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[PATCH v4 2/4] imap-send: accept messages with Subject before Date

From
Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
Date
Oct 27, 2026, 08:31 UTC
Message-ID
<ad3158b3367d00fb78d2fa5a55b82d5f634c3d61.1793089879.git.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To
<pull.2456.v4.git.git.1793089879.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
From: Harald Nordgren <haraldnordgren@gmail.com>

Patches sent with git send-email cannot be fed back into git imap-send after fetching them from the mailing list archive, for example with

    b4 mbox --single-message -o - <url> | git imap-send

which fails with "no messages found to send". imap-send only counts a message when its From, Date and Subject headers come in that order, and git send-email writes Subject before Date.

Accept the three headers in any order within the header block of each message.

Signed-off-by: Harald Nordgren <haraldnordgren@gmail.com>
---
 imap-send.c           | 24 ++++++++++++++++--------
 t/t9001-send-email.sh | 22 ++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 38 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
diff --git a/imap-send.c b/imap-send.c
index 7e74c37a72..8977a934f8 100644
--- a/imap-send.c
+++ b/imap-send.c
@@ -1457,6 +1457,21 @@ static void wrap_in_html(struct strbuf *msg)
 	*msg = buf;
 }
 
+static bool has_required_headers(const char *line)
+{
+	bool from = false, date = false, subject = false;
+
+	while ((line = strchr(line, '\n')) && *++line != '\n') {
+		if (starts_with(line, "From: "))
+			from = true;
+		else if (starts_with(line, "Date: "))
+			date = true;
+		else if (starts_with(line, "Subject: "))
+			subject = true;
+	}
+	return from && date && subject;
+}
+
 static int count_messages(struct strbuf *all_msgs)
 {
 	int count = 0;
@@ -1472,14 +1487,7 @@ static int count_messages(struct strbuf *all_msgs)
 				if (!p) break;
 				p += 5;
 				count++;
-			} else {
-				p = strstr(p+5, "\nFrom: ");
-				if (!p) break;
-				p = strstr(p+7, "\nDate: ");
-				if (!p) break;
-				p = strstr(p+7, "\nSubject: ");
-				if (!p) break;
-				p += 10;
+			} else if (has_required_headers(p)) {
 				count++;
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/t/t9001-send-email.sh b/t/t9001-send-email.sh
index d1393ef197..d105fcb41c 100755
--- a/t/t9001-send-email.sh
+++ b/t/t9001-send-email.sh
@@ -2863,4 +2863,26 @@ test_expect_success $PREREQ '--compose handles to headers' '
 	test_cmp expect msgtxt2.to
 '
 
+test_expect_success $PREREQ 'imap-send accepts a sent patch from the list archive' '
+	write_script fake-imap-server <<-\EOF &&
+	printf "* PREAUTH [CAPABILITY IMAP4rev1 LITERAL+] ready\r\n"
+	printf "1 OK\r\n2 OK\r\n3 OK\r\n"
+	cat >/dev/null
+	EOF
+	test_config imap.tunnel ./fake-imap-server &&
+	clean_fake_sendmail &&
+	git send-email \
+		--from="Example <from@example.com>" \
+		--to=nobody@example.com \
+		--smtp-server="$(pwd)/fake.sendmail" \
+		HEAD^ &&
+	{
+		echo "From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970" &&
+		cat msgtxt1
+	} >archive.mbox &&
+	git imap-send --folder=INBOX <archive.mbox 2>err &&
+	test_grep "^Sending 1 message to INBOX folder" err &&
+	test_grep "(1/1) done" err
+'
+
 test_done
-- 
gitgitgadget
Previous: Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadgetNext: Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
Message 27 of 32 in “Fix imap-send with reordered message headers”
  1. 0/2 Fix imap-send with reordered message headersHarald Nordgren via GitGitGadget, Oct 19, 2026
  2. 1/2 imap-send: avoid leaking the tunnel commandHarald Nordgren via GitGitGadget, Oct 19, 2026
  3. 2/2 imap-send: accept messages with Subject before DateHarald Nordgren via GitGitGadget, Oct 19, 2026
  4. Junio C HamanoOct 19, 2026
  5. Harald NordgrenOct 20, 2026
  6. 0/2 Fix imap-send with reordered message headersHarald Nordgren via GitGitGadget, Oct 21, 2026
  7. 1/2 imap-send: avoid leaking the tunnel commandHarald Nordgren via GitGitGadget, Oct 21, 2026
  8. Patrick SteinhardtOct 21, 2026
  9. Harald NordgrenOct 21, 2026
  10. 2/2 imap-send: accept messages with Subject before DateHarald Nordgren via GitGitGadget, Oct 21, 2026
  11. Patrick SteinhardtOct 21, 2026
  12. Harald NordgrenOct 21, 2026
  13. Patrick SteinhardtOct 21, 2026
  14. Harald NordgrenOct 21, 2026
  15. 0/4 Fix imap-send with reordered message headersHarald Nordgren via GitGitGadget, Oct 22, 2026
  16. 1/4 imap-send: wait for the tunnel command to finishHarald Nordgren via GitGitGadget, Oct 22, 2026
  17. Patrick SteinhardtOct 26, 2026
  18. Harald NordgrenOct 26, 2026
  19. 2/4 imap-send: accept messages with Subject before DateHarald Nordgren via GitGitGadget, Oct 22, 2026
  20. 3/4 imap-send: check git send-email copies like other messagesHarald Nordgren via GitGitGadget, Oct 22, 2026
  21. Patrick SteinhardtOct 26, 2026
  22. Harald NordgrenOct 26, 2026
  23. 4/4 imap-send: match header names case insensitivelyHarald Nordgren via GitGitGadget, Oct 22, 2026
  24. Patrick SteinhardtOct 26, 2026
  25. 0/4 Fix imap-send with reordered message headersHarald Nordgren via GitGitGadget, Oct 27, 2026
  26. 1/4 imap-send: wait for the tunnel command to finishHarald Nordgren via GitGitGadget, Oct 27, 2026
  27. 2/4 imap-send: accept messages with Subject before DateHarald Nordgren via GitGitGadget, Oct 27, 2026
  28. 3/4 imap-send: check git send-email copies like other messagesHarald Nordgren via GitGitGadget, Oct 27, 2026
  29. Patrick SteinhardtOct 27, 2026
  30. 4/4 imap-send: match header names case insensitivelyHarald Nordgren via GitGitGadget, Oct 27, 2026
  31. Patrick SteinhardtOct 27, 2026
  32. Junio C HamanoOct 29, 2026

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