as `personal` or `work`. It's how you'll refer to it later with `--account`.
```bash
fob-email config accounts add personal \
--imap-host imap.gmail.com \
--imap-user you@gmail.com \
--imap-pass "" \
--smtp-host smtp.gmail.com
```
- `--imap-port` defaults to `993` and `--smtp-port` to `465`, both with TLS. That suits most providers.
- **Pass `--smtp-host` if you want to send mail.** SMTP reuses the IMAP username and password unless you also pass `--smtp-user` and `--smtp-pass`.
- The first account you add becomes the current one.
- `config accounts` and `config profiles` are the same command.
On success fob-email signs in once to check the password, and prints the address it signed in as:
```text
Saved account 'personal' to the fob-email config (mode 0600).
Verified — authenticates as you@gmail.com (gmail, threads: thread-id).
```
If the check fails you see `(could not verify 'personal': …)` instead. The account is still saved, so fix the problem ([Troubleshooting](/docs/email/troubleshooting)) and run the same `add` command again: it replaces the saved account. `--no-verify` skips the check entirely.
### Keep the password out of your shell history
`--imap-pass` on the command line ends up in your shell history. To avoid that, read the password into a variable first:
```bash
read -rs IMAP_PASS # paste the app password, press Enter; nothing is shown
fob-email config accounts add personal \
--imap-host imap.gmail.com --imap-user you@gmail.com \
--imap-pass "$IMAP_PASS" --smtp-host smtp.gmail.com
unset IMAP_PASS
```
## 3. Check it works
```bash
fob-email config accounts list # your account, * marks the current one
fob-email folders list # proves sign-in works
fob-email emails list --limit 10 # your ten newest messages
```
If `folders list` shows your folders, you're connected.
Tell the agent to run `fob-email getting-started`. It prints these steps when no account exists, says setup is done when one does, and tells agents to ask you for the app password rather than make one up. See [Use with AI agents](/docs/email/cli/ai-agents).
## Where your password is stored
The CLI keeps accounts in `~/.fob/fob-email/config.yml`. The file is written with mode 0600, so only your user can read it, but the password inside is plain text. To use a different folder, set `FOB_EMAIL_CONFIG_DIR`.
For workers, CI and containers, put accounts in the `FOB_EMAIL_ACCOUNTS` environment variable instead. See [Accounts](/docs/email/cli/accounts#accounts-from-the-environment).
To stop fob-email reaching a mailbox, revoke its app password at your provider. Then remove the account locally with `fob-email config accounts remove `.