Install offlineimap with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman

Project links

• Homepage
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• offlineimap

Project history

The project predates its GitHub era; the OfflineIMAP website describes '13 years of history' for the community site, and the legacy GitHub repository was created on 2012-07-23. The mainline project reached v7.3.4 on 2021-08-03, where its changelog said the Python 2 line would receive minor bug fixes only and directed users to the Python 3 fork.

The Homebrew formula points at OfflineIMAP/offlineimap3, whose GitHub repository was created on 2020-09-02. The offlineimap3 README describes it as the Python 3 codebase based on the Python 2 OfflineIMAP project, retaining the same user-facing documentation and configuration model while the source was updated.

Adoption history

OfflineIMAP became part of the classic console-mail stack around Maildir, Mutt, and Notmuch. The legacy repository topics include mutt, notmuch, offline, synchronize, IMAP, and Maildir, which matches how the tool is used in local-first mail workflows rather than as a standalone mail client.

Package-manager coverage is broad for a niche mail synchronizer: the input record lists packages in Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora/dnf, Arch/pacman, Nix, MacPorts, and Alpine. Homebrew Formulae reported version 8.0.3 and 1,359 installs in its 365-day analytics window when fetched on 2026-07-01.

How it is used

Operators configure accounts and repositories in ~/.offlineimaprc or the XDG config path, then run the offlineimap command to synchronize remote IMAP folders with local Maildir directories. The official website frames the core use case as reading mail offline without requiring the mail user agent to support disconnected IMAP operations.

Package nerds tend to care about OfflineIMAP because it sits at the junction of old-school Unix mail storage, IMAP quirks, SSL and proxy support, and Python packaging migration. The Python 2 to Python 3 split is visible in package metadata, upstream repositories, and downstream formula maintenance.

Why package nerds care

OfflineIMAP is a good example of a small CLI that remains relevant because it preserves a file-format contract, Maildir, rather than owning the full application experience. Its packaging history shows how downstreams track a legacy project while redirecting users to a maintained language-runtime fork.

Timeline

• 2012-07-23: the legacy OfflineIMAP/offlineimap GitHub repository was created.
• 2015-03 and 2015-04: the v6.5.7 release candidates moved documentation to the website, added proxy support, added systemd integration files, and updated imaplib2 for work toward Python 3.
• 2020-09-02: the OfflineIMAP/offlineimap3 repository was created for the Python 3 line.
• 2021-08-03: v7.3.4 of the legacy line was described as likely the last minor release, with users directed to offlineimap3.

Related projects

• OfflineIMAP is commonly paired with Maildir-aware or local-indexing tools such as Mutt and Notmuch. Within its own project family, offlineimap3 is the Python 3 successor to the Python 2 offlineimap repository.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/OfflineIMAP/offlineimap
• https://api.github.com/repos/OfflineIMAP/offlineimap3
• https://formulae.brew.sh/api/formula/offlineimap.json
• https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/offlineimap
• https://github.com/OfflineIMAP/offlineimap
• https://github.com/OfflineIMAP/offlineimap3
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OfflineIMAP/offlineimap/master/Changelog.md
• https://www.offlineimap.org/
• https://www.offlineimap.org/documentation.html